Have Fun With Me, Not With Others

Typical day of blogging.

I leave the comments fairly open because people need a place where they can discuss issues safety, without someone retaliating against them. That also helps people across the synods see that they are not alone in experiencing the horrors of apostasy.

I do not mind people taking whacks at me because they hate Luther's doctrine. That just makes the blog more interesting.

But I loathe people who use their anonymous freedom to launch personal attacks against others. Eventually everyone will find out who the writers are. If not, God knows.

Notice how muted the fake Icha-blogger is, now that everyone knows he is WELS Pastor Tim Glende, another Church and Changer. It is one thing to lob anonymous stink bombs behind the scenes, as he loves to do. It is quite another to have someone attach a name to the stink bombs.

Poor Tim thinks he has to watch my blog. That is his only job. Like ELCA Pastor Bruce Foster, he has the same nasty message every two months.

Look over the fake Icha-blog and see how funny it really is, especially coming from a known bully and Groeschel addict, as shown by a carefully written letter from a lawyer. I have linked Glende's blog so everyone can see how seldom he writes. He should have lots of time since he has a free sermon-writing service, but he manages to blog every other month. I can hardly wait for the next time he unburdens his soul.

Remembering the Epiphany in chalk « Churchmouse Campanologist

Remembering the Epiphany in chalk « Churchmouse Campanologist

This is good reading, Ichabodians.

NALC Video Takes on ELCA, About 23 Years Late

Ohio ELCA Bishop finally had enough, after cheering on the merger of 1987.

No one seemed to be seconding the motion when I said published similar criticisms in 1987.

Some Readers Like This Blog

M. Loy was a pioneer in several areas. His hymns and translations are worth noting and singing.


Hello again Pastor Jackson,

First and foremost, I hope you enjoyed your Christmas and New Year's. I hope your family is doing well.

Now...onto the meat and potatoes:

Sometimes I think you take the name Lutheran truly to heart, modeling yourself after the great reformer in both his efforts to go back to God's Word and in his crash, often times tongue in cheek, humor. It's at times refreshing.

That said, I know many people criticize perhaps too much for your style. I have been mildly offended at times, true, but that shouldn't stop anyone from reading the context and content of the blog, not just individual remarks. So if anyone thinks you to be nothing but a crass, bitter old man, this latest post reveals your desire to truly be Lutheran. Others may not like your style of calling people out. And perhaps at times it does go too far or goes on for too long. Yet the reason behind your blog is to make people think, push them to be like Luther and find out what does the Word really say.

This paragraph says it all:

 "I would like to leave Lutheran pastors and laity with this thought, that they still have what the false teachers can never take away—the Word of God. No weapon fashioned by man can defeat the work of the Holy Spirit. No matter how weak and flawed we may be, God’s Word remains powerful, effective, active, and filled with eternal-life-giving energy. We should not and cannot judge how successful we are, since God alone is glorified in the ministry of the Word. Who would have guessed that a widowed housemother at a tiny college was raising four sons who would be pastors, three serving as professors at three different Lutheran seminaries, two of them respected authors to this day, one of them a seminary president? Mrs. Pieper lived in the humblest circumstances and probably never imagined she would be mentioned in various books as an example of how God works. Martin Luther expressed this faithfully in his thoughts on Matthew 7, where Jesus compared sound doctrine to false doctrine."

We are but jars of clay. Cracked, broken, sinful. And yet we have the greatest weapon, the greatest defense - the Word of God.

So thank you for your work. If nothing else, it has spurred me on to digging deeper into matters I thought I had down. Let my faith never grow complacent.

Someone

***

GJ - My only goal is to have people familiar with Luther and the Book of Concord...and to have a little fun with my opponents who love Sweet, Stetzer, Driscoll, C. Peter Wagner, and Knapp.

More Quotations from Chairman Luther - Thy Strong Word

J-1044

"The church depends upon the faithful use of this Word both for gathering people into its fold, and for edifying them in the Gospel of Christ. Other means for the accomplishing of these purposes may seem more popular. But nothing can take the place of the Bible, inasmuch as it alone presents the Lord Jesus and is empowered by the Holy Spirit. It is the only effective instrument in reaching and regenerating human souls."

A. A. Zinck, D.D. What a Church Member Should Know, Philadelphia: United Lutheran Pubication House, 1937, p. 20.⁵²⁵

J-1045

"In order to keep your faith pure, do nothing else than stand still, enjoy its blessings, accept Christ's works, and let him bestow His love upon you. You must be blind, lame, deaf, dead, leprous and poor, otherwise you will stumble at Christ. That Gospel which suffers Christ to be seen and to be doing good only among the needy, will not belie you."

Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, I, p. 110.

J-1046

"But all this is portrayed here in order that we might learn that with God nothing is impossible, whether it be misfortune, calamity, anger, or whatever it may be, and that He sometimes allows misfortune to come upon the good as well as upon the wicked."

Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholaus Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, V, p. 143.

J-1047

"On the other hand, we are outwardly oppressed with the cross and sufferings, and with the persecution and torments of the world and the devil, as with the weight of heavy stone upon us, subduing our old sinful nature and checking us against antagonizing the Spirit and committing other sins."

Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, VIII, p. 145.

J-1048

"Yet this is also true, that Christ often delays the bestowal of His help, as He did on this occasion, and on another, John 21, when He permitted the disciples to toil all the night without taking anything, and really appeared as if He would forget His own Word and promise."

Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, IV, p. 154. Luke 5:1-11; John 21.

J-1049

"For if I perish, no great harm is done; but if I let God’s Word perish, and I remain silent, then I do harm to God and to the whole world."

Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, II, p. 176.

J-1050

"Therefore God must lead us to a recognition of the fact that it is He who puts faith in our heart and that we cannot produce it ourselves. Thus the fear of God and trust in Him must not be separated from one another, for we need them both, in order that we may not become presumptuous and overconfident, depending upon ourselves. This is one of the reasons why God leads His saints through such great trials."

Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, II, p. 21.

Spiritual Onslaughts

J-1051

"Again, with truly pious hearts, which in many respects are timid and tender, his [Satan's] practice is just the opposite. He tortures them with everything terrible that can be imagined, martyring and piercing them as with fiery darts, until they may find no good thing nor comfort before God. His object in both cases is to ruin souls by means of his lies and to lead them to eternal death."

Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed. John N. Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p. 302. Pentecost Sunday John 14:23-31.

J-1052

"Thus you see, that God can deal with His saints in a way to deprive them of happiness and comfort whenever He pleases, and cast them into the greatest fear concerning that in which they have their greatest joy. So, likewise, He can again confer the greatest joy."

Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, II, p. 36.

J-1053

"That temptation occurs before God’s Word is heard; this after we hear the Word, namely thus: when we know that God has promised help in the time of any trouble, but are not content with it, go forward and will not abide His promise, but prescribe time, place, and manner for His help; and then if He does not come as we expect and desire, faith vanishes."

Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, I, p. 366.

J-1054

"For the devil will not allow a Christian to have peace; therefore Christ must bestow it in a manner different from that in which the world has and gives, in that he quiets the heart and removes from within fear and terror, although without there remain contention and misfortune."

Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, II, p. 380

J-1055

"Therefore, such a trial of the saints is as necessary or even more necessary than food and drink, in order that they may remain in fear and humility, and learn to adhere alone to the grace of God."

Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, II, p. 40.

J-1056

"For if they [great saints] should at all times be strong in spirit, and experience only joy and sweetness, they might finally fall into the fatal pride of the devil, which despises God and trusts in self."

Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, II, p. 40.

J-1057

"Secondly, God permits His saints to suffer these trials as an example for others, both to alarm the carnally secure and to comfort the timid and alarmed... But when we see and hear that God has in like manner dealt with His saints and did not spare even His own mother, we have the knowledge and comfort that we need not despair in our trials, but remain quiet and wait until He helps us, even as He has helped all His saints."

Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, II, p. 40f.

J-1058

"Nor does He send such trial upon you in order to cast you off, but that you may the better learn to know and the more closely cling to His Word, to punish your lack of understanding and that you may experience how earnestly and faithfully He cares for you."

Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, II, p. 44.

J-1059

Ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.

"We should take to heart and firmly hold fast to these words and keep them in mind when in sorrow and distress, that it will not last long, then we would also have more constant joy, for as Christ and His elect had their 'a little while,' so you and I and everyone will have his 'a little while.' Pilate and Herod will not crucify you, but in the same manner as the devil used them so he will also use your persecutors. Therefore when your trials come, you must not immediately think how you are to be delivered out of them. God will help you in due time. Only wait. It is only for a little while, He will not delay long."

Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed. John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p. 77. John 16:16-23.

J-1060

"Not only is Christ hidden from the world, but a still harder thing is it that in such trials Christ conceals himself even from His church, and acts as if He had forgotten, aye, had entirely forsaken and rejected it, since He permits it to be oppressed under the cross and subjected to all the cruelty of the world, while its enemies boast, glory and rejoice over it, as we shall hear in the next Gospel."

Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p. 67.

J-1061

"This is spoken to all Christians, for every Christian must have temptations, trials, anxieties, adversities, sorrows, come what may. Therefore He mentions here no sorrow nor trial, He simply says they shall weep, lament, and be sorrowful, for the Christian has many persecutions. Some are suffering loss of goods; others there are whose character is suffering ignominy and scorn; some are drowned, others are burned; some are beheaded; one perishes in this manner, and another in that; it is therefore the lot of the Christian constantly to suffer misfortune, persecution, trials and adversity. This is the rod or fox tail with which they are punished. They dare not look for anything better as long as they are here. This is the court color by which the Christian is recognized, and if anyone wants to be a Christian, he dare not be ashamed of his court color or livery."

Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed. John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p. 79.

J-1062

"Christians are in far greater anxiety, worry, and tribulation than worldly people. Yet, in spite of all this, the Christian is far happier than worldly men. If God were to come this night and demand his soul from him, he would say, 'Praise God! My race is run; soon I shall be with my Savior.'"

C. F. W. Walther, The Proper Distinction Between Law and Gospel, trans., W. H. T. Dau, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1928, p. 55.

J-1063

"Here in this Gospel we see how the Lord comforts and imparts courage to His children whom He is about to leave behind Him, when they would come in fear and distress on account of His death or of their backsliding. We also notice what induced the evangelist John to use so many words that he indeed repeats one expression four times, which according to our thinking he might have expressed in fewer words."

Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed. John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p. 73f. Third Sunday after Easter John 16:16-23.

J-1064

"Therefore we must also feel within us this 'a little while' as the dear disciples felt it, for this is written for our example and instruction, so that we may thereby be comforted and be made better. And we should use this as a familiar adage among ourselves; yes, we should feel and experience it, so that we might at all times say, God is at times near and at times He has vanished out of sight. At times I remember how the Word seems neither to move me nor to apply to me. It passes by; I give no heed to it. But to this 'a little while' we must give heed and pay attention, so that we may remain strong and steadfast. We will experience the same as the disciples."

Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed. John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p. 75f. Third Sunday after Easter John 16:16-23.

J-1065

"And although we do at times depart from the Word, we should not therefore remain altogether away from it, but return again, for He makes good His Word. Even though man cannot believe it, God will nevertheless help him to believe it, and this He does without man's reason or free will and without man adding anything thereto."

Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed. John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p. 76. Third Sunday after Easter John 16:16-23.

J-1066

"Why does God do this and permit His own to be persecuted and hounded? In order to suppress and subdue the free will, so that it may not seek an expedient in their works; but rather become a fool in God's works and learn thereby to trust and depend upon God alone."

Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed. John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p. 79f. Third Sunday after Easter John 16:16-23.

J-1067

"The worst of all is, that we must not only suffer shame, persecution and death; but that the world rejoices because of our great loss and misfortunes. This is indeed very hard and bitter. Sure it shall thus come to pass, for the world will rejoice when it goes ill with us; but this comfort we have that their joy shall not last long, and our sorrow shall be turned into eternal joy."

Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p. 80. Third Sunday after Easter John 16:16-23.

The Woman in Travail

J-1068

"The woman is here in such a state of mind that she is fearful of great danger, and yet she knows that the whole work lies in the hands of God; in Him she trusts; upon Him it is she depends; He also helps her and accomplishes the work, which the whole world could not do, and she thinks of nothing but the time that shall follow, when she shall again rejoice; and her heart feels and says, A dangerous hour is at hand, but afterwards it will be well. Courage and the heart press through all obstacles. Thus it will also be with you, when you are in sorrow and adversity, and when you become new creatures. Only quietly wait and permit God to work. He will accomplish everything without your assistance."

Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed. John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p. 81.

J-1069

“This parable of the woman is a strong and stubborn argument against free will, that it is entirely powerless and without strength in the things pertaining to the salvation of our souls. The Gospel shows very plainly that divine strength and grace are needed. Man's free will is entirely too weak and insignificant to accomplish anything here. But we have established our own orders and regulations instead of the Gospel and through these we want to free ourselves from sin, from death, from hell, and from all misfortune and finally be saved thereby. A great mistake."

Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed. John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p. 81.

J-1070

..."but wait thou patiently and permit God to do with you according to His will. He shall accomplish it; permit Him to work. We shall accomplish nothing ourselves, but at times we shall feel death and hell. This the ungodly shall also feel, but they do not believe that God is present in it and wants to help them. Just as the woman here accomplishes nothing, she only feels pain, distress and misery; but she cannot help herself out of this state."

Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed. John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p. 82.

J-1071

"Such people, however, do not understand divine things, they think they will suddenly enter death with Christ, whom they have never learned to know except in words. Thus was Peter also disposed, but he stood before Christ like a rabbit before one beating a drum. Notice, how the old Adam lacks courage when under the cross! The new man, however, can indeed persevere through grace."

Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed. John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p. 85.

J-1072

"In suffering pious persons have no aim of their own, but if it be God's will they bear good fruit like the tree planted by streams of water; and that is pleasing to God, and besides all presumption is condemned, all show and every excuse however good they may be. But he who battles heroically will receive for his suffering here joy, the eternal in place of the temporal. Of this Christ says: 'Your joy will be turned into sorrow.'"

Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed. John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p. 86.

J-1073

"Thus too, if our confidence is to begin, and we become strengthened and comforted, we must well learn the voice of our Shepherd, and let all other voices go, who only lead us astray, and chase and drive us hither and thither. We must hear and grasp only that article which presents Christ to us in the most friendly and comforting manner possible. So that we can say with all confidence: My Lord Jesus Christ is truly the only Shepherd, and I, alas, the lost sheep, which has strayed into the wilderness, and I am anxious and fearful, and would gladly be good, and have a gracious God and peace of conscience, but here I am told that He is as anxious for me as I am for Him."

Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, IV, p. 86.

J-1074

"Now it is the consolation of Christians, and especially of preachers, to be sure and ponder well that when they present and preach Christ, that they must suffer persecution, and nothing can prevent it; and that it is a very good sign of the preaching being truly Christian, when they are thus persecuted, especially by the great, the saintly, the learned and the wise."

Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, II, p. 97.

J-1075

"Christ's kingdom grows through tribulations and declines in times of peace, ease and luxury, as St. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12:9 'My power is made perfect in weakness, etc.' To this end help us God! Amen."

Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, II, p. 99.

J-1076

"One Christian who has been tried is worth a hundred who have not been tried for the blessing of God grows in trials. He who has experienced them can teach, comfort, and advise many in bodily and spiritual matters."

What Luther Says, An Anthology, 3 vols., ed., Ewald Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, III, p. 1381. Genesis 27:28-29.

Bear the Cross

J-1077

"The ultimate purpose of afflictions is the mortification of the flesh, the expulsion of sins, and the checking of that original evil which is embedded in our nature. And the more you are cleansed, the more you are blessed in the future life. For without a doubt glory will follow upon the calamities and vexations which we endure in this life. But the prime purpose of all these afflictions is the purification, which is extremely necessary and useful, lest we snore and become torpid and lazy because of the lethargy of our flesh. For when we enjoy peace and rest, we do not pray, we do not meditate on the Word but deal coldly with the Scriptures and everything that pertains to God or finally lapse into a shameful and ruinous security."

What Luther Says, An Anthology, 3 vols., ed., Ewald Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, I, p. 18. Genesis 45:3.

J-1078

"If we would be Christians, therefore, we must surely expect and reckon upon having the devil with all his angels and the world as our enemies, who will bring every possible misfortune and grief upon us. For where the Word of God is preached, accepted, or believed, and produces fruit, there the holy cross cannot be wanting. And let no one think that he shall have peace; but he must risk whatever he has upon earth—possessions, honor, house and estate, wife and children, body and life. Now, this hurts our flesh and the old Adam; for the test is to be steadfast and to suffer with patience in whatever way we are assailed, and to let go whatever is taken from us."

Large Catechism, The Lord's Prayer, Third Petition, #65, Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 715f. Tappert, p. 429. Heiser, p. 201.

J-1079

"When the Gospel begins to assert its influence, everybody wants to become a Christian. All seems well, and everybody is pleased. But when a wind or rainstorm of temptation comes on, people fall away in droves Then sectaries arrive, as worms and bugs, gnawing and polluting the fruits of the Gospel, and so much false doctrine arises that few stay with the Gospel."

What Luther Says, An Anthology, 3 vols., ed., Ewald Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, I, p. 37. John 4:46-54.

J-1080

“Bear the cross, bear the cross.

Zion, till thy latest breath

Bear the cross of scorn and jeering

And be faithful unto death;

See the crown of life appearing,

Zion count all other things as loss.

Bear the cross, bear the cross!”

Johann E. Schmidt, “Zion Rise, Zion, Rise,” The Lutheran Hymnal, #479, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1941.

J-1081

"Christendom must have men who are able to floor their adversaries and take armor and equipment from the devil, putting him to shame. But this calls for strong warriors who have complete control of Scripture, can refute a false interpretation, know how to wrest the sword they wield, that is, their Bible passages, from the hands of the adversaries and beat them back with them."

What Luther Says, An Anthology, 3 vols., ed., Ewald Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, I, p. 419. Ephesians 6:10-17.

Who Builds the Church?

J-1082

"We hold to that Defender of our church who says in Mt. 16:18: I shall build My church, not upon length of time, nor upon the great number of people, nor upon 'so it must be,' nor upon the grace or word of the saints, nor, finally, upon John the Baptist or Elijah, Isaiah, or any of the prophets, but upon this sole and solid Rock, Christ, the Son of God."

What Luther Says, An Anthology, 3 vols., ed., Ewald Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, II, p. 863. Matthew 16:18.

J-1083

"Now it is evident that fruits do not bear the tree, not does the tree grow on the fruit, but the reverse—trees bear fruits, and fruits grow on trees. As there must be trees before there can be fruits, and as the fruits do not make the tree either good or corrupt, but the tree produces the fruits, even so man must first be either good or corrupt before he does good or corrupt works. His works do not make him either good or corrupt, but he does either good or corrupt works." Martin Luther, St. L. XIX, 1003f.

C. F. W. Walther, The Proper Distinction between Law and Gospel, trans., W. H. T. Dau, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1928, p. 306. Matthew 7:18.

Martin Luther, House Postil

J-1084

"No one is so foolish as to go into a field full of thorns and thistles and look for grapes and figs. Such fruits we seek on a different plant, which is not so full of barbs and prickles. The same thing happens in our gardens. Seeing a tree full of apples or pears, everybody exclaims: Ah, what a fine tree that is! Again, where there is no fruit on a tree or the fruit is worm-eaten, cracked, and misshapen, everybody says the tree is worthless, fit to be cut down and cast into the fire, so that a better tree may be planted in its place. These tests, the Lord says, you must apply to the false prophets, and you will not make a mistake, no matter how good their appearance may be. If a wolf had put on twenty sheepskins, still you must know him to be a wolf and not be deceived by him."

C. F. W. Walther, The Proper Distinction between Law and Gospel, trans. W. H. T. Dau, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House 1897, p. 412.

When Will We Hear These Words Again?

            In all the years I served as a pastor within a synod, I never heard the closing words of Walther’s Law and Gospel—a fitting climax for this work—where Luther is quoted verbatim. Like most pastors, I heard plenty of Law from church officials and certain members, although most of it was not God’s Law but man’s opinion. I have seen many men battered down to the point where they would never serve another congregation, even on a part-time basis. Pastors’ families have been abused as well. Many of the characters named in this book are directly responsible for this shameful outcome. The same Church Growth leaders’ names keep coming up in conversations about men pushed out of the ministry for the flimsiest excuse. One mission board urged one congregation to get rid of their pastor because the parish was not growing fast enough for them. They refused, so the mission board threatened to cut off their support. Certain district presidents and their toadies also figure prominently in the expulsion of good pastors from the ministry. These church leaders have enjoyed their triumphal march through the Lutheran Church, carrying the spoils of their victories: the wealth of the nation from estate gifts… the Lutheran theologians captive in chains. Their raucous celebration in this life will be followed by an eternity of God’s justice.

            I would like to leave Lutheran pastors and laity with this thought, that they still have what the false teachers can never take away—the Word of God. No weapon fashioned by man can defeat the work of the Holy Spirit. No matter how weak and flawed we may be, God’s Word remains powerful, effective, active, and filled with eternal-life-giving energy. We should not and cannot judge how successful we are, since God alone is glorified in the ministry of the Word. Who would have guessed that a widowed housemother at a tiny college was raising four sons who would be pastors, three serving as professors at three different Lutheran seminaries, two of them respected authors to this day, one of them a seminary president? Mrs. Pieper lived in the humblest circumstances and probably never imagined she would be mentioned in various books as an example of how God works. Martin Luther expressed this faithfully in his thoughts on Matthew 7, where Jesus compared sound doctrine to false doctrine.

 

Luther's Gospel Admonition  

J - 1085

"Now, the Lord in this passage speaks, in particular, of preachers or prophets, whose real and proper fruit is nothing else than this, that they diligently proclaim this will of God to the people and teach them that God is gracious and merciful and has no pleasure in the death of a sinner, but wants him to live, moreover, that God has manifested His mercy by having His only-begotten Son become man. Whoever, now, receives Him and believes in Him, that is, whoever takes comfort in the fact that for the sake of His Son, God will be merciful to him, will forgive his sins, and grant him eternal salvation, etc.,—whoever is engaged in this preaching of the pure Gospel and thus directs men to Christ, the only Mediator between God and men, he, as a preacher, is doing the will of God. That is the genuine fruit by which no one is deceived or duped. For if it were possible that the devil were to preach this truth, the preaching would not be false or made up of lies and a person believing it would have what it promises.—After this fruit, which is the principal and most reliable one and cannot deceive, there follow in the course of time other fruits, namely, a life in beautiful harmony with this doctrine and in no way contrary to it. But these fruits are to be regarded as genuine fruits only where the first fruit, namely, the doctrine of Christ, already exists."

            C. F. W. Walther, The Proper Distinction between Law and Gospel, trans., W. H. T. Dau, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1928, p. 413. Matthew 7:21. [emphasis in original]

The More Glorious Ministry - from Thy Strong Word

KJV 2 Corinthians 3:7 But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so thatthe children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: 8 How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? 9 For if theministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.10 For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory thatexcelleth. 11 For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious.

The More Glorious Ministry of the Gospel

J-947

"Concerning the article on the justification of the poor sinner in God's sight, we believe, teach, and confess on the basis of God’s Word and the position of our Christian Augsburg Confession that the poor, sinful person is justified in God's sight—that is, he is pronounced free and absolved of his sins and receives forgiveness for them—only through faith, because of the innocent, complete, and unique obedience and the bitter sufferings and death of our Lord Jesus Christ, not because of the indwelling, essential righteousness of God or because of his own good works, which either precede or result from faith. We reject all doctrines contrary to this belief and confession."

Jacob Andreae, Confession and Brief Explanation of Certain Disputed Articles, cited in Robert Kolb, Andreae and the Formula of Concord, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1977, p. 58.

J-948

"It is the Word of God, that still remits and retains, that binds and looses. The pastor can only declare that Word, but the Word itself does effectually work forgiveness to him that rightly receives it. Not only can the minister carry this Word of God, this key of the kingdom, this power of God unto salvation, and apply it, but any disciple of Christ can do so."

G. H. Gerberding, The Way of Salvation in the Lutheran Church, Philadelphia: Lutheran Publication Society, 1887, p. 126f.

J-949

"The whole Gospel is nothing but a proclamation of the forgiveness of sins, or a publication of the same Word to all men on earth, which God Himself confirms in heaven."

G. H. Gerberding, The Way of Salvation in the Lutheran Church, Philadelphia: Lutheran Publication Society, 1887, p. 127.

J-950

"Every time a believer in Christ sits down beside a troubled and penitent one, and speaks to such an one Christ's precious promises and assurances of forgiveness, he carries out the Lutheran or scriptural idea of absolution."

G. H. Gerberding, The Way of Salvation in the Lutheran Church, Philadelphia: Lutheran Publication Society, 1887, p. 127.

J-951

"Observe, Christ is not put into your hand, not given you in a coffer, not placed in your bosom nor in your mouth. He is presented to you through the Word, the Gospel; He is held up before your heart, through the ears He is offered to you, as the Being who gave Himself for you—for your unrighteousness and impurity. Only with your heart can you receive Him. And your heart receives when it responds to your opened mind, saying, 'Yes, I believe.' Thus through the medium of the Gospel Christ penetrates your heart by way of your hearing, and dwells there by your faith. Then are you pure and righteous; not by your own efforts, but in consequence of the Guest received into your heart through faith. How rich and precious these blessings!"

Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholaus Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, VI, p. 135. Christmas Eve, Titus 2:11-15.

J-952

"God, too, shows Himself to us through the Gospel as wholly lovable and kind, receiving all, rejecting none, ignoring our shortcomings and repelling no soul by severity. The Gospel proclaims naught but grace, whereby God sustains us and through which He kindly leads us, regardless of our worthiness. This is the day of grace. All men may confidently draw near to the throne of his mercy, as it is written in Hebrews 4:16."

Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholaus Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, VI, p. 143f. Early Christmas Morning Titus 3:4-8; Hebreews 4:16.

J-953

"Dear friends, you know that the Gospel is nothing else than a sermon about one person who is called Christ."

Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholaus Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, V, p. 328. Twenty-fourth Sunday after Trinity, Matthew 9:18-26.

J-954

"To this end Christ is presented to us as an inexhaustible fountain, Who at all times overflows with pure goodness and grace. And for such goodness and kindness He accepts nothing, except that the good people, who acknowledge such kindness and grace, thank Him for it, praise and love Him, although others despise Him for it."

Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholaus Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, V, p. 329. Twenty-fourth Sunday after Trinity, Matthew 9:18-26.

J-955

"Recognizing the weak and wounded condition of the offender, Christ's doctrine comes in a friendly way, teaching the real truth about human laws—that of Christian liberty. It is patient, bearing with him who does not immediately abandon his erroneous ways, and giving him time to learn to forsake them. It allows him to do the best he can, according to what he has been used to, until he is made whole and clearly perceives the truth."

Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, VI, p. 33. Second Sunday in Advent Romans 15:4-13.

J-956

"Therefore, whoever would have a joyful conscience that does not fear sin, death, hell, nor the wrath of God, dare not reject this Mediator, Christ. For He is the fountain that overflows with grace, that gives temporal and eternal life."

Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholaus Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, V, p. 331. Twenty-fourth Sunday after Trinity, Matthew 9:18-26.

J-957

"If sin terrifies my conscience and preachers of the law come and want to help me with their works, they will accomplish nothing. Christ alone can help here and no one else."

Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholaus Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, V, p. 331. Twenty-fourth Sunday after Trinity, Matthew 9:18-26.

J-958

"Now, the Christian hatred of sin discriminates between the vices and the individual. It endeavors to exterminate only the former and to preserve the latter. It does not flee from, evade, reject nor despise anyone: rather it receives every man, takes a warm interest in him and accords him treatment calculated to relieve him of his vices. It admonishes, instructs and prays for him. It patiently bears with him."

Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, VI, p. 35f. Second Sunday in Advent Romans 15:4-13.

J-959

"For the Holy Spirit aids us, fortifying our hope and enabling us not to fear nor to flee from the disasters of the world; but to stand firm even unto death, and to overcome all evil; so that evil must flee from us and cease its attacks. Remember, it is hope in the power of the Holy Spirit, not in human weakness, that must do all this through the medium of the Gospel."

Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholaus Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, VI, p. 63. First Sunday in Advent, Romans 13:11-14.

J-960

"This righteousness is offered us by the Holy Ghost through the Gospel and in the Sacraments, and is applied, appropriated, and received through faith, whence believers have reconciliation with God, forgiveness of sins, the grace of God, sonship, and heirship of eternal life."

Formula of Concord, SD III. #16. Righteousness of Faith. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 921. Tappert, p. 541. Heiser, p. 251.

J-961

"For here in the Sacrament you are to receive from the lips of Christ forgiveness of sin, which contains and brings with it the grace of God and the Spirit with all His gifts, protection, shelter, and power against death and the devil and all misfortune."

The Large Catechism, Sacrament of the Altar. #70. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 769. Tappert, p. 454. Heiser, p. 214.

J-962

"We further believe that in this Christian Church we have forgiveness of sin, which is wrought through the holy Sacraments and Absolution, moreover, through all manner of consolatory promises of the entire Gospel. Therefore, whatever is to be preached, concerning the Sacraments belongs here, and in short, the whole Gospel and all the offices of Christianity, which also must be preached and taught without ceasing. For although the grace of God is secured through Christ, and sanctification is wrought by the Holy Ghost through the Word of God in the unity of the Christian Church, yet on account of our flesh which we bear about with us we are never without sin."

The Large Catechism, The Creed, Article III. #54. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 693. Tappert, p. 417. Heiser, p. 195.

J-963

"Everything, therefore, in the Christian Church is offered to the end that we shall daily obtain there nothing but the forgiveness of sin through the Word and signs, to comfort and encourage our consciences as long as we live here. Thus, although we have sins, the [grace of the] Holy Ghost does not allow them to injure us, because we are in the Christian Church, where there is nothing but [continuous, uninterrupted] forgiveness of sin, both in that God forgives us, and in that we forgive, bear with, and help each other."

The Large Catechism, The Creed, Article III. #55. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 693. Tappert, p. 418. Heiser, p. 195.

J-964

"For now we are only half pure and holy, so that the Holy Ghost has ever [some reason why] to continue His work in us through the Word, and daily to dispense forgiveness, until we attain to that life where there will be no more forgiveness, but only perfectly pure and holy people, full of godliness and righteousness, removed and free from sin, death, and all evil, in a new, immortal, and glorified body."

The Large Catechism, The Creed, Article III. #58. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 693. Tappert, p. 418. Heiser, p. 196.

J-965

"Behold, all this is to be the office and work of the Holy Ghost, that He begin and daily increase holiness upon earth by means of these two things, the Christian Church and the forgiveness of sin. But in our dissolution He will accomplish it altogether in an instant, and will forever preserve us therein by the last two parts."

The Large Catechism, The Creed, Article III. #59. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 693f. Tappert, p. 418. Heiser, p. 196.

J-966

"Therefore we believe in Him who through the Word daily brings us into the fellowship of this Christian Church, and through the same Word and the forgiveness of sins bestows, increases, and strengthens faith, in order that when He has accomplished it all, and we abide therein, and die to the world and to all evil, He may finally make us perfectly and forever holy; which now we expect in faith through the Word."

The Large Catechism, The Creed, Article III. #62. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 695. Tappert, p. 419. Heiser, p. 196.

J-967

"Luther says the Gospel is not a law-book, not even a book of instruction, but a message of joy."

C. F. W. Walther, The Proper Distinction between Law and Gospel, trans., W. H. T. Dau, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1928, p. 292.

Right and Wrong

“Truth forever on the scaffold,

Wrong forever on the throne.

Standeth God within the shadow,

keeping watch above His own.”

James Russell Lowell (1819-1891) The Present Crisis.

From LPC and Joe Krohn - Thanks

Lito P. Cruz, PhD


LPC has left a new comment on your post "The Means of Grace - As Requested by Lito Cruz of ...":

Hi Pr. Greg,

Wow, I enjoyed reading this. As I said to my friends, it is this blog that made me appreciate the effectiveness of the Means of Grace.

When I was a charismaniac, we would have testimony time. I was spiritually diverted back then because we would have people coming to service telling us how they got "saved" looking at a beautiful sunset. I remember people being so touched by this testimony I imagine some of them even being teary eyed listening to this.

This is the height of Calvinism. For in Calvinism, God is so Sovereign he can lampoon even his own Means of Grace. The amazing thing is some Lutheran pastors believe this too!!!

Today when I remember that incident, I now reject it and count it as weird and wacko thing.

Thanks for doing a special request post on this, I appreciate it.

LPC

---

LutherRocks has left a new comment on your post "The Means of Grace - As Requested by Lito Cruz of ...":

If I were to establish the Icha-poll, this would be in the top ten; solid doctrine...right by 'The Gospel in a Few Simple Steps.'

***

GJ - I fell asleep for a few hours, after working on Justification and TSW all day. Waking up to posts like these is great for mental energy. I wrote that section for the book because of Lito's request, and I added The Gospel in a Few, Simple Steps to the justification book because of Joe.

The synods are so in love with themselves that they do not allow people to look across the great gulf between our age and 80 years ago. Seeing the enormous rear end of Church Growth in Columbus forced me to look at the earlier years of the Lutheran Church.

Henry E. Jacobs wrote a fine communion hymn, which is in The Lutheran Hymnal and many others. He also wrote an examination book for future pastors. If all the Lutheran pastors (ELCA down to the micro-minis) knew that book well, we would have a vibrant health church today, instead of a sick, greedy, lawsuit-ridden set of decaying corporations. Jacobs belongs to the Muhlenberg (LCA-ELCA) tradition.

Krauth and Schmauk are also from that tradition, and they have wonderful, wise things to say about the way things are falling apart right now. We would be better off studying those three men instead of Kelm, Larry Olson, Stetzer, and Sweet.

Someone suggested LOVE as the name for ELCA when it was forming - Lutherans of Various Exegeses.

LOVE should be the official name of the Thrivent/ELCA/WELS/LCMS/ELS combine. They all agree about one thing - not the Means of Grace - but Grace Without the Means of Grace: Universal Absolution.

As Brett Meyer (his real name) was anxious to point out, the position of the LOVE combine is exactly the same as the Pre-Forgiveness of the Unitarian-Universalists.

Tolstoy Remains Snubbed in Russia - NYTimes.com

Tolstoy Remains Snubbed in Russia - NYTimes.com

For Tolstoy and Russia, Still No Happy Ending

By ELLEN BARRY and SOPHIA KISHKOVSKY

Published: January 3, 2011

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MOSCOW — A couple of months ago one of Russia’s elder statesmen set out on a paradoxical mission: to rehabilitate one of the most beloved figures in Russian history, Tolstoy.

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Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) remains excommunicated by the Russian Orthodox Church.

Enlarge This Image

James Hill for The New York Times

Vladimir I. Tolstoy, his great-great grandson, at the author’s estate, now a museum.

This would have seemed unnecessary in 2010, a century after the author’s death. But last year Russians wrestled over Tolstoy much as they did when he was alive. Intellectuals accused theRussian Orthodox Church of blacklisting a national hero. The church accused Tolstoy of helping speed the rise of the Bolsheviks. The melodrama of his last days, when he fled his family estate to take up the life of an ascetic, was revived in all its pulpy detail, like some kind of early-stage reality television.

And in a country that rarely passes up a public celebration, the anniversary of his death, on Nov. 20, 1910, was not commemorated by noisy galas or government-financed cinematic blockbusters. Officially speaking, it was barely noted at all.

***

GJ - A 16 year-old said she enjoyed A. Karenina. I said, "You can borrow my copy of War and Peace." She said, "I read that last year, thanks."

Talk about a downer!

ELCA Pastor Bruce Foster Needs Some Attention

Bruce Foster, Pastor 

Dear Dr (by virtue of a degree issued by a school run by the underlings of the anti-Christ) Jackson

You like to remind people how my hits your web site gets. The traffic is dramatic. What exactly it means, however, is up to interpretation. One group who follows your posts are people who support your ideas. A small group of names come up again and again on comments, Bruce Church, Brett Meyer etc. I have no idea if these are real names or people who use fake names. They are, I am sure, real people because their styles are unique and I don't think anyone would go to the trouble of making up commenters.

Others, however, I suspect are people like myself who stumbled on to your web site and have become addicted to your style and thought processes. Any one who blogs as much as you do reveals a great deal about yourself on the site. One thing I am sure, however, is that your desire to present the actual facts in matters takes a back seat to presenting your own world view. If the facts don't match your world view, ignore or change the facts. An example. You wrote


"ELCA and the Episcopal Church began living together in sin a few years ago. They did not form a legal, legitimate merger, but invented a way in which Episcopalian polity could be forced upon Lutherans. One example was the sudden necessity to have an Anglican bishop present at all confirmations and ordinations. Why not at Holy Communion too? "


The best response to this is "Weird." I am not sure which alternative universe you live in, but you do not live in mine. In my universe CCM had two requirements. First, that all ELCA bishops in the future have at their consecrations at least three bishops who themselves were ordained into the historic episcopate. Second, that a bishop be present at all ordinations. This second requirements has an exception for those ministerial candidates who object to this requirement (not many do, but some have). And that's it. Now I didn't support CCM. I spoke against it. Indeed I publicly in the presence of Bishop Anderson said that the historic episcopate was one of the most butt stupid idea ever developed in the church. But I attacked CCM for what was actually there.

Where you get the idea that an Anglican bishop has to be present at "all confirmations and ordinations" I haven't a clue. Trust me, in the years since CCM I have had confirmations every year without any bishop there. And the comment "Why not at Holy Communion too?" is just bizarre.

Bizarre. Maybe that's the answer. You were just making stuff up for the fun of it. Satire or parody. Just like when I challenged you about how you knew Bill Lazareth went to hell your response was that you were joking.

And yet this makes for entertaining reading. What will Dr. Jackson make up next? It's all too sad really. You have a great work ethic. You are in many ways very bright. Too bad you don't take things seriously.


Bruce Foster (please don't belittle me for not having a degree from the anti-Christ's best school)

***

GJ - Every few months, ELCA Pastor Bruce Foster sends an email like this. It makes my day. He was the ELCA pastor who gave up the WELSians pastors Lindemann and Jenswold by quoting them. They were quite nasty anonymously. Foster is a bit hostile, but he signs his stuff instead of hiding in the foliage of the WELS Grapevine.

He used to be LCMS, so I am glad there is a place for apostate Missourians to go.

I wish I had the creativity to make up everything. Of course, if Foster had a serious objection to the facts I presented about the Anglican-ELCA morganatic marriage, he could send a serious post. ELCA is not so fascinating that I keep track of every detail. ELCA's CCM was so terrible for many that they began leaving the sect, one large congregation at a time. That became the base for the LCMC, which grew to something like 700 congregations after ELCA bowed to the Lavender Mafia in 2009.

Foster is correct. The more he writes, the more he reveals about himself. He is still fretting over the posthumous status of Bill Lazareth, sainted bishop and theologian of ELCA. I think that is all settled by now. As Bones often said in Star Trek, "He's dead, Jim."

Foster misses the point about education. Tim Glende and other WELS bullies claim they are right by virtue of their excruciatingly difficult education. They actually studied Greek! The WELS pastors do not not admit how few of them were even adequate in Greek. Glende is not on that list. Even if he were, the argument is completely bogus. Here is the argument encapsulated: "You, a lawyer and layman, cannot possibly be correct. I can plagiarize Groeschel's sermons all I want, because I studied Greek and you did not."

As 29A knows, I have been almost everywhere and often have first-hand knowledge of the theological leaders I discuss. For example, I heard Lazareth speak in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Some other recent leaders in ELCA that I have met are: Chilstrom, Marshal, Crumley, David Preus, Franklin D. Fry, Neuhaus, and several seminary presidents, including the new one at Wartburg, Stan Olson.

If merely graduating from an unaccredited seminary is enough to dazzle the typical WELS/ELS layman, how much more should theology degrees from Yale and Notre Dame?

The Lutherans have not been able to put together a university yet, and Valpo does not count. Foster should know that seminary "doctorates" are a joke, whether they are DMins or some other concoction.

The only Catholic-run part of Notre Dame was its seminary. We used their building on the lake once or twice, but the PhD program was independent of priestly training and had almost no connection with them. Some future priests attended our classes, but we were never in theirs. Foster should know by now that Notre Dame is managed by an independent board.

I am not sure what fuels his endless sarcasm. I suppose it is the closest he can get to humor. Foster sounds just like the WELS pastors who go ballistic because I point out their beloved CGM is nothing but false doctrine. They have deep, serious arguments like, "We can go to Fuller because you went to Notre Dame."

No one is allowed to criticize ELCA or WELS. Both are thin-skinned Holy Mother Synod operations, and their clergy are equally irritable. I enjoy getting under the skin of false teachers, Pastor Foster, and that is the point of this blog.

---

Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "ELCA Pastor Bruce Foster Needs Some Attention":

Perhaps ELCA Pastor Bruce Foster should remember that although Pastor Jackson studied at the Antichrist's university, he was and remains faithful to Christ and the Lutheran Confessions. Pastor Foster though is in direct denominational fellowship with the Antichrist as was confirmed by the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification and is neither faithful to Christ or the Lutheran Confessions.

Ichabodians should note that the Antichrist's hope for global spiritual ecumenism (quoted below) is the same ecumenism that is being promoted and established by the (W)ELS - diaprax (dialogue) being the tool to help build that unity.

Holy Father meets with Lutheran delegation, encourages prayer and dialogue
Vatican City, Feb 10, 2010 / 11:05 am (CNA).- After today’s general audience, the Holy Father met with a delegation from the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) in which he expressed hope for the “continuing Lutheran-Catholic dialogue.”

The Lutheran delegation was led by the ELCA’s Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson, who is also President of the Lutheran World Foundation, the global Lutheran partner to the Catholic Church since the Second Vatican Council.

The Holy Father addressed the delegation in English, saying that he hoped “the continuing Lutheran-Catholic dialogue both in the United States of America and at the international level will help to build upon the agreements reached so far.”

One such agreement is a joint declaration on the Doctrine of Justification signed by the Vatican and the Lutheran World Federation on October 31, 1999. It was the product of nearly 35 years of Lutheran-Catholic dialogue in the United States and abroad.

The Pope the noted that an important additional task “will be to harvest the results of the Lutheran-Catholic dialogue that so promisingly started after the Vatican Council II.” In order to continue “what has been achieved together since that time, he encouraged Lutherans and Catholics toward “ardent prayer” and “conversion to Christ, the source of grace and truth” in order to build a “spiritual ecumenism.”

“May the Lord help us to treasure what has been accomplished so far, to guard it with care, and to foster its development," the Pope prayed.

The Holy Father concluded by echoing his predecessor, John Paul II’s words while addressing a similar Lutheran delegation in 1985: “Let us rejoice that an encounter such as this can take place. Let us resolve to be open to the Lord so that He can use this meeting for His purposes, to bring about the unity that He desires. Thank you for the efforts you are making for full unity in faith and charity.”

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/holy_father_meets_with_lutheran_delegation_encourages_prayer_and_dialogue/

***

GJ - How delicious it must be for Foster--to join in fellowship with Rome and all denominations of the Left, creating union congregations--and denounce me for studying at Notre Dame, for writing against Roman heresies, for questioning his apostasy from the LCMS.