ICHABOD, THE GLORY HAS DEPARTED - explores the Age of Apostasy, predicted in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, to attack Objective Faithless Justification, Church Growth Clowns, and their ringmasters. The antidote to these poisons is trusting the efficacious Word in the Means of Grace. John 16:8. Isaiah 55:8ff. Romans 10. Most readers are WELS, LCMS, ELS, or ELCA. This blog also covers the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, and the Left-wing, National Council of Churches denominations.
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Bachmann is a member of Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church. 1 The Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church is a member of the Twin Cities area WELS Churches. 2 '"WELS" is the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. 3 The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod's doctrine is that the Roman Catholic Papacy is the Anti-Christ. Here is a quote from their web page ("Statement on the Anti-Christ"): "We reject the idea that the teaching that the Papacy is the Antichrist rests on a merely human interpretation of history or is an open question. We hold rather that this teaching rests on the revelation of God in Scripture which finds its fulfillment in history. The Holy Spirit reveals this fulfillment to the eyes of faith (cf. The Abiding Word, Vol. 2, p. 764). Since Scripture teaches that the Antichrist would be revealed and gives the marks by which the Antichrist is to be recognized (2 Th 2:6,8), and since this prophecy has been clearly fulfilled in the history and development of the Roman Papacy, it is Scripture which reveals that the Papacy is the Antichrist." Another quote from the same web page: "And we make this confession in the confidence of hope. The Antichrist shall not destroy us but shall himself be destroyed—“Whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming (2 Th 2:8)." 4 During a televised debate sponsored by WCCO, Bachmann vehemently denied that it was her church's position that the Roman Catholic Pope was the Anti-Christ. Here is a transcription: Pat Kessler of WCCO: We'll start with Senator Bachmann. Religion and politics that has crept into this campaign over and over again. The Minneapolis-based Star Tribune reports today, Senator, that the church you belong to is affiliated with the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, which, it says, regards the Roman Catholic pope as the Anti-Christ. Is this true, do you share the views of your church, and why should any Catholic in the Sixth District vote for you if it is true? Bachmann: Well that's a false statement that was made, and I spoke with my pastor earlier today about that as well, and he was absolutely appalled that someone would put that out. It's abhorrent, it's religious bigotry. I love Catholics, I'm a Christian, and my church does not believe that the Pope is the Anti-Christ, that's absolutely false. 5 4. "Statement On The Anti-Christ" http://www.wels.net/cgi-bin/site.pl?2617&collectionID=795&contentID=4441&shortcutID=5297 |
Today’s graphic comes courtesy of Pastor Ken Silva from Apprising Ministries, based on an idea from Sola Sisters.
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GJ - Read a first-hand account of WELS First VP promoting Rob Bell for college students.
Wayne Mueller was replaced by James Huebner in the First VP slot. The Wisconsin sect sent Huebner, Larry Olson, and Paul Calvin Kelm to Fuller Seminary to be trained as "consultants." If you can find any evidence that the trio is Lutheran, please send the quotation and a citation where people can look that up for themselves.
Earlier it was the policy for WELS to require all graduates of The Sausage Factory to return a year later for a thorough brain-washing by the same trio: Huebner, Olson, Kelm.
The same trio offered a required seminar for ALL WELS pastors, around 1992. The spineless lemmings lined up to pay $100 plus for the seminar. When asked about going, I said, "If you hold a machine gun to my head, I will."
Honored Sir, This morning I received your worthy letter, written on the 19th of the month. In your letter you ask for my opinion on whether it is advisable to introduce the singing of Methodist songs in a Lutheran Sunday School. May what follows serve as a helpful reply to your questions: No, this is not advisable, rather very incorrect and pernicious. 
The name Charles Porterfield Krauth (d. 1883) may be unfamiliar to most WELS Lutherans. Perhaps this is because he was not WELS. Regardless of the reason, this unfamiliarity is most unfortunate, for Krauth was, in fact, a leading figure of the confessional Lutheran movement in 19th Century America, and his contributions to confessionalism remain vitally important. He was a Lutheran of the early Eastern synods and a student of Samuel Schmucker (d. 1873) – who taught that the Augsburg Confession was rife with error, envisioned a future for American Lutheranism which espoused union with Reformed and Methodist Christians, advocated a theological formula for doing so, and even founded an organization to advance these ideas. Krauth grew to oppose Schmucker, his former teacher, eventually retiring from parish ministry to combat unionism full-time and to work toward establishing confessional unity among Lutherans in America under the Unaltered Augsburg Confession. To this end, and under Krauth's leadership, the General Council was formed in 1867, serving as a significant and positive force for the advancement of Lutheran confessionalism. That work still being "relevant", portions of the General Council's output has even appeared on Intrepid Lutherans in the past – the Explanation of the Common Service being published on this blog last July (which is now available in book form from Emmanuel Press, should the reader desire a personal copy). Regarding Krauth and his significance, Rev. David Jay Webber (Little Sect on the Prairie), in his fine essay Charles Porterfield Krauth: The American Chemnitz, quotes a figure who should be familiar to WELS Lutherans – C.F.W. Walther:
