007

"Sign your irrevocable gift trust right here.
Please."


rlschultz has left a new comment on your post "Different from WELS, Missouri, And the Little Sect...":

Taken to its logical conclusion, the 007 certification has produced some mind boggling double standards at the congregational level. I have noticed that it is anything goes in the name of evangelism and the stewardship. Waldo Werning material, Fireproof series from a Georgia Babtist church, and a commission to Cornerstone for capital appeals are three recent examples from my former WELS congregation. When members are asked to be served in some rather simple matters, they are wrung through the washer and must jump through all kinds of hoops. Even the lay leadership gets afflicted with the 007 certification.

***

GJ - WELS dictatorial pastors demand robotic lay leaders who obey their orders to take out the dissenters "with prejudice."

The laity should explore how WELS leaders use the synod to skim vast sums of money from the congregations. Cornerstone is just one example. Fighting them is like fighting the Mafia - except the Mob will sit down and discuss a deal.

WELS also has "consultants" who flit into congregations, make grand statements, and demand huge fees. In 13 years in the LCA, anyone who helped only received the basic salary and expenses. The only difference was Lutheran Layman's League, which had fee-based laity who were helpers in stewardship campaigns. The fees were reasonable.

St Mark's Lutheran Church Watertown, WI
2011 Capital Fund Appeal

Someone sent me the "devotions" from the appeal for St. Mark's. I will copy some of the weird statements below:

"For the sake of the gospel, why is our school building important?"

"Jesus, holy sacrifice for my rebellion: thank you for suffering hell in my place and dying to bring about my pardon. Cause that good news to ring out from Saint Mark's School. And energize me cheerfully to support that endeavor with my offerings. Amen." [GJ - Jesus should cheerfully energize me?]

"Why is it important for our church and school to have special space for music?"

"When a funeral or rainstorm takes place during recess, students are in the gym. Regularly scheduled gym classes occur there, as well." [GJ - I have no idea what it means to have a funeral during recess. I am glad they have gym classes in the gym ", as well."]

"In a similar way, our present day students are going to need good health to serve their Savior as they desire through their lifetime. Having a fine gymnasium promotes that endeavor considerably. Combine it with the daily proclamation of Christ's resurrection, and our student learn along with us to look forward to our rising from the dead on the final day."

"How necessary is it that a school have...a gymnasium? ...a good gymnasium?"

"Are there restaurant bills, or others, you can trim: for contribution to the Lord?"

"What would my life look like without Jesus...now...for eternity?"

"Jesus tells us, Where your treasure is there your heart will be also.
How does treasuring Christ direct my life today?
How does treasuring Christ direct my use of earthly treasure?
For your regular offerings?
For your capital fund offerings?"

Day 11 - Very Roman Catholic
Very manipulative, based on Mark 10:13ff.
"As parents cry, Jesus, bless my child, grown men growl Be quiet! He doesn't have time for your child. What was wrong with the disciples? Were they perhaps tired of the crowds and the unending requests? Remember Jesus' reaction: it's not one we'd want to be on the receiving end of."

"As troubling as the incident with the disciples was, such a scene is still possible. It may not be people blocking doors, but doors might still be shut when there's a lack of funds."

"How might a more rapid paying down of the debt assist our present and future proclamation?" [GJ - I thought growling members were slamming the door shut on little children.]

"What did our renovation/addition project mean to me...my family...our congregation...our community?"

"What has the water of God's Word and Sacraments meant to me?"

---

Scott E. Jungen has left a new comment on your post "007":

Well, it's good to know that St. Mark's didn't let the Gospel get in the way of their capital appeal. What happened to "pray the Lord of the harvest" and get out your bushel baskets as He rains down His generous blessings? No, wait, then you couldn't use your cute little Law statements to try to "guilt" money out of people.

The principal at St. Mark's was my principal for fifteen years. This is surprising, since he did a nice job of staying out of the church expansion at our former congregation. I stayed out of it too, but it still ran me over. Ooops, there I am being all "bitter" again!

Scott E. Jungen

***

GJ - Here is an explanation for outsiders and other untouchables: Scott's joke about being bitter is a reflection upon the automatic WELS response when anyone questions anything in WELS. That person is "angry, bitter, brain-damaged, senile, crazy, sick, jealous, lazy" and worse.

That is why Prairie was a stroke of genius, but sold/given away to become prison.

That is also why 2929, which was such a smart move, is being sold at the bottom of the real estate market.

That explains Christian Worship, the envy of every low-church feminist cult, or would be if another one got organized.

Walther Did Not Teach Justification by Faith from Luther, But Justification without Faith from Halle University

Seminary Education - Not Exactly What Tim Glende Pretends

"Git yer MDivs here, or try our alternative programs, which help keep our salaries funded."


Green, Lowell C. (2010) The Erlangen School of Theology: Its History, Teaching, and Practice, (pp .21-22). Lutheran Legacy: Fort Wayne, Indiana.

“In the system that once prevailed in the Lutheran churches of the United States and Canada, a theological seminary was a graduate school which culminated in the historical Bachelor of Divinity degree.1 A thorough college education with a solid preparation for starting seminary work, including a knowledge of the four theological tongues–Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and German–was required before enrolling in a Lutheran seminary. Under the changed conditions today, students of theology are coming into theological seminaries without a working knowledge of the German language and therefore can only read materials written in English. Unfortunately, this generally means that they have access more to materials written by Reformed, Arminian, Eastern Orthodox, or Roman Catholic writers than the works of great Lutheran writers. These theologians from other denominations–however capable–cannot be expected to reflect the nuances of thought expressed in the Lutheran Confessions. This suggests the grave danger that Lutheran students in America will be nourished by theological systems which will gradually wean them away from Lutheran ways of thinking. This means first and foremost a neglect of the distinction of Law and Gospel, as well as a Lutheran understanding of Christology–two doctrines which pervade not only dogmatics but all the other subjects of the theological curriculum. This is the case whether one is speaking of systematic theology, liturgics, Biblical theology, or even historical theology.”



______________

1 The conversion of this degree to the so-called Master of Divinity was well-intended but ill-conceived since a master’s degree is the culmination of a graduate liberal arts program; the Bachelor of Divinity however was already a post-graduate degree and therefore ranked above any master’s degree. Thus Philipp Melanchthon, who already had a Master’s Degree in philosophy, took out the more advanced Bachelor of Bible degree in September 1519. In wake of the conversion in America the standards of pre-theological education were actually lowered, so that many seminary students today do not have a reading knowledge of German.

***

GJ - Oh no, the emphasis must be on turning out ministers in the mold demanded by the synod. That is just as true of ELCA as it is for Missouri, WELS, and the ELS. People must turn off their brains to accept this level of conformity. The ideal candidate is someone who reads the political tea-leaves and follows the latest fad, whether it is gay ordination in ELCA or Emergent Church in the Olde Syn Conference.

The B.D. was changed to MDiv to give more prestige to seminary students. I have seen WELS resumes where pastors list their unaccredited Sausage Factory as "graduate school." Tim Glende and other claim they are always right because of "eight years of uncontrolled drinking theological education." In fact, the Mequonites laugh about how easy seminary is.

The relative new DMin degree was invented because the lazy pastors did not want to go back to seminary for more education. Once they called a one-year course a "Doctor of Ministry," the lazy-bones flocked to attend. These DMins (like Larry Olson and Rich Krause) call themselves "Dr," which is inexpressibly funny. They call their little DMin papers "dissertations." Deep breath. Bag breathe. OK, I am better now.

The worst heretics in Missouri and WELS have DMins from Fuller Seminary, Gorden Conwell, Denver, plus many hours of conference time at Fuller, Willow Creek, Trinity Divinity, Catalyst, Drive, Dirt, Granger, Exponential, and Mars Hill (Seattle).

Jeske's recently boastful remarks suggest that he has also skipped pastoral conferences in his own synod for the ones listed above, the ones he sent Ski and Glende to attend, the ones favored by District VP Kudu Don Patterson.

Book of Concord Lutheran doctrine is dead in America, and the Olde Syn conference leaders of today killed it.

Message from Our Sponsor: Martin Luther

arkos has left a new comment on your post "Someone Fired For False Doctrine?Relax, It's Not t...":

This article made me think of something I read from Luther recently:

"In short, without this article of faith, that we are justified and saved only through Christ and that apart from Him everything is damned, there is no defense or restraint, no boundary or limit for every heresy and error, every sect and faction, with everyone thinking up and broadcasting some peculiar idea of his own. This was the situation under the pope. No monk could have a dream without dragging it into the pulpit and making it into a special act of worship. No lie was too shameful to be accepted so long as someone had the audacity to take it into the pulpit...As we have said, there is no bacchanal or jackass too coarse to gain a great following of believers if he can just think up something new."

Luther's Works, vol. 21: The Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:13) pg. 59ff

There are several other people and circumstance that I thought of when reading this article as well.

WELS Playing Hamlet on Their Next Bible Blunder

The face palm is the only way to respond to WELS apostasy.


Here is the link to a bunch of their articles.

Reading WELS on any serious subject is just like grading freshman English papers, except WELS has enormous problems in theology, the grammar of faith.

I read enough to see WELS trying to go for the New NIV, which is even worse than their old NIV. They offer only two alternatives:NNIV or ESV. Would you like your flogging before or after dinner? Not much of a choice.

They never mention the KJV, which is a slight modernization of the original from 1611. Anniversary anyone? That would be...this year.

There are many choices in the KJV family, from the older KJV itself to the New KJV, KJV II, and KJV 21. I think there is a Modern KJV too.

FICL--pronounced "fickle," to remind members that the sect changes doctrine more often than Hillary changes her mind--is laying the groundwork for a decision already made. Soon everyone will be parroting the same arguments verbatim, as they did with the feminist creeds. It will be the NNIV. Anyone questioning that will be pushed out for "breaking fellowship." Do not laugh, innocents. They did that with their own pastors and the NIV, after promoting the KJV as the only one.

WELS works with the United Nations and the Salvation Army. Learn to be flexible. Open your minds up.

L. P. Cruz on Luther versus the UOJ Pietists: Justification by Faith

Lito Cruz, PhD, knows Calvinism from the inside,
but this is Godel, as all of you knew anyway.
I was not a math major!

In this book, Dr. Jackson provides a sober critique of UOJ showing how it is wrong exegetically and spurious historically. UOJ gets its cue from a rational handling of Scripture, a Calvinistic theological method. As an ex-Calvinist myself, I find it amusing how UOJ defenders label its critics Calvinists. In truth, UOJ is Calvinistic for in the same way that Calvinism equates the Atonement with Justification, UOJ proponents do the same. Calvinists seeing the Atonement and Justification the same and seeing that Justification does not happen for all, concludes the Atonement has not happened for all. UOJ does the same but in the reverse, seeing that the Atonement happened for all, it concludes that Justification has already happened for all, hence, without faith, prior to faith and before faith without the Means of Grace. This book will help the reader understand the Scriptural teaching and Lutheran belief that justification never happens to anyone with out the Means of Grace. 

L. P. Cruz PhD, Computer Science Lecturer/Researcher

Someone Fired For False Doctrine?Relax, It's Not the Syn Conference

What is hell? Book stirs debate about afterlife

AP – In this photo taken March 17, 2011, Rev. Chad Holtz poses for a photo in Durham, N.C. Holtz was fired …

By TOM BREEN, Associated Press Tom Breen, Associated Press – Sun Mar 27, 5:18 pm ET

RALEIGH, N.C. – What does hell mean to you? Is it an endless nightmare for sinners and unsaved souls, as mainstream Christianity has taught for centuries? Or is hell here on Earth, in the distractions, addictions and emptiness of daily life?

Those ideas are receiving fresh scrutiny from some believers after a prominent evangelical pastor questioned the traditional idea of hell in his new book, "Love Wins."

Even before Rob Bell's book was published this month, religious leaders and their followers were branding it heresy, hailing it as a breakthrough or landing somewhere in the middle. Thousands have weighed in on Twitter, Facebook, blogs or outside their places of worship.

Bell "better go back and read his Bible again! He's all messed up!" wrote Ruth Ward of New Albany, Ind., on Facebook. "Satan is having a field day."

James Turner, a 49-year-old Chicago laborer, says his concept of hell hasn't changed much since he attended church as a boy. For him, hell "is a place where if you don't accept Jesus, or you reject Jesus, it is a place of torment."

Hell is also for those "who are ruthless and brutally hurt people," he said.

"I hope that smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee ain't going to get me down there," he said, puffing on a cigarette Sunday outside the Chicagoland Community Church on the city's North Side, where he's attended services for about 10 years.

For some readers, the book has been a breath of fresh air and a chance to discuss ideas that have long been taboo in evangelical circles.

When Chad Holtz posted a Facebook message supporting Bell's position, he was dismissed from his job as pastor at a United Methodist church in Henderson, N.C. Holtz's posts about the experience on his website drew a flood of responses, including from people who said they were afraid to tell relatives that they did not believe in the notion that God punishes sinners forever in hell.

Carol Buikema, who attends Chicago's Wellington Avenue United Church of Christ, said she recently read a fellow congregant's Facebook post about Bell's book, and it prompted her to question her own beliefs about hell.

"It does pose more questions than answers for me," Buikema, 64, said Sunday.
Believing in Jesus is a basic tenet of Christianity and "if you don't believe in Jesus, you won't go to heaven," she said. "The more I live life, I don't know if I totally believe that. I've always believed that God is not a God of vengeance. He is a loving God. How would you equate the idea of a loving God with going to hell?"

Bell's message is reaching a wide audience: On Friday, "Love Wins" was the fourth-best-selling book overall on Amazon.com, and the best-selling book in the religion category.

The Rev. Erik DiVietro, pastor of Bedford Road Baptist Church in Merrimack, N.H., said he felt the need to respond to Bell's book after being repeatedly asked about it by friends, former students and church members. He disagrees with Bell on several points, but said Christians miss out if they don't try to engage the ideas.

"Christianity is a conversation," he said. "So as we're journeying with these ancient writings, we need to be asking questions. These are good questions, and they need to be part of the dialogue."

Brandy Fenderson, a 34-year-old teacher and member of St. Ann's Episcopal Church in Nashville, Tenn., said Bell's book reminded her of the importance of thinking critically about one's faith.
"I remember thinking I do believe there's a balance between intellect and faith. ... I've argued (with friends) that intellect is divine, given to us by God, and we're not supposed to shut it down."
She believes the idea of a hell where sinners are punished is more of a human construction.

"I don't think there's a burning place with pitchforks," she said. "I guess my idea is basically that there's right and wrong, and hell was invented to keep people from doing wrong. ... It was created more by the church, to guide people in the right way."

Still, she added, "actions have consequences, and you suffer when you do wrong. That can end up being what, quote, unquote, is hell."

At the heart of Bell's position is that God's love can triumph over every obstacle, including sins that Christians have long believed would consign them to anguish in the afterlife. But that notion is appalling to many people, Bell argues, and is minimized even by those who uphold its truth.

"The book is saying we need to take hell more seriously," Bell told The Associated Press, "Because the people who warn about hell when you die don't seem to talk about it very much."
The debate is not entirely new. There's no broad agreement within Christianity about what happens to people after they die.

Some mainline Protestant churches started moving away from the familiar concept of hell as long ago as the 19th century. The Unitarian Universalist Association, which is not a formally Christian denomination but has roots in Christian churches, contains in its very name the concept that Bell's critics accuse him of endorsing: universalism, the notion that every soul will eventually be united with God in paradise.
Some important denominations and theologians moved quickly to criticize Bell's book. A forum was held last week at the Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville in which Christian writers and thinkers laid out their problems with Bell's thinking.

Some Protestant luminaries have also joined the criticism. Ben Witherington, one of the most influential evangelical theologians, is using his blog to take on Bell's book chapter by chapter.
That's partly a sign of how influential Bell is in evangelical circles. His 10,000-member Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids, Mich., has grown significantly under his leadership, and Bell's artfully made online videos and breezily written books have been popular among younger evangelicals.

"Atheists are not going to be impressed by this book. Skeptics are not going to be impressed by this book," said Christian blogger Justin Taylor at the Southern Baptist forum. "The people who are going to be impressed by this book are disaffected evangelicals."

Cameron Dawn, who described herself as a "good and faithful Roman Catholic," said she has never thought of hell as a specific place.

Instead, the 52-year-old New York City woman believes hell is the personal problems people endure until they accept God and Christ into their lives, such as addiction, gluttony or taking advantage of others.

"You need inner strength to overcome these things and to see all the beauty life has to offer, and that's what God gives you," Dawn said Sunday at the Church of St. Veronica in Howell, N.J.
"Without that inner strength, you will miss out on the wonderful things God has created and that life has to offer you. That is hell on earth, but it's a prison to which you hold the key, and you can use it any time you want."

John Taylor, 45, who was attending services Sunday at the Church of Grace and Peace in Toms River, N.J., said he has no doubt there is some version of hell awaiting evildoers.

"I do believe that if you lead a sinful life on earth, you will pay for it in your next life. And that applies to anyone, whether you're Catholic, Jew, Hindu, whatever. People who disrespect God, disrespect their fellow man — they go to hell."

Different from WELS, Missouri, And the Little Sect on the Prairie? I Think Not

ALPB Online

I was a Lutheran pastor, but that wasn't the point. I wasn't in a group that was in a fellowship agreement with the entire ELCA. So the bishop said the congregation had to either vote to disassociate with the parish or they would be disciplined.

There was one member of that congregation who asked the bishop publically (sic) what kind of pastor they could recieve (sic) if I wasn't (sic) their pastor. They were told that there was a Methodist, a UCC, and a Presbyterian minister who could serve them. The lady told the bishop she thought it odd that a Lutheran could not serve them, but a UCC minister who was a universalists (sic) could.

***

GJ - The spelling matches the average WELS pastor's, and synodical management style does too. WELS, Missouri, and the Little Sect are even more finicky. A pastor must belong to the sect and to the accepted group within the sect. Then he can commit any crime he wants, abuse any member he chooses, and teach any doctrine that tickles his fancy.

WELS workers have a 007 certification. They can murder their spouses and have the sect cover for them, proclaim their innocence, and smear anyone who dissents from the official line.

WELS actually told the judge in the Zerbe case (vicar abuse of a minor girl in Fred Adrian's parish) that the synod knew of no other similar cases in their gigantic world-wide organization. When the girl's attorney proved that was a lie, the judge ordered WELS to come up with some facts.

Lying to the court is a felony, but Antinomians are born justified, guilt-free saints.