Monday, February 28, 2011

Lutheran CORE - News and Discussion: ELCA forces closure of another congregation and seizes its property

Lutheran CORE - News and Discussion: ELCA forces closure of another congregation and seizes its property

They voted for and financed the wolf, so he finally bit them.




ELCA forces closure of another congregation and seizes its property

Small churches may face closer by their bishops if they threaten to leave the ELCA. Check out this story from a New York newspaper.

The following are comments from Pastor David Barnhart's blog: 


ELCA FORCES CLOSURE OF ANOTHER CHURCH

Just how many churches of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) await the fate of Grace Lutheran Church, North Branch, NY? The membership of the church had been dwindling for several years and finances had been a challenge, but members of Grace Lutheran Church were shocked when they received a letter from their ELCA synod that began “In the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" and continued “the Synod will take control of the real and personal property of Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church.”

Grace Lutheran members were shocked even more when the ELCA changed the locks on the church doors to keep out the very people whose ancestors had built the church and who until the locks were changed paid for the church’s daily operations.

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bruce-church (https://bruce-church.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "Lutheran CORE - News and Discussion: ELCA forces c...":

The church was kind of stooopid for telling the ELCA synodical officials their plans to leave the ELCA before consulting a lawyer and doing preparatory work first:

http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110226/NEWS/110229811

But when they told the synod of their plans last month – which included paying the ELCA what they owed – synod trustees changed the locks on the new steel doors of the church and thrift store. They froze the church’s bank account. They left two feet of unplowed snow on the steps and driveway. They put pink signs on the church that read: “We’re sorry to announce Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church is no longer worshiping.” And they left the people of Grace feeling as if they had been victims of a modern-day Judas Iscariot.

***

GJ - Joe Krohn hopes that Missouri and WELS do not get that bad. I understand churches have been stolen before, in various ways. Right now the LCMS is suing the knickers off four older ladies in California, because the district wants to grab the valuable church land, worth millions.

So far, Matt Harrison has done nothing about this disgraceful situation.

I know ELCA pastors on the ALPB Forum are cheering on the jackbooted thugs for man-handling anyone who dissents from the gay agenda. Ah, but when the boot is on the other hoof, it is not so pleasant.

Everyone loses when such Stalinism is allowed in the church - and by the courts.

The Mark of the Beast



 
The podcast for "Tattoos - The Mark of the Beast" has been posted to The Valley. http://dld.bz/rkNw
But if someone tries to listen...

This section is restricted to members of The Valley only.
Please login or register.

---

Someone wrote:

"I listened to it off iTunes. The first four minutes dealt with the number of tattoo parlors in Appleton, the percentage of tattoo-bearers amongst adults, etc.

For 3 1/2 minutes in the middle, he discussed five methods of removing tattoos.

How does he know so much about tattoo removal? YouTube.

He joked that it wasn't good for his life of sanctification, to spend so much time googling material for his sermon series, that he can be on YouTube for 3 to 4 hours.

Yes, he really said that.

Throughout, he's cracking jokes and laughing to himself.

At the end, he discussed how our tattoos that we are born with (the mark of sin/Satan) are removed and replaced with the Jesus' blood (his mark/tattoo). He quoted comforting words from the Psalms.

He did not speak about the Means of Grace."

Flow of Funds to the Seminaries


Capable young men are asking me, "Where can I go to seminary?"

I would scratch Our Lady of Sorrows, St. Louis, and The Surrendered Fort off the list. Those two seminaries are too costly, designed to drain the seminarian before keeping him from a call. That says a lot about the quality of both schools. They are saying their own graduates are not fit for the pastoral ministry.

Although it seems impossible, the Little Schoolhouse on the Prairie and The Sausage Factory are both even more controlling and abusive than the LCMS brand.

The only one to consider would be St. Catharine's, which I believe Robert Preus helped to set up. I do not have any knowledge of the school, except the costs are much lower. I suggest visiting the school and talking to current and past students.

No one should think that the current system is going to last. Even infallible WELS is admitting that the synod will soon be very much unlike the Holy Mother Synod of the past.

People allow a synod to control their lives. That is a mistake that will soon by fixed by demographics, the lack of funds, and the information age. But the error begins with false assumptions and attitudes. People surrender power to tin-horn Doctrinal Pussycats who stand for nothing. They tremble at the synod executives but not at the Word of God. The DP bullies see that and take advantage of it.

Anyone considering pastoral work should have a real vocation first, because tent-making will be more prevalent in the future. The call is not respected, so situations will be volatile and changing.

Conservative Lutherans are not funding outreach and missions. They are funding salaries, lawsuits, perks, travel, boozy meals, and other luxuries. De-funding the plutocrats would be a great first move for everyone. Let the parasites depend on Thrivent (pro-abortion), foundations, and Daddy Warbucks.

Is the New Age Movement Getting Ahead of You?
Leaving You Behind, Stuck with the Means of Grace?

Pour on the favorite condiment of the Synodical Conference.
It's Methodist and New Age, but doctrinally neutral!

More Proof of WELS Discipline:
Plagiarism, False Doctrine, Lying, and Bullying
Will Result in a Divine Call

WELS Pastor Tim Glende relates to the younger demographic by posting this on his now hidden Facebook account.



 
 
Glende, Rev Timothy P      Bethany - North Fort Myers FL        02/07/2011
         Pastor Call
***

GJ - Will his anonymous blog continue? Everyone looks forward to his quarterly article, which repeats the previous ones.

Google changed their formula for searching, so the plagiarized title does not show up anymore.

This call will put to rest any charges that the WELS DPs are spineless evan-jellyfish. PETA has sued for defamation, amicus curiae, on behalf of all jellyfish.

Note to non-victims of WELS abuse: this call is a way of showing approval by WELS of the parson. Thus Paul Copycat Kelm got two calls at once. So did Frosty Bivens' son.

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There is a God has left a new comment on your post "More Proof of WELS Discipline:Plagiarism, False Do...":

Seems to me the Glende Call to Bethany could mean the following:

1) This is just how the system works. After a pastor is at a congregation for a set time (is it 4 years?), his name is put on Call lists as a matter of course.

2) Glende has asked his DP that his name be used on Call lists because he would like the opportunity to move on.

3) DP wants him moved, or at least wants the congregation and Glende to have the "heart-to-heart" that a Call consideration provides, so his name is being placed on many Call lists.

4) Other DPs want a man like Glende in their districts and so his name is put on many Call lists.

5) Congregation wants a pastor like Glende, suggests his name at the Call meeting because his name was not included on the official candidate list supplied by DP, and then calls him.

6) Other (vision of a man of Macedonia a la Acts 16:9?)

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Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "More Proof of WELS Discipline:Plagiarism, False Do...":

Bethany Lutheran Church in Ft. Myers Florida issued the call to (W)ELS Pastor Tim Glende.

Bethany's previous pastor is Pastor Dan Burgess. He was a presenter at a C&C conference:

302
Back to Basics: Missional Churches
Dan Burgess
(dsburgess@gmail.com)


We will discuss how using seemingly forgotten 1st Century methods of proclaiming the gospel in the 21st Century helped a dying church double in size in two years. How is it that Philip the evangelist was able to go from preaching to crowds in a large city, to proclaiming the gospel one-on-one without missing a beat? How can we take the same principles of the early church (which was a missional church) and apply them in the 21st Century while using 21st Century technology?


Dan Burgess is pastor at Bethany Lutheran in North Fort Myers, FL, where he teaches and preaches evangelism with a passion.

Page 16
https://www.regonline.com/custImages/271581/C&C%20program.color.pdf

Ichabod broke this story in November of 2009:
http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2009/11/chicanery-conference-program.html

Dan Burgess Twitter

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http://blendedworshipresource.wordpress.com/2010/08/10/why-blended-worship/

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From the Author of Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther



From DoctorBainton:

Dr. Bainton told me how Douglas Macintosh's wife and baby both died in childbirth 60 years before. He told me that Macintosh was scheduled to preach in chapel the following Sunday and kept the obligation, choosing as his text Habakkuk 3, 17:


Although the fig tree shall not blossom,
neither shall fruit be in the vines; the
labour of the olive shall fail, and the
fields shall yield no meat; the flock
shall be cut off from the fold, and there
shall be no herd in the stalls;
Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will
joy in the God of my salvation.



Dr. Bainton was 82 and I was 31 when he sat across from me in Jonathan Edwards dining hall filled with students and told me that story of the man whose name I bore.
 
Dr. Bainton wept openly for one of the longest minutes of my life when he was through.

***

GJ - All the professors at Yale Divinity were called Mr. rather than Dr., even though they all had one PhD, sometimes two.

Bainton was the exception. He was so respected by all the students that everyone called him Dr. Bainton. Thus the name of the blog is Dr. Bainton.

I find that interesting in an era when Luther-hating Shrinkers get a drive-by DMin so they can call themselves "Dr."

Isn't that funny, Dr. Kelm?
Dr. Olson?
Dr. Witte?
Dr. Krause?
Dr. Parlow?

Measuring the Extent of Apostasy -
Thanks to Jeske's Mequon Rant.
Change or Die! Origin




I hope you will read excerpts from the Jeske rant, posted here. The rant is also linked at that post. Watch it and take notes. Jeske mocking closed communion is mild compared to the main content of his self-centered diatribe.

Secondly, read carefully the Ben Wink comments on Ski's pilgrimage to Andy Stanley-land, the Drive conference.

Did only one pastor go to Drive? Ski called it a "pastor's (sic) conference". Don't argue with Glende and Ski. They have 12 straight years of WELS education, the academic equivalent of flunking from an urban school after one semester, the social equivalent of one, long party.

Bishop Katie at The SORE got me interested in the Dirt Conference.

"What if we told you you could look under the hoods of these churches that are breaking the mold:

Lifechurch.tv
Church of the Highlands
Gateway Church
Seacoast Church

New Life Church
Healing Place Church
The Life Church of Memphis
C3 Church
Bayside Community ChurchCelebration Church, TX
Newspring Church"

I suggest watching Jeske's entire tape and looking for similar YouTube video efforts by Ed Stetzer, the Babtist whom Church and Change hired to teach Lutherans about evangelism.

Mark and Avoid Jeske and Ed Stetzer have a similar style - angry and arrogant. This gives the impression of earnestly engaging in the rescue of a fallen world, if they only had enough money to do it.

These are the danger signs given by Jeske, which show he is not a Christian leader in any sense of the word, but an embarrassment to any believer, especially to those who study the Word and the Confessions.

The numbers are time marks on the video:

"We started to change our brand, from gathering our people..." 37:45

"Consumer driven, thank God, that means they will force us to change, nobody ever wants to change, no business wants to change, dear God, no congregation or synod ever wants to change, we only change under pressure because we have to...and I'm glad that your generation is very demanding of what you want because you will force organizations to change if they want to stay in business and will generally, not in every respect, make us better." 47:26

Jeske thinks in terms of marketing, so much that his vocabulary has become the language of business motivational speakers.

"If you're trying to do transformational ministry...pay attention to their heart language... The very first thing any missionary needs to do is shut the heck up and listen...before you start yapping." 35:14

Jeske signaled his allegiance to Pietism many years ago. This statement places him firmly in the camp of Enthusiasm. All the Schwaermer conferences he has attended communicate the same way, and Pietism hates Lutheran orthodoxy, with its emphasis on the efficacy of the Word, its reliance on preaching, the sacraments, and the Confessions.

"And I also have gone to way too many pastoral conferences where some guy got an assignment to prepare an essay that he didn't know anything about, and he manfully struggled with the Greek or the Hebrew, and came up with some blather that was of utterly no practical use to me whatsoever, and you endure those things and move on, I've had, I'm sick of it, I'm done with that kind of stuff, I don't what to read anything about evangelism unless it's written by somebody who has at least 20 adult confirmation a year or more in his congregation, I don't want to read about discipleship programs unless somebody has got a gangbuster set of Bible studies lay and clergy led going on in his parish. I don't wanna, I have no time anymore for people who aren't doing it, that's the only one I want to listen to." 31:44

Here Jeske has abandoned the idea of brothers with the same confession of faith working together. Most of those he looks down upon are the real pastors, who visit the poor and needy in their own congregations, instead of draining money from two synods, Thrivent, the foundations, and the government. Jeske admits on the tape that he only preaches his appetizers twice a month or so. ("I'm just giving treats, like hopefully to spur people on to greater study." 8:57) Them treats are poison, Mark and Avoid.

The real work of transformational ministry must be raising money, setting goals, and flogging the staff to do more better faster.

The conceit revealed above is typical of the false teacher. He lines up those who pay him to glory in himself, because they feel that wonder reflected back onto themselves.

Luther said that Satan hates how an ordinary man, with all his weaknesses and failings, can be entrusted with the powerful Word. One of my favorite pastor-friends is an unassuming guy who cares deeply about his congregation, works faithfully, and gives way to others who have more need. He would be the first to say that the Gospel-Word transforms lives, not the law-salesmen. Additional details would unleash a torrent of abuse on him from the loving, liberal Church and Changers, who worship at the feet of Jeske: "Oh that Thy shadow might fall upon my poor wretched self and transform me, unworthy worm that I am."

"...vulnerable, at a very changeful point in their life, when they might really be interested in a sense of community, when their new and lonely we got everything they could want." 45:15

Felt needs and the receptivity axis have been long taught by Fuller Seminary, Valleskey, Olson, Huebner, Kelm, and other frauds. This concept could be just as true for a beauty salon as a church, except it destroys the concept of a Christian church being a place where people receive grace from the Means of Grace.

"The growth area in Christendom right now is in the non denominational churches because they can adapt faster." 48:40

"If your generation is very consumer driven, what's in it for me, is this giving me what I want? I think all the better because it will challenge denominations and congregations to adapt and change often in ways that they don't want to do."
49:34

Mark and Avoid Jeske's Enthusiasm combines with his infatuation about the non-denominational fad. Look at the list from the Dirt conference. Robert Schuller's bankrupt Crystal Cathedral began with the same wisdom. Denominational labels put people off. Lyle Schaller said the same thing. DP Robert Mueller and VP Kuske thought so, creating their own Pilgrim Community Church, Columbus (epic fail) and CrossRoads in S. Lyons, Michigan, which now belongs to another denomination.

Anti-confessional congregations turn Unitarian rather quickly. Schuller had no problem with featuring non-Christian speakers at his church, yet he stated that he was reaching people, transforming lives, and focusing on Jesus. The trajectory of Jeske and His disciples will be similar, perhaps more rapid. Schuller was unique in his time. Jeske is one of dozens doing exactly the same thing the same way with the same words, gestures, and third-rate music.

"Here's a few thoughts about change, my friend John Parlow up in St. Mark in DePere, he's got a very rapidly growing church, he says, when you find you are riding a dead horse what is the very first thing you ought to do next? Dismount." 51:51

WELS let Steve Witte (now running the portable Asian seminary) and Parlow (Willow Creek clergy member) get away with dispensing their poison. Now Jeske has leveraged the outreach of doctrinal toxins with his TV, radio, gift store.

"I heard Christian futurist Leonard Sweet, a Methodist guy teaches and does a lot of consulting, very provocative guy, wrote a bunch of books, Leonard Sweet says "whether you like it or not the future of the church is coming COD, Change or Die." And so I realized that in the early 1980's if we don't change this place is going to die. And so we started just trying stuff..." 52:25

Tim Glende uses the same scare tactics to argue for plagiarizing Groeschel (which he denies doing). St. Peter Freedom will die without Groeschel sermons. Perhaps it is dying from the combined efforts of Ron Ash (chairman, Church and Change) and Tim Glende (graduate of countless Schwaermer conferences).

That should do it. Anyone who takes Jeske seriously as a Lutheran leader should skim the Book of Concord or the Gospel of John. He is three fries short of a Happy Meal at the Golden Dreams Community Church food court. You laugh? Willow Creek has a food court and VP Huebner has a Soul Cafe.



The first time Sweet spoke to WELS, it was at a Church and Change conference hosted by Kelm.
The second time, at Mequon, Sweet was incarnate in the flesh of Mark Jeske.


---
California wrote:

Having listened to the presentation about change or die, by Jeske, some observations came to mind. Speaking as one who is the genetic product of those mid 19th Century Lutheran German immigrants in the Midwest (since transplanted to the West), his history strikes me as insulting revisionist. In the German community of German heritage people in Michigan where I grew up starting in 1929, I never witnessed or experienced the attitude he describes as people considering themselves, "Germans in exile". By the time I was born, even my grandparents retained little of the German language.

My own parents' generation had begun to be confirmed in English (early 20th Century). German services were held perhaps once a month for the aged generation which younger Lutherans didn't attend because they didn't understand German.

The rationale he gives as to the growth of nondenominational being the only ones growing because they can adapt faster is laughable. The reason they may seem to be growing is because they don't have to stand for anything. When he charges that current Lutheran churches with German heritage aren't growing "because they've been doing things the same way". WRONG! They haven't been doing things the same way for 50 years or more...ever since they formally adopted management by objectives, jettisoned the KJV, accompanying hymnals, etc. People have been lost who either "walked" or were "escorted" from membership in resisting.

He brings out the tired old and false message that , methods are neutral when saying the "message is not negotiable, but the methods are". Not so, methods are not necessarily neutral. Which brings to focus the idea of adapting cultural manifestations of pagan societies for Christian worship. That idea has been honed to perfection by the Church of Rome for centuries. Re: worship music, it can be documented that pagan primitive cultures use percussive instruments void of melodic content. Drumming and percussive responses are physical, appealing to the flesh (body). Musical expression with melodic attributes appeals to the mind and spirit. To which should worship appeal?

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Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "More Proof of WELS Discipline:Plagiarism, False Do...":

More than a few similarities:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/06/new-testimony-sheds-light-on-mahonys-role-in-priest-abuse-case.html

2012: But instead of urging the Vatican (WELS) to remove Baker (Glende) from the priesthood, Mahony (WELS) moved him around to various parishes, where he molested more children (Souls).

(W)ELS is managed by the administrators at St. Marcus with Jeske at the helm. Church and Change is the illegitimate child of the New Age Emergent administration who dictate the structure of the Synodical school system (WLS, MLC etc). Every subsequent generation of "Called" workers is even more the product of the New Age Emergent curriculum in doctrine and practice. Jeske admitted that in the 1980's he bought into Leonard Sweet's satanic Change or Die mantra. Look at how the New Age leaders in the (W)ELS have networked throughout the WELS. The synod is but their temporary host, providing them nourishment and financial support until there is nothing left, no Confessional doctrine and no Confessional practice.

The same effect can be seen when spores invade an ants body:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCeyW9m0SXA

***

GJ - Well managed corporations will make mistakes, enormous errors, in spite of doing everything right.

The true Christian church is not a business, but God's own creation, relying solely on His Word and Sacraments to convey the treasure of the Gospel to people.
Augustine said, "There are two cities. The City of Man is based upon love of self. The City of God is based upon love of God."

The Changers have merged the two, as if the City of God can be based upon the love of self.

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Quotes from the Wizard of Ooze:
Take Off Thine Sandals and Boweth Down, Mortals



Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Attend Change or DIE! - Or Else!":

Quotes from Jeske's speach:

the imprinting of our belief system is most effectively carried on through our system of schools. I don't have any romantic notions about my ability as a pastor to transmit Lutheranism just by getting a chance for twenty five minutes or so every other Sunday to talk to people. Those are just little Hors d'œuvre's...I'm just giving treats, like hopefully to spur people on to greater study.
8:57

Make disciples of all nations
19:10

And I put it to you, I think this is the number one thing that ails lutheranism right now in the city, is we, have no plan B. If your only goal is to find people just like us, or to breed em, to breed enough internally, that we have enough babies to grow internally, if those aren't working, maybe I'll call it plan C, that's A and B, if A and B are no longer replenishing enough to keep your organization going, what is plan C?
30:20

And I also have gone to way to many pastoral conferences where some guy got an assignment to prepare an essay that he didn't know anything about, and he manfully struggled with the Greek or the Hebrew, and came up with some blather that was of utterly no practical use to me whatsoever, and you endure those things and move on, I've had, I'm sick of it, I'm done with that kind of stuff, I don't what to read anything about evangelism unless it's written by somebody who has at least 20 adult confirmation a year or more in his congregation, I don't want to read about discipleship programs unless somebody has got a gangbuster set of Bible studies lay and clergy led going on in his parish. I don't wanna, I have no time anymore for people who aren't doing it, that's the only one I want to listen to.
31:44

what is the heart language...what is musical instrument is the core of all hispanic music?
33:35

If you're trying to do transformational ministry...pay attention to their heart language... The very first thing any missionary needs to do is shut the heck up and listen...before you start yapping.
35:14

I realized, we're dying, we have about a generation, I've got about a 20 year horizon before we go out of business.
36:42

We started to change our brand, from gathering our people...
37:45

The real future, I think, for Lutheranism is to decide to minister to people not like me.
41:20

Cont...

...vulnerable, at a very changeful point in their life, when they might really be interested in a sense of community, when their new and lonely we got everything they could want.
45:15

Consumer driven, thank God, that means they will force us to change, nobody ever wants to change, no business wants to change, dear God, no congregation or synod ever wants to change, we only change under pressure because we have to...and I'm glad that your generation is very demanding of what you want because you will force organizations to change if they want to stay in business and will generally, not in every respect, make us better.
47:26

Same thing with not automatic loyalty...many of the kids you might have gone to a Lutheran grade school with will end up outside of Lutheranism, cause the LCMS or WELS or whatever church in their neighborhood didn't meet their needs and they found much more fun at a nondenominational church.
48:00

The growth area in Christiandom right now is in the non denominational churches because they can adapt faster.
48:40

if your generation is very consumer driven, what's in it for me, is this giving me what I want? I think all the better because it will challenge denominations and congregations to adapt and change often in ways that they don't want to do.
49:34

If we keep doing things in the same way all of Lutheranism in Milwakee will disappear
50:45

Here's a few thoughts about change, my friend John Parlow up in St. Mark in DePere, he's got a very rapidly growing church, he says, "when you find you are riding a dead horse what is the very first thing you ought to do next? Dismount."
51:51

I heard Christian futurist Leonard Sweet, a Methodist guy teaches and does alot of consulting, very provocative guy, wrote a bunch of books, Leonard Sweet says "whether you like it or not the future of the church is coming COD, Change or Die." And so I realized that in the early 1980's if we don't change this place is going to die. And so we started just trying stuff...
52:25


And because I stuck my face in it and gave it legitimacy it was never argued over (creating his own gospel choir).
54:16

Growth and turning things around will come at a cost, it will not be easy you will be having to up the down escalator of apathy, deep ruts and people who will try to make theological issues out of every change that you try to propose.

Second, the message is non negotiable, the way in which you deliver that message is infinitely negotiable.

Worship leaders need to plan for the guests more than they need to plan for the club members.

We don't need pastors right now...meaning only like pastors tending the flock, we need missionaries who are going to do transformational change in their churches, to reconnect, not only people not like us but with our own younger generation that's getting away from us.
57:15

Click here for the ex cathedra speech of Mark and Avoid Jeske

Cosmetic Changes



Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Attend Change or DIE! - Or Else!":



I noticed that Jeff Gunn, whose MOG (W)ELS Youth Rally was advertised by DP Buccholz in the Emmanuel Church Newsletter, is no longer listed as the Large Group Presentation speaker.

Initially exposed here:
http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2011/01/wels-to-proclaim-to-youth-at-mark-jeske.html

Now:

Thursday 12:45pm "MOG -- the Sacramental Life" by ????

Friday 7pm "MOG -- Me-Our-Group" by ????

Note that Jeff Gunn's Crosswalk church band is still playing its concert at 8:15
http://www.welsteenrally.com/Schedule

Notice how the (W)ELS MOG Youth Rally is hosted by Pastor Paul Steinberg who is an associate pastor with Jeske at St. Marcus.
http://www.stmarcus.org/pastor-paul/

Also note that another St. Marcus called worker has been extended a divine call into the ministry:

Mrs. Cynthia Holman has accepted the call to serve as WELS' first national coordinator of early childhood ministries. She will begin this full-time position for the Commission on Lutheran Schools on July 1.

http://www.wels.net/news-events/holman-accepts-early-childhood-call

Attend Change or DIE! -
Or Else!

Irrelevant, but this photo makes me smile.


Someone wrote to ask me if I planned to attend the Change or DIE! conference in two weeks. That individual also wanted to know how to find out who was registered.

My advice is this - everyone should attend and take notes, photographing or videotaping as much as possible.

When conservatives gather, the apostates always have minders watching and keeping track. They do not wear MINDER nametags, but they make sure people are punished for having the wrong associations. Sometimes the innocent are simply warned. "This is not good for your career."

I suggested this for the last Church and Chicanery conference. Did anyone go? People asked me to go. That would have been counter-productive. People have to fight their own battles. I am only an information maven and provider.

I showed my disgust for Kelm-Olson-Huebner by not attending their all-synod CG brainwashing seminar, roughly in 1991. Every pastor was expected to go and pay $100 for the dishonor of being there. And all the ovine pastors went to be sheered! And you guys wonder why it is so bad now? How many surrendering withdrawals are necessary before taking a stand?

The bullies are nasty, but they are cowards. If they had an excuse, they would have answered the Intrepids' letter, but they have not. They do not want to be exposed and would love to have their little coven meeting without any witnesses. They would adore have one person show up so they could make up anything they wanted about that orphaned witness. But if 20 show up! They would need all the pastors and some laity to reach 20.

Only 12 pastors have signed on so far.

Managed Information
In the past, synods could manage the information by keeping everything a secret, unless they wanted to trash someone, which they often did.

Pastor Fred Adrian's vicar went to the state prison in Michigan and neighboring pastors did not know it. One said to me, "You know more about my district than I do."

IM, Twitter, FB, email, and blogs have ended the synod monopoly on information. Jeske cannot promote his coven on the Net and expect no one to notice. Likewise, his and Parlow's grants show up on the Net, because foundations have to make their loot distribution public knowledge, according to law.

Jeff Gunn got a grant to run some kind of Welcome Wagon, something surely gleaned from the apostles. "We'll get the move in notices, St. Peter, and invite the kids to our junior gladiator camp. While there, we can introduce them to the Gospel, because they will face gladiators soon enough. It's a felt need."

Sexagesima Sunday - Because We Are Liturgical and Confessional


Art by Norma Boeckler



Sexagesima Sunday, 2011

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

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

Bethany Lutheran Church, 10 AM Central Time


The Hymn #190 Christ the Lord 1:52
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 # 339 All Hail the Power 1:57

Broadcasting the Word

The Hymn # 308 Invited 1:63
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 #46 On What Has Now Been Sown 1:62

2 Corinthians 11:19 For ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise. 20 For ye suffer, if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take of you, if a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the face. 21 I speak as concerning reproach, as though we had been weak. Howbeit whereinsoever any is bold, (I speak foolishly,) I am bold also. 22 Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I. 23 Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool ) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. 24 Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. 25 Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; 26 In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; 27 In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. 28 Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. 29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not? 30 If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities. 31 The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not. 32 In Damascus the governor under Aretas the king kept the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desirous to apprehend me: 33 And through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall, and escaped his hands. 12:1 It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. 2 I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. 3 And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) 4 How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. 5 Of such an one will I glory: yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities. 6 For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool; for I will say the truth: but now I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me. 7 And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. 8 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. 9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

KJV Luke 8:4 And when much people were gathered together, and were come to him out of every city, he spake by a parable: 5 A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. 6 And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. 7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. 8 And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. 9 And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be? 10 And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand. 11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12 Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. 13 They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. 14 And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. 15 But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.

Broadcasting the Word

KJV Luke 8:4 And when much people were gathered together, and were come to him out of every city, he spake by a parable: 5 A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. 6 And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. 7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. 8 And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold.

This is the first and most memorable of all the parables of Jesus. For those believers who have spent time gardening or farming, the meaning is especially clear.

Lenski:

As far as we know, the first typical parable of all those uttered by our Lord is the one about the Sower.
5) There went out the sower in order to sow his seed.
With one stroke the central image is painted before our eyes. Every word is simplicity itself. The aorist “he went out” and the aorist “in order to sow” show us that the task was begun and finished. The article in ὁ σπείρων lends the participle a generic or representative sense, R. 764 on Matthew 13:3: “the man whose business is sowing.” Luke alone adds “his seed,” a cardinal term in the parable.
And in the sowing part fell along the path and was trodden down, and the birds of the heaven ate it up. And another part fell down on the rock, and after springing up it was dried up on account of not having moisture. And other fell in the midst of the thorns, and springing up with it the thorns choked it off.
Luke abbreviates as much as possible. The entire description is typically Palestinian. The grain is sown by hand. The patch is not extensive and is unfenced. Along its side is a path (not “road”), which perhaps divides it from a similar patch, and in sowing some may fall along this path and thus be trodden down by the feet of those passing and end up by having the birds of the heaven (unconfined, wild) eat it.
Lenski, R. C. H.: The Interpretation of St. Luke's Gospel. Minneapolis, MN : Augsburg Publishing House, 1961, S. 442.

There is a paradox. The parables are easy to understand and impossible to forget. They are also concise. One occupies one verse and uses only 24 words in English:

KJV Matthew 13:33 Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.

But Jesus also gave as a purpose – that they might not understand and believe. Let’s face it, the Christian faith is often distorted and used in many ways. The last century has seen a time when the leaders do not face issues, so everything is even more muddled than before. Few pastors can discuss and present justification by faith because it is taught against by the great and mighty.

It is good to remember that the term “mysteries of God” applies to those articles of faith which God reveals to us by the Holy Spirit in the Word. An unbeliever can remember this parable and go all “Ooh and ah” over how marvelous it is, but he will never know the meaning of it until he is a believer.

The vast majority of “Biblical scholars” are like that. They have vast knowledge of the text and theories about the text, but no insight into its meaning. One Harvard ThD told an audience of pastors, “More people were converted to Christianity by the sword than by the Word.” I raised my hand and told him he was wrong. I said, “The Gospel spread miraculously by individuals teaching the Word, and it reached from England to India in one generation.” He asked, “How did I get it wrong.” I said, “You can’t help it. You went to Harvard.”

Afterwards, he insisted on talking to me. He was actually a believer who also had a degree and a teaching position. They pushed him out of the seminary and he took a parish. He was appalled at what the LCA was doing, already in the 1980s.

This little story shows how the Word of God identifies people and separates believers from unbelievers.

Unbelievers simply cannot understand the Gospel parables and never will until they trust in Christ for their salvation. Until that happens, they will find each passage of the Bible deeply disturbing or alienating if they are hardening their hearts to the Word.

Lenski on the purpose of parables:

The only thing that is thus left to Jesus is to speak “in parables” to those outside, who are still unbelieving after all his efforts. These parables the believers will understand because they possess the key to them in knowing the mysteries of grace. As far as the rest are concerned, parables have a double purpose: first, they are to prevent understanding as the ἵνα clause states: “in order that seeing they may not see,” etc.; second, that hope is not yet completely cut off, their judgment being only preliminary as yet. That is why Jesus does not turn from them completely but still speaks to them in these wonderful parables which, almost like nothing else, cling to the memory and the mind and keep insisting on their interpretation. So these parables are a last effort to reach “the rest.” On his second point Jesus does not, however, dwell.
Lenski, R. C. H.: The Interpretation of St. Luke's Gospel. Minneapolis, MN : Augsburg Publishing House, 1961, S. 446

The Seed Falls on the Wayside
Luke 8:11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12 Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.

This verse is quite memorable for gardeners because pathways do not foster seed growth. The ground is hard and broadcast seed will be eaten before it can start to take root and grow.

As Luther pointed out, these people believed at one time, but Satan came and took that faith away. I have seen that in action, where ministers that I knew went from some kind of faith to complete apostasy, through a variety of Satanic influences – not the spooky kind, but the white devil kind.

Luther used the term white devil for Satan at work without the red long underwear and pitchfork.

One Satanic influence is promoting a man for teaching false doctrine. That is the best way to ruin a minister. He is encouraged to study false teachers and those who encourage him lionize him as the best of a new generation. He believes it and sees some initial success, because people like wolf-preachers. In time this gets hollow and he gets more desperate. Eventually he sees everything in Christianity as baloney because he has lived on baloney and taught baloney. He has baloney spectacles, so he becomes a loud-mouthed anti-Christian atheist.

Some members use the congregation to do evil. They start out as believers as some point, but learn they can get away with more destruction in a church than anywhere else. I have known of people flitting to 20 different parishes to do that, getting more deeply disturbed all the time. The fact that they can do that in a church and not at work makes them all the more demonic in their energy and destructiveness. They know how to use the Jesus words to inflict damage. One faithful member said, “I understand those people, because I used to live to give grief to the pastor.”

This section is a warning to those who fall for “once saved, always saved” and “I am a Christian because I belong to a conservative church body.” Both are fallacies and only show how easily Satan begins to worm his way in before snatching faith away.


Rocky Soil
Luke 8:13 They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.

Many times I have seen seeds take on luxurious growth and fade away, because they have little or no roots. For instances, maple trees have a good start in gutters, where the rotting leaves provide moisture and food. But I have never seen a maple tree growing out of a gutter, beyond the first few inches.

We had a maple tree start near an elm stump in our yard in Moline. We gleefully mowed it down each week. But our de-forestation was neglected once or twice, and the sapling grew strong enough that no mower could take it on. Now it is a mature tree, about 50 years old – because it sunk deep roots into the soil.

The New Testament warns us against making too much of new converts, because they are not deeply rooted in the Word. Many celebrity converts are in the press for believing in Christ and in the press again for falling away (the meaning of apostasy). The publisher of Hustler magazine did that in a big way. So did Mickey Rooney and Bob Dylan. All three had their moment of Christian witness and the subsequent time of falling away.

Apostates are more opposed to Christianity than non-believers. Most people are indifferent but apostates are often very aggressive in teaching against the Gospel.

The reason I teach and publish apologetics is this – without knowing the opposition, believers get taken in by false claims and shallow evidence. For example, manuscript “errors” are used to make it seem as if we hardly know the text of God’s Word. In fact, the Old and New Testaments are the most faithfully preserved texts of the ancient world. In most cases, we have older and better texts of the Bible than we do of well known classics, which often date many centuries later than their first writing.

In short, the text of the Bible is 99.78% accurate, the variations coming from such things as spelling and closely associated words – forgive 7 times 7 or 70 times seven. How many times have you said, “Nine or nineteen?” and similar things. Greek is just like that, one word sound like another and easily substituted. Not one variation affects the doctrine of Christianity. But the Greek text is an easy start for false teachers because few can follow the arguments offered.

Therefore, being a Christian means first conversion by the Word, then a lifetime of learning and re-learning the basics. Luther studied the Small Catechism. A typical audience cannot recite the Ten Commandments. How does not follow the Word without knowing it? How can children face the temptations of our pagan country if they have no root in Christian doctrine and learning?
Controversy makes us more deeply rooted. I am very suspicious of those pastors who do not want to be upset over doctrinal debates. Some arguments are indeed silly and used as ways of avoiding real substance (on what day does Septuagesima fall?). In general, doctrinal conflict does exactly what Paul promised – it separates the good doctrine from the bad.

Choked by Weeds
14 And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.

I have had many plants grow among the weeds. We call some things weeds because they thrive under all conditions and take over with root growth, seed growth, and other little tricks. The common violet has several ways to reproduce and can spit seeds a distance from the first clump. Dandelions are really herbs, full of nutrition, but notorious for deep roots and flying seeds, big leafy rosettes than smother grass around them.

Plants will grow among weeds but they do not thrive and often are choked out altogether. Here we have the ancient and current temptation of believers, to be so wrapped up in luxury or the cares of this world that faith is throttled.

Children’s athletic leagues now use Sundays because it is “the only free day left.” Parents who go along with this are showing what is more important to them and their children. One Mennonite farmer put it this way, “If I cannot get my work done in six days, I won’t get it done in seven either.” His neighbors thought he was a slacker for taking one day of rest and worship.

People easily say to themselves, “I know the Gospel. I am a faithful member. I can cut back on worship.” However, the faithful look forward to hearing the Gospel again. Clergy can look at Sunday as work to be done or as a great privilege. They may preach with an invisible golf bag in the pulpit. It all depends on their initial attitude toward the Gospel – it is a treasure or a meal ticket?

Good Soil
15 But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.

The point of this parable is not to say that 75% failure rate is typical. No numbers are involved. Each bad example is a warning because the Word itself is living, a seed that is ready to grow. In gardening, the best seed is very high in germination rate. All it needs is some moisture. Try that with a packet of any seed. Put it in a moist towel overnight. It is not ready to come alive. It is alive. It is bursting with life and cannot help growing with some moisture. Bulbs are even more alive. They have to be kept cool because they sprout already in shipment, like potatoes. A bulb is actually a beautiful flower boxed up in an ugly package (see daffodil bulbs). Once in the ground, that daffodil leaps to the surface and unfolds.

The good soil does not mean “we take a good man and make him better,” as the Masons claim. It means that people listen with sincere hearts and receive the message of the Gospel with patience and understanding. “I believe. Help my unbelief.”

“Testing the soil” for the receptivity of the people involved is truly Satanic. Using that little motto has turned many ministers in manipulative servants of Satan. It has been called marketing the Gospel, using “creative means,” and many other things.

Broadcasting was originally a gardening term, not a media term. Throwing seed into the soil means using plenty of it. Bad things will happen, but the bad will be overcome by the good. We planted in abundance in Midland, and one adult in Germany still remembers harvesting beans from the pole bean teepee in our backyard.

The Gospel grows like that. At the moment it is tempting to say, “I am getting nowhere.” Years later the results are obvious, in spite of all the disappointments. Ministers live longer than just about any profession. So do teachers. It may be God’s way of showing pastors the damage they have done (for false teachers) or the good done by the Word.

This parable is easy to remember but will never be popular among the false teachers, because it glorifies God and the power of His Word.


QUOTATIONS
"The efficacy of the Word, unlike that of the seed, always has a result. The man to whom the Word of God comes, and who repels it, is not as he was before. Where long and persistently refused, hardening at last comes, Exodus 8:15; 9:12; John 12:40; Hebrews 4:1, and the Word becomes a 'savor of death unto death,' 2 Corinthians 2:16. Every word heard or read, every privilege and opportunity enjoyed, leaves its impress either for good or for evil. It is not so properly the Word, as man's abuse of the Word; not so much the efficacy of the Word, as the sin taking occasion of the efficacy that produces this result, Romans 7:8."
Henry Eyster Jacobs, Elements of Religion, p. 155.

"Christ compares the Word of God to a seed, to a grain of wheat sown in the ground. (Matthew 13:3-23) A seed possesses power and life in itself. Power and life belong to the properties of the seed. Power is not communicated to the seed only now and then, under certain circumstances, in peculiar cases. But the Word of God is an incorruptible seed, that is able to regenerate, a Word which liveth and abideth forever. (1 Peter 1:23)"
E. Hove, Christian Doctrine, Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1930, p. 27. Matthew 13:3-23; 1 Peter 1:23.

"In this Gospel we see how God distinguishes Christians from heathen. For the Lord does not deliver these teachings to the heathen, for they could not receive them, but to His Christians...Satan also hears the Gospel and the Word of God, yea, he knows it far better than we do, and he could preach it as well as we, if he only wanted to; but the Gospel is a doctrine that should become a living power and be put into practice; it should strengthen and comfort people, and make them courageous and aggressive."
Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed. John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, V, p. 103f. Matthew 6:24-34

"The first class of disciples are those who hear the Word but neither understand nor esteem it. And these are not the mean people of the world, but the greatest, wisest and the most saintly, in short they are the greatest part of mankind; for Christ does not speak here of those who persecute the Word nor of those who fail to give their ear to it, but of those who hear it and are students of it, who also wish to be called true Christian and to live in Christian fellowship with Christians and are partakers of baptism and the Lord's Supper. But they are of a carnal heart, and remain so, failing to appropriate the Word of God to themselves, it goes in one ear and out the other, just like the seed along the wayside did not fall into the earth, but remained lying on the ground..."
Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed. John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983 J-209 II, p. 114. Luke 8:4-15 (par. Mark 4: Matthew 13:)

"The second class of hearers are those who receive the Word with joy, but they do not persevere. These are also a large multitude who understand the Word correctly and lay hold of it in its purity without any spirit of sect, division or fanaticism, they rejoice also in that they know the real truth, and are able to know how they may be saved without works through faith...But when the sun shines hot it withers, because it has no soil and moisture, and only rock is there. So these do; in times of persecution they deny or keep silence about the Word and work, speak and suffer all that their persecutors mention or wish, who formerly went forth and spoke, and confessed with a fresh and joyful spirit the same, while there was peace and no heat, so that there was hope they would bear much fruit and serve the people."
Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed. John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983 J-211 II, p. 116. Luke 8:4-15 (par. Mark 4: Matthew 13:)

"Therefore they [fallen among thorns] do not earnestly give themselves to the Word, but become indifferent and sink in the cares, riches and pleasures of this life, so that they are of no benefit to anyone. Therefore they are like the seed that fell among the thorns...They know their duty but do it not, they teach but do not practice what they teach, and are this year as they were last."
Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed. John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983 J-212 II, p. 117. Luke 8:4-15 (par. Mark 4: Matthew 13:)

"What business is it of mine that many do not esteem it? It must be that many are called but few are chosen. For the sake of the good ground that brings forth fruit with patience, the seed must also fall fruitless by the wayside, on the rock and among the thorns; inasmuch as we are assured that the Word of God does not go forth without bearing some fruit, but it always finds also good ground; as Christ says here, some seed of the sower falls also into good ground, and not only by the wayside, among the thorns and on stony ground. For wherever the Gospel goes you will find find Christians. 'My Word shall not return unto me void.' Is. 55:11"
Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, J-206 II, p. 118. Luke 8:4-15. Isaiah 55:11.

"But now, since the prince of this world and the Holy Spirit, the kingdom of Christ and the kingdom of the devil, are directly opposed to one another, and the Holy Spirit is not willing that anyone should parade his own deeds and praise himself on account of them, the holy cross must soon follow. The world will not consent to be reprimanded for its blindness. Therefore one must willingly submit and suffer persecution. If we have the right kind of faith in our hearts, we must also open our mouths and confess righteousness and make known sin. Likewise we must condemn and punish the doings of this world and make it known that everything it undertakes, is damned."
Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p. 120. John 16:5-15.

"Not that they shall preach that we shall not understand them; but it naturally follows that wherever the Spirit does not reveal them, no one understands them."
Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, II, p. 123. Luke 8:4-15

"However, here the Lord speaks quite differently, and says: 'The Holy Spirit will convict the world in respect of sin, because they believe not on me.' Unbelief only is mentioned here as sin, and faith is praised as suppressing and extinguishing the other sins, even the sins in the saints. Faith is so strong and overpowering that no sin dare put it under any obligation. Although sins are present in pious and believing persons, they are not imputed to them, nor shall their sins condemn them."
Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p. 127. John 16:5-15.

"Godly and believing persons know their sins; they bear all their punishment patiently, and are resigned to God's judgment without the least murmur; therefore, they are punished only bodily, and here in time, and their pain and suffering have an end. Unbelievers, however, since they are not conscious of their sins and transgressions, cannot bear God's punishment patiently, but they resent it and wish their life and works to go unpunished, yea, uncensured. Hence, their punishment and suffering are in body and soul, here in time, and last forever beyond this life."
Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p. 131. John 16:5-15.

More Evangelical Than Jesus,
But Really Evan-jellyfish

The jellyfish is spineless but can easily kill the person who bumps into it.
Show extreme caution around evan-jellyfish.
Forgiveness does not extend to confessional Lutherans, who are the debbil.


One pastor has given me permission to borrow his line, so I suppose I can franchise it as well.

"You are more evangelical than Jesus." or

"You do not need to be more evangelical than Jesus."

The point of his remark is this. The synodical leaders use the Gospel to pronounce forgiveness on the unrepentant, calling themselves "evangelical," as if they are full of the Gospel.

In fact, they are just taking the easy way out. Fortunately for them, the anti-Gospel of Universal Objective Justification gives them a foundation for their selective absolution. UOJ drives the marital and sobriety woes of the clergy who have been brainwashed into the absurdity of being born already justified.

The result is a bunch of Doctrinal Pussycats (all synods) who are utterly spineless and helpless in dealing with anything, but have no trouble issuing "kill on sight" orders to their minions when dealing with anyone who dissents from their malignant leadership.

I told one LCA pastor, who thought he could confront a bishop, "Do not keep that appointment. He looks like a nice guy. I worked with him. He cannot stand even the mildest confrontation. He will get even with you ten times over. Work out your exit plans first and leave. Otherwise you will be kicked out 10 minutes after your meeting."

Tis amazing how these helpless, powerless guys respond when someone gets them a little miffed. Their motto is, "May God have mercy on your soul, because I won't."

Cardington church is Word Alone outgrowth | The Marion Star | marionstar.com

Cardington church is Word Alone outgrowth | The Marion Star | marionstar.com


The Word of Life church council includes, from left: front row, Karen May, Don Yake and Bonnie Williams; back row, Gerald Blue, Tom Jacobs, the Rev. Patrick Kelly and Bill Strickland.
The Word of Life church council includes, from left: front row, Karen May, Don Yake and Bonnie Williams; back row, Gerald Blue, Tom Jacobs, the Rev. Patrick Kelly and Bill Strickland. / PHOTO COURTESY WORD OF LIFE
CARDINGTON - A new Lutheran church in Cardington is growing since its first service in February 2010.
The Word of Life, 102 E. Main St., was started from a concern with the direction the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America was taking worldwide and across the United States, according to a news release.

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GJ - Congregations big and small are leaving ELCA. One people realize they do not have to be slaves to Holy Mother Synod, the rest will unravel too. Missouri and WELS would be gone tomorrow if people looked at where the money went and acted on it.