Spock Turned 80 on Saturday

Wikipedia: "Spock gave his Vulcan salute whenever greeting crew members, and it became a recognized symbol of the show identified with him. Nimoy created the sign himself from his childhood memories of the way kohanim (Jewish priests) held their hand when giving blessings. During an interview, he translated the Priestly Blessing which... accompanied the sign[17] and described it during a public lecture:[18]

May the Lord bless and keep you and may the Lord cause his countenance to shine upon you. May the Lord be gracious unto you and grant you peace.

Nimoy was asked to read these verses as part of his narration for Civilization IV." Nimoy turned 80 today.

***

GJ - This is your Icha-peek for the day, the last post. Sorry, Icha-widows. I could not resist.

Bruce Church on Using Government Funds To Create Seminary Sinecures

Bruce Church has left a new comment on your post "The Burden of Being Wrong Most of the Time":

Speaking of schools closing, the LCMS Concordia seminaries both stay open only thanks to a US federal regulation that allows a school to disburse student loans for however many credit hours they see fit to require for a degree. The Dept of Education could one day say they'll only fund up to the minimum necessary hours for an accredited masters degree, and then the student is on his own for financing the rest of his degree. The LCMS M. Div. students would then have to finance the second half of their degree by themselves, since only the first 72 out of the 137/139 credit hours would be covered. One can see that the seminaries would be in serious existential trouble due to finances and lack of students.

The whole system reeks though, and reminds me of the papacy. The papacy bases its existence on the peculiar interpretation of one verse (Mat 16:18), and the LCMS seminaries base their mutual existence on one govt regulation and that govt's loosey goosey accounting practices. Just as the Antichrist seems not to be concerned about Christ coming back to destroy him, so the seminaries seem unconcerned that the Tea Party may choke off their revenue stream. The profs there probably even voted for Tea Party candidates in the primaries and election:

loosey goosey
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=loosey%20goosey

Town mentioned in linked post:
Comfrey, MN (poplulation 367)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comfrey,_Minnesota

***

GJ - On March 29, 1998, Comfrey was hit by a strong F4 tornado which damaged or destroyed most of the town.

I remember that, because I become incredibly sleepy when a tornado is near. I simply could not drive the car. I pulled over for a period of time. Soon after we heard on the radio that Comfrey was wiped out by a tornado.

That also happened much earlier near Kalamazoo, when I insisted on pulling over. That time a tornado was just ahead of us. It ravaged the very road we were going to use, so we drove down the street and looked at the damage. I was happy to point out that I saved our lives by being overwhelmed by sleep. When it happened the second time, near Comfrey, I became unbearable.

Romans 3:20-26 Is a Justification by Faith Passage

He would be great in the next MLC video.


LutherRocks has left a new comment on your post "Read the Whole Passage, WELS":

I've had discussions with two WELS pastors concerning this text. It is always sidestepped. Here is an excerpt from one of my emails:

"Objective Justification speaks to a forgiveness of sins apart from faith, but the Bible does not speak this way. It always speaks a message of repentance and forgiveness through faith in Jesus who is our justifier and our righteousness. (Romans 10:4)

In fact those very verses (Romans 3:20-26) come from the section entitled ‘Justification by Faith’ in the NIV. Objective Justification turns or burns on verses 22-24. The Concordia Study Bible calls out a parenthetical thought starting at the end of verse 22 and continuing through verse 23. (see attached file for commentary for entire section) I understand that to mean: “22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe [There is no difference, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God] 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” So the meaning actually says according to the study notes: “22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (Because believers are sinners and fall short of the glory of God)."

The KJV's punctuation helps to set this off. The modern translations have butchered this text.



LutherRocks has left a new comment on your post "Read the Whole Passage, WELS":

Oh and by the way...the next time your pastor talks about UOJ, ask him how it works with Abraham, since he lived with all the other BC Christians and the work of the atonement had not happened. You'll probably get the same answer I always get...or don't...

Joseph Schmidt on the Pipe Organ

Joseph Schmidt is providing pipe organ hymns, TLH, thanks to the magic of computers.

Programs I Use

• Cakewalk Music Creator 5
• Hauptwerk
• Noteworthy Composer

I added his new blog to the link list.

Read the Whole Passage, WELS

KJV Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through theforbearance of God; 26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.


raklatt (http://raklatt.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "Universalism in WELS":

One gets tired of WELS being right about Romans 3:23 and wrong about Romans 3:24.

Should they read one more verse, Romans 3:25, they would learn something about faith being important in the propitiation, and that it was Jesus who was declared righteous, not us.

That is so important that Paul repeats it in Romans 3:26.

How is it that the WELS sophists continually ignore what they are being told in Scriptures?

The news gives us sound-bites. The WELS gives us word-bites. Both are incomplete, misleading and often very, very wrong.

Read on. Study well.

Christian Universalism - Universal Reconciliation

I'm singing in the WELS
Just singing in the WELS
What a glorious feelin'
I'm running the ELS.
I'm laughing at clods
So dark up above
Paul Kelm’s in my heart
And I'm ready for love.
Let the Intrepids chase
We’ll quote them the Eighth
And bring on the pain.
I've a smile on my face,
I walk down the lane,
Cause we browbeat the ELS,
Just singin',
Singin' in the WELS.


Please look over this page on Christian Universalism - Universal Reconciliation, which was linked by Church Mouse on his excellent blog.

Today many people can see the reason why I advocate studying comp dog (comparative dogmatics), so we know what we believe in comparison with the confessions of other groups. I used to commune George Lindbeck at Yale University. He taught the comp dog class, but I was not able to fit his course into the schedule. Lindbeck was the official observer at Vatican II. Soon after Yale I spent most of my time on comp dog at Notre Dame, seven years in all. Nevertheless, I am always learning.

If you study the page on Christian Universalism you will recognize arguments used for Universal Objective Justification. They are not quite the same, but they are twigs on the same branch of Enthusiasm. Hoenecke's main teacher at Halle, Tholuck, was a Universalist.

My neighbor in Columbus was a Universalist minister. He invited me to do the complete service at his church. I did not want to be the visiting monkey, so I declined, even though I could have taken an organist along and controlled all the content. He hastened to point out how conservative the Universalist part of the UUA merger was. The Unitarians became extremely radical and controlled the UUA after that merger.

Recently I looked up Universalist hymnals on Google Books. The theology books seem to be all from the Harvard Library. Many of those hymns from the early days were exactly what we sing today, including the same words, not all manipulated like the Mormon or WELS hymnals.

And it all comes down to love. If you question this, you are not loving and you question God's love. Do you feel bad now? You should.

Christian Universalism is that warm feeling one gets just before becoming a confirmed, loud-mouthed, obnoxious atheist. Follow the UOJ Shrinkers and you find that trajectory in their lives.

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LutherRocks has left a new comment on your post "Church Mouse Update on Rob Bell - WELS VP Huebner'...":

Thanks for posting these...so much of it sounds eerily similar to what I have seen in print and taught by WELS 'theologians'. Here's a rhetorical question; What's the common denominator?

Orange Ice Water:Jackson Special.Summer Treat

Orange blossoms create a beautiful perfume wherever they grow.

All sugared sodas are little more than corn syrup plus water, flavor, and bubbles. Obese children can probably thank their parents for getting them used to lots of soda, which turns to instant fat and really spikes hunger pangs. Popcorn is similar, adding fat to the mix. The SORE and Victory may die off from COPD before false doctrine takes its toll, since both offer popcorn and soda for the so-called worship service. (Victory uses my credal statement, yet boasts another Glende.)

Diet soda is not an answer to sugared soda, since it loaded with questionable stuff to make it seem sweet. Many argue that artificial sweeteners are worse than corn syrup. I love the taste of diet A and W root beer, but I find it oddly un-refreshing, no matter how much I drink. Diet soda is not on my list.

Years ago, I drank enough Coca Cola to make withdrawal difficult. I began de-tox with orange juice, which was also another big slug of sugared water. Dieticians frown on orange juice.

I discovered that the best and most refreshing drink consisted of orange slices in iced water. I cut half an orange into little pieces, which can be eaten later. The orange bits add flavor and a slightly sweet taste to the water. Mrs. Ichabod and I both love this drink.

Lemons are good, but their staying power in water is not impressive. They get an odd taste after a few hours, unlike oranges. Limes have great flavor, but they are often rather dry and hard. Lemons and limes seem to shrink to pebbles in the fridge, at an alarming rate. I like lemons and limes in theory but not in practice.

At a restaurant, the waitress will bring lemon or lime ice water for free. Lemonade costs about $2. I said at the last gathering of Team Jackson, "I ordered de-sugared lemonade." To be frank, once sugared drinks are removed the diet, they seem odious and disgusting.

Church Mouse Update on Rob Bell - WELS VP Huebner's Fave Theologian

Rob Bell versus shocked Christians: When two Gods collide

March 25, 2011 in Calvinism, Evangelical, heresy, Protestant | Tags: Calvinism, Christian Universalism, emergent church, Evangelical, heresy, Love Wins, Protestant, Rob Bell

Rob Bell’s Love Wins has caused a furore not only among Christians around the world but those at his own church, Mars Hill Bible Church (MHBC) in Grandville, Michigan.  As people in the North of England say, ‘There’s trouble at t’mill’.
Pastor Ken Silva at Apprising Ministries received a grudging but grateful email from one of Bell’s congregants, excerpts of which follow.  First, Pastor Silva gives us a bit of background from March 11, 2011 (emphases mine throughout):

The other day in Latest On Firestorm Around Rob Bell I reminded you that numerous sources have now confirmed that there will be “a church meeting this Sun [night], March 13 in the evening to discuss the book.” It’s only for “covenant members only by invitation” and apparently people “must register and be approved to attend” this question and answer session. I’m being told “many” at Mars Hill Bible Church are seriously wondering if Rob Bell is a universalist. As I’ve said before, I actually don’t think he is; I offer that Bell’s already been leaning toward this Christian Universalism, which is also known as Universal Reconciliation/Redemption. For many of those who do believe this heresy—with its false gospel—there is a literal hell; but they dream, after each is punished temporally eventually hell will be empty.

Read the entire Church Mouse post here.

Party On - MLC

henry-hammer (http://henry-hammer.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "MLC Going For-Profit?:You Heard It Here First.Ba-z...":

The consequence of sin is death – even for religious colleges and institutions. When members fail to monitor their religious leaders and hold their feet to the fire, this is what happens.

Change and Change provides a vivid example of leaders run amuck. God and the Word must take a back sit to their insane thinking.

Speaking of Colleges - A Lutheran College with a Drag Show.Not MLC! ELCA's Wartburg College

My classmate Stan Olson is the new seminary president at Wartburg. 






Learn more about the Presidential Inauguration.
 

This is a show not to be missed!
Have you ever seen a guy do a back flip in stiletto heels? Now you will! Wartburg's annual cabaret/drag show has become a phenomenon in Northeast Iowa. About 700 people attended the performance in 2010. The show brings in professional drag queens and kings from around the state of Iowa and also features students, faculty, and staff performers. Admission is only $5 for community members and $2 for students. The proceeds go to the Wartburg Alliance organization to cover the cost of the production and some select charities, should there be more funds raised than needed for production costs..

All Wartburg students, faculty, and staff are invited to perform in the show
If you are interested in performing in the next cabaret/drag show, please e-mail alliance@wartburg.edu. If you are nervous about performing by yourself, feel free to get a group together. We encourage you to be creative. Add some choreography; choose some fun music that will get the crowd into it. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.

We invite members of other colleges to perform in our show!
Starting in 2008, we began the tradition of allowing students and community members from other colleges in Iowa to perform in our cabaret/drag show. If you are interested in representing your school at this year's performance, please complete the following forms below. Please e-mail them to alliance@wartburg.edu. Let us know if you are in need of our help in arranging lodging if you plan to stay in Waverly that night.

• Drag Performer Registration Form (DOC)
• Performer Liability/Hold Harmless Agreement Form (DOC)
• Directions to Campus and Map

Last year's shindig:

ELCA College Holds Annual Drag Show 10/12/2010

2 Comments

 

Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa is an ELCA school. On March 20, 2010, they hosted Wartburg College's 5th Annual Drag Show. "The show brings in professional drag queens and kings from around the state of Iowa and also features students, faculty, and staff performers." (see here)

The Drag Show takes place on campus at Neumann Auditorium (see here) and is sponsored by Wartburg Alliance, which describes itself as ". . . a student-run organization that seeks to generate awareness about LGBT issues and advocate for more inclusive environments on campus, locally, and nationally." (see here)

A blogger in attendance during this year’s drag show said the star performer was Serena Michaels, otherwise known as Miss Gay Iowa 2010. (read here)

Here are links to pictures from the event -

-  Picture 1

-  Picture 2

-  Picture 3

-  Picture 4

-  Picture 5

-  Picture 6

An ELCA college hosting drag shows for their student body, as well as inviting the attendance of the local community, should not be a surprise. When the parent denomination is rewriting God’s Word and encouraging people to remain in sin, how can one expect the schools they run to uphold Christian values?

Wartburg College student programming - God’s money - your tithes, gifts and tuition at work.

***

GJ - Don't act shocked WELS.

Your MLC gay video is still playing on YouTube and Facebook.

People should ask themselves why they bother to pay Doctrinal Pussycats and the Synod President. The ELCA pastors and members left over this kind of rubbish, but WELS promotes it.

MLC Going For-Profit?:You Heard It Here First.Ba-zing.

I watch the online, for-profit university scene. I work for two of them and know one of their junior executives.

No one has given me this scenario. I have constructed it from what has happened to several other small colleges.

A degree is worthless unless it is accredited by one of the national associations. The University of Phoenix began with a struggle over its status. Sperling's dream succeeded so quickly in California that the professionals yanked its accreditation. Sperling picked up and went to Phoenix, where a different association prevailed and gave its blessing. The last I heard, UOP had 400,000 students.

That accreditation is worth $10 million in time and money. Failing colleges (even MLC!) have that status, in most cases. It allows for student loans and credibility in the job market. Online corporations buy the school for the accreditation, plus some decaying buildings and a musty library.

For-profit corporations look for failing, accredited colleges. They buy them, keep them going as a local campus, spend money on them, and branch out with online programs. They can do business in any state that allows them to operate. The libraries are online, too.

I would be shocked if no one has approached MLC for a sale. In my scenario, it would be a win for both sides. The school would be deployed elsewhere, as planned, with plenty of cash in the kitty. They would take the much-abused Sprinter statue along. The Luther statue would stay, since the school would be more Lutheran once the Fuller faculty departed.

The New Ulm campus would remain as a local college, with a possible name change, such as Marvin's Little College, but most of the students would be online. Online students would provide most of the cash flow. Many people like the idea of having a school with a real campus, even if they never visit it.

They might even keep the name of the college. That has happened with several denominational colleges, even though they cut their church ties. I can think of three church colleges where the name stayed the same. A fourth would have happened, but the state got angry with onlines and prevented the sale. The college (Dana - where our college band once visited) closed down.

The Burden of Being Wrong Most of the Time

grumpy has left a new comment on your post "Lookee Here - They ARE Selling the Love Shack":

Dr. Jackson,

Not even a small "zing" on this one is merited.

Headquarters is NOT a college, seminary, or prep. It does not remotely have the same emotional power of an educational institution.

If anything, the sale of HQ only STRENGTHENS the argument that the colleges/preps/seminary are SAFE, at least for the next 5 years.

Now, THAT deserves a BA-ZING-OOOO !!!

Grumps

***

GJ - You gave good reasons for the dissolution of the schools taking longer, Grumpy.

Here is the other side

:
1. Schools are money pits, demanding large sums for basic repairs and maintenance, a critical problem when enrollment declines.
   
2. The tuition bill has gone from reasonable to pricey, but the educational content has declined to substandard Babtist. Why not go to Wheaton for a quality Baptist education?
   
3. Three WELS/ELS colleges are within a day's drive, so the old monopoly or single-purpose school is gone. Long ago: guys only went to NWC. Teachers only went to MLC. Bethany was just a junior college for the ELS and the Preus family. WLC was not beefed up with Schwan indulgence money.
   
4. Gustavus Adolphus (ELCA) is not far from MLC. An ELS leader's daughter went to GA instead of MLC or Bethany - for music!
   
5. WELS has already made plans to divide up MLC, and I was not on that committee - just reporting the facts.
   
6. WELS has been trying to close Michigan Lutheran Seminary since 1992 or earlier. Gurgle and Wayne Mueller really turned up the heat to boil the frog.
   
7. Mequon is also targeted for possible liquidation.

Previous power plays have reduced school loyalties. WELS got rid of Mobridge long ago. They got rid of the New Ulm prep by "moving" it to Prairie, where it could not survive, wasting a ton of money. The locals created their own area high school to replace what was on the New Ulm campus, dividing loyalties and killing the market for Prairie. But Prairie had to have music building for .5 million to 1 million bucks - while discussing its sale as a prison.

The lying went into overdrive to get rid of Northwestern College in Watertown. The NWC alumni were not allowed to vote on it. School loyalty got a thrashing there. NWC moved to New Ulm, where the faculty got neutered and filled with estrogen. Instead of two tracks, as promised, MLC merged all training.

The convention vote was a lie, too, since it failed. The vote counting committee reversed the total and said it passed narrowly. Gurgle next insisted that the districts all ratify the lie because the contracts had already been signed! So the lemmings approved the lie. Gurgle also spent $30 million on this cost-saving merger, when he said it was only $8 million.

The money blown that I know about would be enough to start another synod. Oh wait, two synods have started during this time, rather than turn to the doctrinal orthodoxy (ha) of WELS.

Moving NWC to New Ulm meant leaving a good job market (Milwaukee area) for a horrible one (New Ulm/Comfrey).

Moving NWC also meant that the future pastors could watch the future male teachers go out and party while they stayed in to keep up with Greek and Hebrew. Teachers have much easier requirements.

School loyalty means a lot, serving to draw the big donations. Marvin Schwan is proof of that. He went to Bethany when it was a clapboard little junior college, barely able to furnish tp in their outdoor johns.

WELS knows how to kill that loyalty, wherever and whenever possible. MLS was once called The Plywood Palace for its shabbiness. As president, John Lawrenz expressed his willingness to end MLS as a prep, right in front of the convention.

Lawrenz said on the convention floor, when MLS was fighting for its life, "We are willing to accept whatever role the synod gives us."

So much for "We are the synod." No - they are the synod. The Church and Changers are the synod, so sit at the back of the bus and spit on those shoes when you shine them.

But now I will voice the opinions of two readers. Both think the primary problem of WELS is the educational system, starting with the parochial schools. They think the entire system should be dismantled. The system of hazing turns its graduates into brain-washed robots who will accept anything and tell any lie to cover for classmates.

Universalism in WELS

Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Michelle Bachmann Is No Longer WELS":

Grumpy, I was looking up (W)ELS doctrinal statements on the role of women and ran across this on their Synod website which, lo and behold, declares Universal Justification and Salvation. (W)ELS laity need to get engaged before it's too late.

Why do most confessional Lutherans choose to limit leadership and authority roles in congregations to men?

We do believe and teach that men and women enjoy equal status and importance before God. Both men and women were created in the perfect holiness of the image of God (Genesis 1:27). Although that was lost in the fall into sin when as both men and women we became equally sinful before God (Romans 3:23), yet in Christ's life, death, and resurrection for us God has restored to us our position as his justified and holy children (Romans 3:24). As far as our status and importance before him as dearly loved children and heirs of heaven, whether we are female or male makes absolutely no difference (Galatians 3:26-29).
http://www.wels.net/about-wels/doctrinal-statements

***

GJ - The Wisconsin sect begins with Enthusiasm, divorcing the Holy Spirit from the Word, by embracing universal absolution.

Luther warned that foul errors would rush in when the Means of Grace are denied. WELS is a good example of that happening.

Thank you, Brett, for providing more evidence of WELS Universalism, not to mention Holy Mother Synod's creative dogma, which lacks any Biblical foundation.

Michelle Bachmann Is No Longer WELS

Greg,

You should know that Bachmann left her WELS congregation quite a while ago already – months, if not a year or more. Now belongs to some “community” or non-denom. congregation in the area. (Yeah, I know, like, what’s the difference anymore. True enough.)

And she said the reason she left WELS was because of their teaching on the Antichrist. At least she’s honest.

Referring to this Ichabod post kelmed from another source.

Satire? Or Really Loutish?

Here is the link.

I like satire, especially when I see how hard the synods work to provide a daily dose for me to publish. However, I do not think this is funny.

March 25th is Annunciation Day, so the nitwits who publish this thought they could make hay.

I cannot wait until Easter, can you?

The Bachmann Record - How Bachmann's Church Believes Catholics Follow AntiChrist.Ex-WELS Presidential Candidate

The Bachmann Record - How Bachmann's Church Believes Catholics Follow AntiChrist

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 1. http://www.salemlutheran.org/ 2. http://www.salemlutheran.org/ 3. http://www.wels.net/cgi-bin/site.pl? 4. "Statement On The Anti-Christ" http://www.wels.net/cgi-bin/site.pl?2617&collectionID=795&contentID=4441&shortcutID=5297 5. http://wcco.com/video/?id=20927@wcco.dayport.com

---

Update from EastCoast:

Greg,

You should know that Bachmann left her WELS congregation quite a while ago already – months, if not a year or more. Now belongs to some “community” or non-denom. congregation in the area. (Yeah, I know, like, what’s the difference anymore. True enough.)

And she said the reason she left WELS was because of their teaching on the Antichrist. At least she’s honest.

Lookee Here - They ARE Selling the Love Shack

MLC is next. Ba-zing.

A parish bulletin announced that WELS is definitely selling The Love Shack. I hope they preserve, as a sacred relic, the divider that Ron Roth hid behind when Slick Brenner came to see him.

Ichabodians will recall my post about the WELS headquarters being sold, long ago, which was countered by an angry--albeit anonymous--rebuttal.

Similar responses have come from my reporting that Mary Lou College will be divided up by Willowcreek's Liberal College and the Watertown campus. They probably want to keep the "Martin Luther" title, for the sake of irony. No school does more for Methodobapticostal religion than MLC. The school will need a nickname.

Luther-ex would be good, because that name would capture the spirit of the school (ex-Lutheran). It would also remind people that WELS is really the womb of Seminex, with Watertown's Jungkuntz as the honored leader and martyr of that movement.

Jungkuntz later upgraded his status to proto-ELCA, decrying the loss of status of teachers, since his father had been an honored and respected parochial school teacher.

Martin Marty, another apostate, issued a similar jeremiad about the loss of respect for teachers.

Returning to the subject, The Love Shack needed selling while it still had some residual value. Good luck with MLC. That $8 million cathedral will overwhelm a State of Minnesota prison.

You can tell any lie anonymously in WELS, if you say, "I heard it on the grapevine."

Love Wins: a case of ‘Robbellion’? « Churchmouse Campanologist.Rob Bell, Endorsed and Promoted by WELS

Love Wins: a case of ‘Robbellion’? « Churchmouse Campanologist

Love Wins: a case of ‘Robbellion’?

March 24, 2011 in Calvinism, Evangelical, heresy, Protestant | Tags: Bible, Christian Universalism, Christianity, emergent church, Evangelical, God, heresy, Jesus, Love Wins,Protestant, Rob Bell

Today’s graphic comes courtesy of Pastor Ken Silva from Apprising Ministries, based on an idea from Sola Sisters.

Read more here.

***

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."

Northern Lights

The Aurora from Terje Sorgjerd on Vimeo.

Don’t Make Christ into a Moses - Brom Gnesio, A Great Source for Lutheran Quotations, And Walther As Well

Don’t Make Christ into a Moses

Don’t Make Christ into a Moses

Theology

…at its briefest, the Gospel is a discourse about Christ, that he is the Son of God and became man for us, that he died and was raised, that he has been established as a Lord over all things. This much St. Paul takes in hand and spins out in his epistles. He bypasses all the miracles and incidents [in Christ's ministry] which are set forth in the four Gospels, yet he includes the whole Gospel adequately and abundantly. This may be seen clearly and well in his greeting to the Romans [1:1-4], where he says what the Gospel is, and declares, “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the Gospel of God which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, the Gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and designated Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,” etc.

There you have it. The Gospel is a story about Christ, God’s and David’s Son, who died and was raised and is established as Lord. This is the Gospel in a nutshell. Just as there is no more than one Christ, so there is and may be no more than one Gospel….

Yes even the teaching of the prophets, in those places where they speak of Christ, is nothing but the true, pure, and proper Gospel-just as if Luke or Matthew had described it. For the prophets have proclaimed the Gospel and spoken of Christ, as St. Paul here [Rom. 1:2] reports and as everyone indeed knows. Thus when Isaiah in chapter fifty-three says how Christ should die for us and bear our sins, he has written the pure Gospel. And I assure you, if a person fails to grasp this understanding of the Gospel, he will never be able to be illuminated in the Scripture nor will he receive the right foundation.

Be sure, moreover, that you do not make Christ into a Moses, as if Christ did nothing more than teach and provide examples as the other saints do, as if the Gospel were simply a textbook of teachings or laws. Therefore you should grasp Christ, his words, works, and sufferings, in a twofold manner. First as an example that is presented to you, which you should follow and imitate. As St. Peter says in I Peter 4, “Christ suffered for us, thereby leaving us an example.” Thus when you see how he prays, fasts, helps people, and shows them love, so also you should do, both for yourself and for your neighbor. However this is the smallest part of the Gospel, on the basis of which it cannot yet even be called Gospel. For on this level Christ is of no more help to you than some other saint. His life remains his own and does not as yet contribute anything to you. In short this mode [of understanding Christ as simply an example] does not make Christians but only hypocrites. You must grasp Christ at a much higher level. Even though this higher level has for a long time been the very best, the preaching of it has been something rare. The chief article and foundation of the Gospel is that before you take Christ as an example, you accept and recognize him as a gift, as a present that God has given you and that is your own. This means that when you see or hear of Christ doing or suffering something, you do not doubt that Christ himself, with his deeds and suffering, belongs to you. On this you may depend as surely as if you had done it yourself; indeed as if you were Christ himself. See, this is what it means to have a proper grasp of the Gospel, that is, of the overwhelming goodness of God, which neither prophet, nor apostle, nor angel was ever able fully to express, and which no heart could adequately fathom or marvel at. This is the great fire of the love of God for us, whereby the heart and conscience become happy, secure, and content. This is what preaching the Christian faith means. This is why such preaching is called Gospel, which in German means a joyful, good, and comforting “message”; and this is why the apostles are called the “twelve messengers.”

from Martin Luther, ‘A Brief Instruction on What to Look For and Expect in the Gospels’

Great threads, Bishop Mark. Next time, turn on the light in the sacristy.
Or did the John Milton Society donate the vestments?


ELCA NEWS SERVICE
March 24, 2011
ELCA, Episcopal Church to Celebrate 10 Years of Full Communion
11-037-JB

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), will preside at a celebratory worship service in Buffalo, N.Y., May 1, marking the 10th anniversary of the full communion relationship of the ELCA and The Episcopal Church.

      At the same time, just over the border, Canadian Lutherans and Anglicans will worship in Fort Erie, Ontario, to recognize the 10th anniversary of their full communion relationship.

     "Our celebration is an important reminder that neither historic divisions between churches nor boundaries between our nations are obstacles for sharing mission and ministry together," said Hanson. "We give thanks to God for what has been established through the full communion agreements in our two countries. We look forward to a deeper reception among our four churches, as we look toward the future."

The original bishop Katie will preach in Ft. Eerie.

     Joining Hanson at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Buffalo, will be the Most Rev. Frederick J. Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, Toronto, who will deliver the sermon. The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, presiding bishop of The Episcopal Church, will preach at a celebration at St. Paul's Anglican Church, Fort Erie. Presiding will be the Rev. Susan C. Johnson, national bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, Winnipeg. Both services will begin at 3 p.m. EDT.

ELCIC Archbishop Susan C. Johnson shows how diversity is growing across the border, eh?

Marquette U. Joins the Stampede

This is the Goodsoil lobbying group in ELCA.
Our photo archives do not have the Roman Catholic counterpart,
but any group photo of their religious workers would do.

Don't expect a word of opposition to this from Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki.  'Catholic' Cardinal Stritch Univ. has been doing this for years: http://mu-warrior.blogspot.com/search/label/Cardinal%20Stritch%20University and nothing has been said by Listecki.  His predecessor, Archbishop Timothy Dolan, also said nothing:

Marquette University to offer domestic partner benefits 

 

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/118614824.html

March 24, 2011 5:19 p.m. Marquette University plans to start offering domestic partner benefits to its employees in 2012, a move that comes about a year after the university's decision to rescind a job offer to a lesbian candidate caused the campus to erupt in debate.

In a statement sent to the campus Thursday afternoon, Marquette President Robert A. Wild said he's been wrestling with an idea of offering the benefits that would provide services for gay and lesbian employees for years.

University officials note said the timing of the announcement was influenced by votes in recent weeks by the University Academic Senate and the Marquette University Student Government that have urged the university to offer benefits for domestic partners.

“If we are truly pastoral in our application of the Jesuit principle of cura personalis, I asked myself if I could reconcile that with denying health benefits to a couple who have legally registered their commitment to each other,” Wild said. In Latin, cura personalis means "care for the entire person."
Wild noted that the State of Wisconsin gives legal recognition both to marriage for heterosexual couples and to a registered domestic partnership for same-sex couples.

Officials said they're still working out details, but medical, dental and vision benefits currently offered to married couples and their dependents will be extended to registered domestic partners. The couples receiving the benefits must share a residence, must be of the same sex. The declaration of domestic partnership may be initiated by an application filed with the clerk of the county in which an individual resides.

The decision by Marquette comes nearly after a year after the school announced that it was rescinding a job offer to Jodi O'Brien, a lesbian scholar at Seattle University, involving concerns relating to Marquette's "Catholic mission and identity" and their incompatibility with some of O'Brien's scholarly writings.

The university said at the time that the decision to rescind the job offer did not have anything to do with O'Brien's sexual orientation.

The university has a Statement on Human Dignity and Diversity. It reads in part that Marquette "recognizes and cherishes the dignity of each individual regardless of age, culture, faith, ethnicity, race, gender, sexual orientation, language, disability or social class." The statement adds that the Jesuit-run school seeks to become a more diverse and inclusive academic community dedicated to the promotion of justice.

After Marquette and Wild announced the decision, dozens of faculty members at both Marquette and Seattle condemned Marquette's decision to rescind the offer to O'Brien to take over as dean of the school's College of Arts and Sciences.

In June of last year, the school announced that it had reached a "mutually acceptable resolution" with O'Brien. Marquette said it had apologized to O'Brien, and sources said the school took a “financial hit.”

School officials said at the time that the university would consider research projects, conferences, courses and service learning projects exploring the topics of Catholic identity and gender and sexuality issues.

It could not be immediately determined if the decision to offer domestic benefits was related to the settlement of the O'Brien matter.

Last March, before the incident involving O'Brien, Wild announced he would step down in June 2011 after about 15 years at the helm of Marquette. He said he had discussed his decision with trustees, including Rev. Scott Pilarz, Marquette’s incoming president.

Fuller-trained First VP of WELS Promotes Rob Bell

First VP of WELS James Huebner trained at Fuller Seminary, mocked the efficacy of the Word, and played a Rob Bell video for the innocent.
Have you no shame, WELS?

Someone wrote:

So even the AP and Fox picked up on Rob Bell

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/03/24/whos-hell-michigan-pastors-book-sparks-debate-eternal-torment/#

I had the misfortune to be at a “College Night” (date omitted - but known) at Grace in downtown Milwaukee.  Food, music and a message once a week for the college kids of MSOE/Marquette.  For the message part, they played some Rob Bell video about how God is a symphony of life all around us and just a whole pile of ooey gooey crap.  Have to say I was pretty embarrassed that they would stoop so low as to ever present that in a WELS church.  Sad.

What Sasse Said: The Task of the Church's Confession

 

What Sasse Said: The Task of the Church's Confession

A New Definition of Catechesis

Catechesis has left a new comment on your post "The New NIV Will Inspire WELS To Achieve Greater D...":

A subtle clue that your pastor is becoming secularized: Does he call the room where he prepares for his pastoral duties (i.e. sermon and Bible study preparation, etc.) a "study" or an "office"?

Intrepid Lutherans: C.F.W. Walther: Filching from sectarian worship resources equals "soul murder"

Intrepid Lutherans: C.F.W. Walther: Filching from sectarian worship resources equals "soul murder"

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 2011

C.F.W. Walther: Filching from sectarian worship resources equals "soul murder"

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In October of 1998, Professor Mark DeGarmeaux (Bethany Lutheran College, ELS) delivered a paper to the Evangelical Lutheran Confessional Forum of the ELS and WELS in Milwaukee, WI. The title of this paper was Sacramental Worship, Sacramental Preaching: Treasures of our Lutheran Church -- a terrific little essay that explores and extols the unique liturgical treasure we Lutherans have inherited, concluding:

The Lutheran church has been truly blessed by God with a rich treasury of liturgy, hymnody, preaching, and praying. We are not a sect, but we understand and recognize ourselves as part of the Church catholic, the one Holy Christian and Apostolic Church. At the same time we realize that there is a difference between our theology and that of other denominations in many ways. Our treasures are in the understanding of sacramental and sacrificial elements in the Divine Service, in understanding the Word and Sacraments as powerful and efficacious means of grace, and in the proper distinction between Law and Gospel. And we look forward to the marriage feast of heaven when the Bride will be joined to Christ Himself and will enjoy the great sacramentum of the marriage feast of the Lamb.

This treasure has been kept and valued by generations of Lutheran confessors as a practice which carries a body of worshipers through the Divine Service, focusing them on Christ and His gifts, in a way that not only represents and reinforces our body of pure doctrine, but our distinction and separation from the heterodox. So how would a Lutheran, imbued with genuine confessional ardor, react to the notion of importing sectarian worship forms into Lutheran practice? Using C.F.W. Walther as a benchmark of confessional ardor, DeGarmeaux demonstrates the answer to this question by including as an Appendix to his essay the following letter from Walther, which was written to a man who asked about the use of Methodist worship resources in Lutheran churches:

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.
1. Our church is so rich in hymns that you could justifiably state that if one were to introduce Methodist hymns in a Lutheran school this would be like carrying coals to Newcastle. The singing of such hymns would make the rich Lutheran Church into a beggar which is forced to beg from a miserable sect. Thirty or forty years ago a Lutheran preacher might well have been forgiven this. For at that time the Lutheran Church in our country was as poor as a beggar when it comes to song books for Lutheran children. A preacher scarcely knew where he might obtain such little hymn books. Now, however, since our church itself has everything it needs, it is unpardonable when a preacher of our church causes little ones to suffer the shame of eating a foreign bread.
2. A preacher of our church also has the holy duty to give souls entrusted to his care pure spiritual food, indeed, the very best which he can possibly obtain. In Methodist songs there is much which is false, and which contains spiritual poison for the soul.Therefore, it is soul-murder to set before children such poisonous food. If the preacher claims, that he allows only "correct" hymns to be sung, this does not excuse him. For, first of all, the true Lutheran spirit is found in none of them; second, our hymns are more powerful, more substantive, and more prosaic; third, those hymns which deal with the Holy Sacraments are completely in error; fourth, when these little sectarian hymnbooks come into the hands of our children, they openly read and sing false hymns.
3. A preacher who introduces Methodist hymns, let alone Methodist hymnals, raises the suspicion that he is no true Lutheran at heart, and that he believes one religion is as good as the other, and that he thus a unionistic-man, a mingler of religion and churches.
4. Through the introduction of Methodist hymn singing he also makes those children entrusted to his care of unionistic sentiment, and he himself leads them to leave the Lutheran Church and join the Methodists.
5. By the purchase of Methodist hymn books he subsidizes the false church and strengthens the Methodist fanatics in their horrible errors. For the Methodists will think, and quite correctly so, that if the Lutheran preachers did not regard our religion as good as, or indeed, even better than their own, they would not introduce Methodist hymn books in their Sunday schools, but rather would use Lutheran hymn books.
6. By introducing Methodist hymn books, the entire Lutheran congregation is given great offense, and the members of the same are lead to think that Methodists, the Albright people, and all such people have a better faith than we do.
This may be a sufficient answer regarding this dismal matter. May God keep you in the true and genuine Lutheran faith, and help you not to be misled from the same, either to the right or to the left. Your unfamiliar, yet known friend, in the Lord Jesus Christ, C. F. W. Walther St. Louis, Missouri January 23, 1883

Notice that there are at least two factors involved in Walther's blistering criticism of sectarian worship resources. First, the introduction of false teaching to the congregation (a) by the false content of the sectarian worship, (b) by the true teaching which is absent from it, and (c) by the manner in which the Methodist practice itself entices the congregation away from the Lutheran confession, is inexcusable and alone grounds for rejecting material from such sources. Second, the fellowship implications involved with endorsing such materials, and subsidizing their sources, not only impacts other Lutherans, who have every right to question the allegiances of those responsible for introducing such materials, but impacts the sectarians from whom we remain separate, who consequently have every right to suspect (based on the practice of using sectarian sources, itself!) that those Lutherans using their materials are, in fact, admitting deficiency in their own confession.

If we grant that Walther is a suitable benchmark of confessional ardor, how would we categorize those who are indifferent to the usage of sectarian and heterodox worship materials? According to Walther, above, it seems that a pastor who engages in practice which raises suspicions regarding his confession is himself guilty of offense against the whole congregation, not the observer who is led to suspicion on the basis of that pastor's public practice. Is this an accurate assessment of the above statements? If so, is this consistent with more contemporary teaching regarding how one ought to interpret public practice? Based on what Walther seems to say above, should a Lutheran pastor so conduct himself in his public practice as to raise no suspicions regarding his fidelity to the Lutheran confession, or is such fidelity strictly a matter of internal motivations, making public practice not much of a big deal at all?

***

GJ - Message understood, Intrepids. Why should Lutherans borrow double-justification from that Halle Pietist Georg Christian Knapp? Knapp's UOJ was in print before Ferdy landed on the docks of the Big Easy.

Knapp's UOJ is still in print today.

Knapp's formulation became the mainline denominations' Universalism as the 19th century progressed (or regressed). UOJ is the Universalism of Missouri, WELS, and the Little Sect today.

I ask again - why borrow from false teachers when Luther and the Concordists are so clear?