Popular Tyrants

grumpy has left a new comment on your post "Tyrant":

Hmmm....a Tyrant t-shirt.

Is that a Freudian slip?

Actually, Jeske should have worn that during his "become a slave to the state" sermon.

As for quotes, after my prep years I adopted that of Sartre:

"Hell is other people"

Grumpy "Feel the Love" Lutheran

Another WELS Church and Change Operation.WELS Prayer Warriors

Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Another WELS Church and Change Operation.WELS Pray...": From their own website: The WELS PRAYER INSTITUTE (WPI) is not an official organization of the WELS. WPI was introduced in November 2004 as another ministry “spun off” from Church and Change. WELS Prayer Network

“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.  With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.” (Ephesians 6:18) Prayer does not make anything happen -- God does. Prayer is not a means of grace -- The Word, Baptism, and Holy Communion are. Prayer is not a way to "name it and claim it" -- "Thy will be done," said Jesus. Prayer is a "power tool" which God has given his people. Prayer is a command of God for his people to obey (Matthew 28:19,20, Luke 11:28). Prayer is a time to praise and thank our merciful, loving, generous God. Prayer is a time to totally depend on God for help and blessing. Prayer is a time to invite God's blessing on the WELS, local church people and ministries, your local pastor(s), church leaders, family, friends, Synod ministries, para-church ministries, communities, governments (local, state, national), lost or straying souls in your area and world, the persecuted church, the sick, dying, lonely, suffering... Prayer is a commitment of great love -- which God never fails to answer for the best. Prayer invites divine wisdom, and the Holy Spirit into your life. “Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.” (Luke 18:1). “One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice.” --- 20 Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, "The kingdom of God “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. 3 And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. 4 Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. ---- 12 Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured.” (Colossians 4:2-4, 12 NIV) “We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. 3 We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, (1 Thessalonians 1:2-4).   The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) is a Confessional Lutheran Church body begun in 1850 in Milwaukee , Wisconsin . The WELS has approximately 1,259 congregations with a total membership of 400,622 souls. See www.wels.net for details on the Synod and its various ministries. The WELS PRAYER INSTITUTE (WPI) is not an official organization of the WELS . WPI was introduced in November 2004 as another ministry “spun off” from Church and Change, an informal gathering of WELS pastors, teachers, staff ministers and lay leaders. “Church” refers to the one gospel ministry of Jesus Christ which he has entrusted to all of his people. The word “Change” refers to how we might proclaim the changeless gospel of Christ within the changing culture in which we live. The WPI promotes prayer throughout the Synod in a variety of ways: 1)  Promotes prayer for the advancement of the gospel of Jesus Christ around the world. 2)  Connects WELS prayer leaders to one another. 3)  Provides "working models" of prayer ministries for those getting started with prayer ministries. 4) Shares ideas on how to expand prayer ministry in your personal life and local church. 5)  Sponsors Prayer Conferences which focus on praying, education, and encouragement. Contact Information Pastor Steve Witte: Phone# 920-499-7405, email pastorwitte0906@sbcglobal.net Reg Draheim: Phone# 920-497-1000, email regdraheim@hotmail.com  WELS Prayer Network Board of Directors Jim Aderman (Sharon) 121 N. 66th Street Milwaukee, WI 53213-4041 (414) 475-5096 Office (414)771-2530 Cell: 414-403-6224 adermanj@fairviewlutheran.com Bruce Becker (Linda) 4172 Hidden Creek Road Jackson, WI 53037-9114 (262) 677-0058 Office (414)  562-8463 bbecker@timeofgrace.org Matt Doebler (Chris) 1316 Quicksilver Street Round Rock TX 78665 Office (512) 470-2133 matt@ctrtx.net Reg Draheim (Jan) 1096 Reed Street Green Bay, WI 54303-3064 (920) 499-8551 Office (920) 497-1000 regdraheim@hotmail.com WELS Prayer Institute - Church Listing “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.” ( Ephesians 6:18) Criterion: These churches are willing to get info from WPI, have at least one person who is praying 30 minutes a week or have at least one specific prayer ministry in their congregation. St. Mark's, Green Bay , WI Beautiful Savior, Green Bay , WI Good Shepherd's, West Allis , WI St. John's , Lannon , WI St. Marcus, Milwaukee , WI Grace (Downtown), Milwaukee , WI St. Andrew, Milwaukee , WI Centennial, Milwaukee , WI St. John's (Howell), Oak Creek , WI St. Andrew, Middleton , WI Trinity, Crete , IL Bethlehem , Oshkosh , WI Fairview , Milwaukee , WI Immanuel, Medford , WI St. Paul 's, Onalaska , WI Sola Fide, Lawrenceville , GA St. Johns , New Ulm, MN Risen Savior, Orlando , FL St. John ’s , Burlington , WI   St. John ’s , Jefferson , WI Grace, St. Joseph ’s, MI St. Peters , Mishicot , WI St. John , Maribel , WI Immanuel, Black Creek , WI St. Paul , Fort Atkinson , WI St. John ’s , Wauwatosa , WI St. John ’s (68th), Milwaukee , WI Prilgrim, Minneapolis , MN Grace, Portland . OR Martin Luther, St. Louis , MO Lamb of God – Madison , AL St. Paul ’s. Muskego , WI Bethany, Port Orchard, WA Keynote Speaker Reverend Paul Prange, Another Love Shack Enabler WELS Administration for Ministerial Education Paul Prange is the administrator for the Board for Ministerial Education (BME) of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. The BME administrator coordinates the work of ministerial education throughout the denomination. Prior to assuming this position, Reverend Prange was the president of Michigan Lutheran Seminary (MLS) in Saginaw, Michigan. He has also served MLS as a tutor and a professor. In addition he has served as superintendent at East Fork Lutheran High School, Whiteriver, AZ and pastor at Risen Savior, Austin, TX and St. Mar- tin, Roscommon, MI. Schedule Friday, June 17, 2011 7:00pm—8:30pm - Gathering for Prayer Our preconference for prayer will focus on the prayer needs of our synod. Bring nothing but a desire to pray for our denomination’s ministry and a heart ready to learn more about group prayer. Saturday, June 18, 2011 8:30am Registration 9:00 am Welcome by Reverend Witte, Drive by DMin, Gordon Conwell, Promoted by SP Schroeder to head of the portable Asian seminary. Check this link about Steve Witte, Church and Change Founder. 9:15 am Keynote Presentation          Rev. Paul Prange, WELS Administration for Ministerial Education 11:45 am LUNCH (provided on site) 12:45 pm Stories of Answered Prayers          (Participants are invited to share their stories too) 1:45 pm Approaches to prayer that participants have found helpful. 2:45 pm Group Prayer 3:30 pm Devotion & Close *Workshop schedule may change

Got My Gausewitz, Original Recipe, Today.The UOJ Fraud Is Beginning To Unravel

Students at The Sausage Factory are forbidden to read this post. They are forgidden to read the justification by faith quotations, in their slug list for dog class, because the orthodox quotations are "misleading," according to the faculty there. Mequon students, you are paying these clowns to teach you such garbage?

My Gausewitz catechism, 1943, came in the mail today. It cost me about $10 and had 10cents marked on the cover. Nice mark-up!

The volume is compact, easy to read, and still in excellent condition. Nothing is said about Gausewitz. The emphasis is upon the Small Catechism of Luther, upon Biblical quotations in the second part to support each section.

WELS had not laid their corrupting hands on the text yet, although I hear that the "improved" version is not bad. I have one of those ordered too.

I will do a more detailed discussion later. I can find no hint of UOJ in this edition.

Readers may recall my pilgrimage to Kokomo, Indiana, where I talked to the two families kicked out of WELS for believing in justification by faith and rejecting UOJ.

Pastor Papenfuss admitted to his members that he had never heard of UOJ until he reached the seminary at Mequon (aka The Sausage Factory). That testimony is consistent with the Gausewitz catechism teaching everyone justification by faith until the David Kuske UOJ catechism replaced it in 1982. Nice switcheroo and fraud, Mequonites. The members who remained faithful to Luther and the Bible were kicked out, while the Shrinker UOJ Enthusiasts were promoted, praised, and protected.

I have posted his class photo below, so people can see the vast amount of UOJ propaganda forced upon the innocent in those days. Look at the faculty members - UOJ Stormtrooper generals! The dregs of the Shrinkers came from the same class - no shock at all.

Mark in Yellow and Avoid

Students Papenfuss, Manthey, and Curia have been UOJ advocates, along with David, Kuske, Sig Becker and A. Panning as faculty cheerleaders for UOJ.  Joel Gerlach was an early CG Enthusiast, studying at Fuller Seminary, but writing about fellowship principles in the parochial school. Students Mark Jeske, Elton Stroh, Robert Schumann (now an atheist), Richard Starr, Mark Braun, and James Wittt are all  known Shrinkers.

Tyrant

Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Deputy Doug Englebrecht Is Accountable.So Is SP Ma...":

When an elected official declares himself beyond criticism, and demands that his handling of public matters be kept confidential, and then threatens to accuse those who criticize him of violating the Law; then that elected official has become a tyrant.

Supporting link:
http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2011/04/glende-is-now-plagiarizing-hisself.html

---

It is a violation which has obsessed the tyrants of the twentieth century. They do not want simply to kill their opponents, but to liquidate them, to deny that they have ever existed.
Helen Dunmore

Clever tyrants are never punished.
Voltaire

Ignorance has always been the weapon of tyrants; enlightenment the salvation of the free.
Bill Richardson

Read more: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/tyrants.html#ixzz1IsfcYGk0

Deputy Doug Englebrecht Is Accountable.So Is SP Mark Schroeder

All Elected Officials Must Be Accountable

April 5, 2011 by Rick

When an elected official declares himself beyond criticism, and demands that his handling of public matters be kept confidential, and then threatens to accuse those who criticize him of violating the Law; then that elected official has become a tyrant.  Elected officials are supposed to be servants, not overlords; and therefore, their job performances are supposed to be subject to review and even criticism by the electorate.
Luther, in the Large Catechism, teaches us to put the best construction on everything, while still telling the truth.  He also teaches that we must honor not only our mothers and fathers, but also all those in authority over us.

However, would it really be a violation of those commandments to honestly critique the job performance of Wisconsin Governor Walker?  Would it be a violation to criticize the foreign policy of President Obama?  Would it be a violation to truthfully report on, and strongly disagree publicly with Obama’s intervention in Libya?  His handling of the war in Afghanistan?  His position on abortion?

Are we allowed to say: “Obama has been doing his job incompetently”?  Do Lutherans really teach that that is inherently a violation of the Fourth and Eighth Commandments?

For now, in the United States, our elected officials do not threaten to accuse citizens of violating the law simply for reporting and criticizing.  In fact, public officials have even less protection from criticism of their job performance than private citizens.  This is because they are elected public officials, and therefore the electorate is entitled to engage in vigorous public job performance reviews.
Do not employers get to review employee job performance?
Jesus said to his disciples:

You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.  Not so with you.  Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.  [Matthew 20:25-28, NIV1984].

The Apostles are among the greatest of men in the Christian Church, and yet their Servant told them to not lord it over others.

Therefore, the elected officials in the WELS are not beyond criticism.  And the elected officials in the WELS have no authority to demand that others remain silent about their inept handling of public matters.  All elected officials must be answerable and accountable to those they serve.  (Galatians 2:11-14).
The rights and principles of freedom were given by God to all people, including Christians.  All people have the right to speak truthfully about the public matters affecting their lives, including Christians.  Even more, when the gospel is at stake, all servants of the Lord must speak publicly.  (Jeremiah 20:9, Galatians 2:14 & 1 Timothy 5:20).

The elected officials in the WELS need to be open and transparent about their positions and actions (or lack thereof) regarding public matters.  Or they must publicly explain why such public matters should be handled privately.  It is not a valid excuse to say: “Handling these matters privately makes our job easier because we do not like our job performances to be subjected to criticism.”  Those who refuse to be criticized should not hold elected office.  Those who refuse to serve, should not hold the office of servant.

Cornerstone for the Taj Mahal of Your Future

A creeped-out Katy Perry posed with a excitable Ski in front of the Taj Mahal, to remind WELS-Missouri that the expensive building in the background is a tomb, like the project that will bury their congregation in debt.

A layman emailed about Cornerstone Ministries in reference to the 007 blog post. 

He didn't think it was right for folks to get rich off the offerings of God's people (Matt 21:12). 

These guys have served 160 Lutheran groups...mostly churches and have raised in excess of $62 million.  They charge a flat fee of around $37,000 - 39,000 plus office supplies and air travel which comes out to $43,000-$46,000 expense to the group.  But if they don't raise the goal amount and the flat fee is greater than 10%, they will give a refund of the difference.  You do the math...these guys have probably made $6 - 7 million since 2002 and they are not non-profit.

Little Pieces of Life

What is cuter - the caution on the face of the little one, Dani,
or the loving smile of her older sister, Josie, and her feather-duster eyelashes?

I have email conversations with people from my hometown, almost every day. We are getting ready for the 45th high school class reunion. They loved hearing that a boy waved at me when I was with Sassy and said, "Hi old man!"

Many of them have serious health problems. My best friend from the neighborhood became a cardiologist and is now deaf, so he cannot really work at his chosen profession. I looked at my 6th grade class photo because Mom kept everything. Five of us have died from that group, 20% of the kids in the photo, and that is based on the people I know. We lose track over 50 years.

Most of us have done whatever we might hope to have accomplished, and many are retired. We often discuss grandchildren and display favorite photos. Granddaughters are going to the prom in sherbet colored dresses, and marriage photos are being posted.

I just talked to one of my mature students who was in my undergrad and grad student classes. He works for a university and we exchange ideas every so often.

He is 10 years younger and just left the rat race, a horrible work environment. I said, "In 10 more years your attitude will change about everything. You will not want a bigger place, but a smaller one. You will want to give away things instead of keeping them. You will be enjoying the little things in life."

If I took all the things that mattered to me in this life and put them in two bags, the largest one would be the memories of those little pieces of life: walking to the movies as newlyweds, because we had movie money or bus money, not both; getting our children to laugh about outrageous stories I made up on the spot; vacations in Chicago and New England; tutoring LI in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. The little bag would contain the things that seemed important at the time and receded in significance.

Abused and neglected children grow up to be bigshots in the lower-archy of all denominations. I talked to a pastor from India, who was treated like dirt by his bishop. I thought, "This is an international problem."

We should be sad that these thieves, adulterers, and false teachers try to steal the important things in life from others, to satisfy their wounded egos, to assuage the memories of their tragic childhoods.

The Lutheran sects are quickly following the bad examples of their larger sisters in apostasy-land. The ELS, according to its own study, will be a footnote in history in only 20 years. WELS is no different. Missouri will take just a little longer.

The time will come when men will no longer ask whether they should go to one of the Concordias or the Sausage Factory or the Little Schoolhouse on the Prairie. The four schools will be tombstones instead of seminaries. People will go back to the earlier models, which produced such men as Gausewitz (ordained at 21) and Hoenecke (who mostly overcame his education at Halle).

You will not find zillions of hours spent at an over-priced Fuller franchise seminary for those men. They will be serious scholars of the Word, not salesmen for Groeschel and Stanley products.

Have you gone to Catalyst, Dirt, Granger, Trinity, Willow Creek, Exponential, or fill-in-the-blank? That conference will energize you, anoint you with the Holy Spirit, grow your church, and take your team to a whole new level. You will find energy you never had before. You will wake up every morning with a new mistress, saying "Halleluia!" looking forward to a new day of work. You will transform your life. God cannot do it without you.

That is seminary education today.

---

California wrote:

Enjoyed your remarks re: "Little Pieces of Life". Moving along as an octogenarian, those little pieces of life keep floating to the surface of the memory bank. I think my generation may have come from physically hardier stock, for when attending the 50 high school reunion of the 1947 graduating class from a mid west school, about 53% actually attended from all corners of the world, and some still living didn't attend. I still keep in touch at least once a year with three or four of friends from high school, all alive and active into their 80's. I'm not so sure the urge to get rid of possessions happens to everyone, for my definition of what some call pack rats is that they may be "preservers of the culture". I have written a few monographs for my grandchildren, i.e.,"I Remember Christmas", "I Remember Easter", "I Remember the Day the School Burned "....to capture the essence of "little pieces of life" from my memory bank for my grandchildren. I am considering another one I will title: "I Remember Church".

Growth You Can Believe In: Ichabod Page-Views

Another satisfied reader from Church and Change, which no longer exists, except for its website, half-dozen spin-offs, control of the colleges/seminary/preps, and dominance of world missions, American missions, and FICKLE.

Average Ichabod page-views per day have increased 37% since the new statistics began last year.

One 48 hour period saw 5,000 page-views. The annual total should be around 500,000 page-views. WELS officials are warning, especially students, away from Ichabod. Thanks - there is no better way to drive up readership.

Thank you - Love Shack, Sausage Factory, Mary Lou College, Willowcreek's Liberal College, Fox Valley, and the Conference of Pussycats - for all the free satirical material, which I merely copy and paste.

Mid-Week Lenten Service, Because We Are Liturgical and Confessional

John 15, by Norma Boeckler



Mid-Week Lenten Vespers, April 6, 2011


Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

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

Bethany Lutheran Worship, 7 PM Central Time

The Hymn #268 Zion Mourns 4:98
The Order of Vespers p. 41
The Psalmody Psalm 23 p. 128
The Lection The Passion History

The Sermon Hymn #40 The God of Abram Praise 4:94

The Sermon – The Grace of God

The Prayers
The Lord’s Prayer
The Collect for Grace p. 45

The Hymn #657 Beautiful Savior 4:24

KJV John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. 15 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. 16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. 17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. 18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

Lenski:
The Logos could not have been the life and the light of men from the beginning if in the fulness of time he had not been “born of God” and “become flesh.”
Now that the climacteric statement is made, the subject is once more named: The Word; but this name is now illumined by all that John has said of him thus far, and, in turn, what he now writes lights up and makes clearer all that he has said of him thus far. We understand the way to the goal the better after having reached the goal. And this, indeed, is the goal, for it transcends the previous statements about the shining of the light and the coming into the world (speaking of it only as a coming). Here is the INCARNATION in so many words: the Word, who was in the beginning, the life and the true light from eternity, this Word “became flesh.” The aorist states the historical fact. In an interesting comparison of several aorists in the prolog R. 829 calls this aorist ingressive, because it “accents the entrance of the Logos upon his life on earth.” We should rather say that this aorist marks the momentary act which made the Logos flesh, to remain flesh in the sense of man forever after. From the start the thought must be rejected that ἐγένετο here means a transformation of the Logos into flesh. The Word did not cease to be what it was before; but it became what it was not before—flesh. “Without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh,” 1 Tim. 3:16. The identity of the subject remains. The Word became flesh and remains in every sense the Word though now made flesh. This Word, being God, could not possibly change into something else, for then God would cease to be God.
The mystery of how the Logos, the Creator, (v. 3) could assume our created nature will forever challenge our finite comprehension. The tremendous fact itself is beyond question, and for us that is enough. Thus we have only one care, that when we ourselves restate what John records we may in no way deviate from the fact.
Lenski, R. C. H.: The Interpretation of St. John's Gospel. Minneapolis, MN : Augsburg Publishing House, 1961, S. 71

The Gospel of John reveals the profound mysteries of God with the simplest words. Many theologians have used long Latin terms to define the Two Natures of Christ – truly human and truly divine.

The opening of John identifies the Jesus, the Word, with the Creation by the Word. Everything was created by this Word. Nothing was created apart from this Word. So we know that Jesus is the only-begotten Son of God.

His human nature is described or revealed simply – The Word became flesh.

Each term is simple and plain in any language, but the revelation is astonishing, unique in all of world religion. Equally important is this description – full of grace and truth.

Knowing the other parts and statements of John’s Gospel, we realize that going away from Christ means abandoning grace AND truth.

Full of grace and truth means that we receive this from Him. But how? Faithful Lutherans have no trouble with this. They are not confused by all the claims and demands of the Enthusiasts. I just read a long list of them to Chris, from a well meaning friend of ours. The list defines the Christian life in terms of what people do – not how big your house is, but how often you welcome guests. Although the list did contain some common sense, it hit bottom at the end. “Not how late you sought to be saved…” So blame was associated even with salvation. The message to anyone who converted late in life was – you should feel guilty for waiting so long.

Jesus did not rail at the repentant thief. Instead, he said, upon hearing the confession of sin and faith, “Today you will be with me in Paradise.”

The Enthusiast would say, “What took you so long?” or “Did it take a crucifixion for you to make a decision?” That sounds a bit funny, but it is sad, because guilt in loaded upon guilt, law upon law.

Grace means – out of love, freely, without any Law demands.

, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,)

The Christian Church was built upon the apostolic witness. John saw the miracles of Jesus. He experienced everything from the beginning and knew his own failings.

John’s Gospel unites and supplements the first three Gospels, by showing us with special clarity that righteousness comes from faith in Christ. This also makes clear that opposition from the leaders came from this outside righteousness, not from the works which we do.

Man turns that around and focuses on the righteousness of works. Therefore, false Gospels demand works rather than faith. Although some like to claim they are overloaded with the Gospel by saying the whole world is forgiven, show they are Law-salesmen by demanding works – more witnessing, more money, more sacrifice. And they brag about all they do and have done.

And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.

Jesus is so full of grace that we receive grace from Him daily, through faith in Him. Grace is revealed in God declaring us forgiven of our sins, fully, freely, each and every day.

God’s grace is revealed in the way He has provided instruments of His grace, so we know exactly how this grace comes to us, in Word and Sacrament, and received in faith.

We are clothed in the righteousness of Christ, not our own, by believing in Christ. It is His cloak, not ours, so we say, “This is grace, not works.”

17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

Glende Is Now Plagiarizing Hisself (Mequon Grammar/Spelling)

Message shirts are so cool, but Miss Perry did this for money. Ski seems to creep her out.

WELS Pastor Tim Glende, of St. Plagiarist, Freedom, is now copying his own previous posts. That is handy, because it is difficult to find posts when a busy copyist like Glende publishes as often as six times a year.

Mixed Up Discipline

Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Meetings of Bishops and District Presidents":

Reminds me, what happened to the swift and terrible judgement that was to separate bone from marrow when Jeske hosted the Change or Die conference with the ELCA?

Or did it turn into an stern slap on the arse and kiss on the cheek like when he and Time of Grace became members of the LCMS?

If we all had fathers like the (W)ELS COP we'd still be hanging around the back of the smoke shop, looking at filthy magazines (no reference to Ski's catechism student) and gambling our allowance on the roll of the dice.

***

GJ - WELS discipline for Jeske is a slap on the back and a kiss....

WELS discipline is aimed against Lutherans.

The Conference of Pussycats and SP play a game where they blame one another for nothing being done.

Smoke and mirrors - just like the budget. Everyone is paying for a luxurious and lazy lifestyle for the chosen few, who abuse their office and flog the sheep to do more for them.

Trying To Explain Why WELS Is Having A Worship Conference At an ELCA College Near MLC's $8 Million Schwan Cathedral

Ben Wink has left a new comment on your post "Mark Schroeder Joins Rick Miller and Other Shrinke...":

How can one use the chapel at MLC for a worship conference?! That would be patently ridiculous. I mean what with all of the classes going on 24-7-365&1/4 and such in that glorious edifice of multitasking Christianity...oh, wait. This is happening in July when there are no classes going on? Hmmm...have to rethink that one.

Just went to MLC's webpage and apparently the link to having MLC to host your event does work, so apparently no one in the Committee on Worship (COW) knew they could do that! Gosh there's phone numbers and email addresses and everything.

Oh, but wait, there's no link to reserving something for the Chapel Of The Christ! That must be why COW is not having it there. If the MLC webpage doesn't advertise it, then it must be out of bounds for reservations. Darn it all! And here there was that $8 million spent and everything! Shoot!

Oh well, is there anything available at the pseudo-Christian fake Lutheran college in St. Peter, MN? That's where they have that Christ Chapel right? Not to be confused with a Chapel of the Christ. Golly that is confusing! Maybe that's what happened! COW just thought they were calling up MLC and were booking someplace that had Christ and Chapel in the title and before you knew it, the contract was signed and they were committed to it! That must be it.

And Mankato is just too far from New Ulm and has Bethany which is ELS and since WELS is in fellowship with them, using that chapel and campus is right out of the question I suppose.

Plus Mankato has lots of distractions that some would call convenient like chain motels, department stores and actual restaurants, which can be a distraction indeed compared to lovely St. Peter, which makes New Ulm look like a metropolis in comparison.

So I guess the best choice was made even though it is a school that WELS is not in fellowship with and WELS is not using their costly and controversial new worship facility to host their own WORSHIP conference.

Golly, I'm writing MLC a check right now for maintenance for that Chapel of the Christ because apparently it is not getting used during the summer and might fall into disrepair due to neglect. All those cobwebs in there might become a health hazard.

***

GJ - The excuse being peddled is "Mary Lou College does not have AC in the dorms, and the chapel is not large enough."

WELS never tells the truth. The real reason is Chaching and Change wants to promote unionism.

Meetings of Bishops and District Presidents

Cited here:

"I am resolved to avoid every meeting of bishops, for I have never seen any synod end well, nor assuage rather than aggravate disorders." St. Gregory Nazianzen

No Jokes about Dr. Moo - The Wheaton WELS NIV Expert

"Wendland Cowed by Moo As WELS Scrambles To Justify ...":

ELCA Bishop Skips Out One Year Before His Term Is Up

April 1, 2011
ELCA Central/Southern Illinois Synod Bishop Accepts New Call
11-043-JB
     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Warren D. Freiheit, bishop of the Central/Southern Illinois Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), notified the synod this week that he will resign as bishop effective June 30. Freiheit, 63, will begin a new call July 1 as pastor of Christ Lutheran Church, Hot Springs Village, Ark.

     "It has been my desire to someday return to parish ministry, and yet I did not expect that service to begin quite this quickly," Freiheit wrote in a March 30 letter to the synod. "As I have concluded ministries in three separate congregations, I did so knowing that there were incomplete ministry objectives. As I prepare to conclude my ministry as synodical bishop, I do so realizing that I again do so with incomplete ministry objectives. Each of the congregations I served continued faithfully in their missions after I left with new spirit-led leadership, and I am confident that the same will be true for the
Central/Southern Illinois Synod."

     Serving as bishop of the synod "has been humbling as well as exhilarating," Freiheit wrote, adding that he accepted his new call "with mixed feelings and regret" that it came a year before concluding his second term as bishop.

     Freiheit was first elected bishop in 2000. He had previously served as pastor of three ELCA congregations in Illinois. [More lying drivel at this link.]

Comments from Various Readers - The NNIV, UOJ, etc.

Joseph Schmidt has left a new comment on your post "Wendland Cowed by Moo As WELS Scrambles To Justify ...":

The English language has not changed that much 30 years that a new translation is warranted.

This is an absolute waste of money, but then again WELS is good at that.

---

bruce-church (http://bruce-church.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "Learning about UOJ":

Luther Rocks,

Glad to hear you are looking under the hood of the synodical conference, at its doctrine. I think that the synodical powers that be would rather have people distracted by the mundane scandals of the synod, because that keeps them looking at the symptoms of UOJ rather than the root cause of the disease, that being the doctrine of UOJ itself.
---

dobrin (http://dobrin.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "Mark Schroeder Joins Rick Miller and Other Shrinke...":

Virtually dead from the neck up, WELS leaders readily seek out other denominations to copy. What is wrong with simply following the Bible?

Remember This WELS, During the WELS Worship Conference at an ELCA College

An MLC sorority asks, "Can we be counselors? We watched Ma Vie en Rose 57 times."

ELCA camp experiences support gay youth

Recent teen and young adult suicides in New Jersey, Minnesota and Ohio brought the issue of bullying to the forefront and led to the "It Gets Better" video campaign. ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson and other Lutherans contributed videos, promising youth and young adults who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender that they have a place in the church and urging them to not give up.

GLBT youth are also supported by programs at ELCA congregations and at least three camps. The camp experiences are led by ELCA members and all three rent space from ELCA camps.

Started nine years ago in Minneapolis, The Naming Project is a drop-in program and summer camp. It was featured in the 2006 documentary Camp Out, and on the March 8 Our America episode hosted by Lisa Ling (The Oprah Winfrey Network). The camp, held July 24-29 this year on Bay Lake Camp, Deerwood, Minn., draws youth from across the country.

Wonderfully Made started after Camp Out was shown at the Philadelphia film festival and viewed by Claire Burkat, bishop of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod, and youth ministry specialist Molly Beck Dean. It will be held April 8-10 at Bear Creek Camp, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.

The Spiritual Pride Project in Austin, Texas, began after a mother discovered there were no camps in the southern U.S. where her child's sexuality would be respected. In addition to offering a variety of resources, its spring retreat is April 1-3 at Lutherhill in LaGrange, Texas.

Two additional ministries that serve gay and lesbian youth throughout the year are The Lighthouse, Minnetonka, Minn., and the Louisville [Ky.] Youth Group.

The Lighthouse is a youth group that draws from more than eight high schools in the western suburbs of Minneapolis. It meets once a week at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Minnetonka. Louisville Youth Group, housed at First Lutheran Church, hosts Friday night programs and provides mentoring and leadership training.

What Is Wrong with the $8 Million Schwan Cathedral at Mary Lou College (nee DMLC)?

norcal763 has left a new comment on your post "Mark Schroeder Joins Rick Miller and Other Shrinke...":

Gustavus Adolphus College. It's an ELCA college! So is St. Olaf's, where they had the last WELS Stale-and-Stodgy-Free Big Getaway. Isn't that what the new chapel at MLC is for?

Just Say No To Adam the Man Making Love To Eve

WELS church lady has left a new comment on your post "Wendland Cowed by MooAs WELS Scrambles To Justify ...":

Say no to the 2011 NIV! Also, please read two new essays by John Brug. These are recent additions listed on the home page of whe WLS essay site. I know some of us(Gregory L Jackson) have not always seen ey-to-eye with Prof. Brug. However, Brug wrote an essay in October of 2010 and he was NOT pleased with this new NIV. He went as for as saying that the WELS should NOT consider it. (He cited many doctrinal errors) Prof Brug wrote an essay regarding the ESV.(he called the ESV the lesser of the two evils) That being said, Brug was against the Synod adopting the ESV.

What surprised me the most was that Prof. Brug called the original NIV, "No better." Interesting! Tell, your friends, relatives, pastors, and church members to say NO to the New NIV.

In Christ,
from WELS church lady

---

Genesis 4:1 (New International Version, ©2011)

Genesis 4

Cain and Abel

 ¹ Adam^[a] made love to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain.^[b] She said, “With the help of the LORD I have brought forth^[c] a man.”

Footnotes:

1. Genesis 4:1 Or The man
2. Genesis 4:1 Cain sounds like the Hebrew for brought forth or acquired.
3. Genesis 4:1 Or have acquired

Wendland Cowed by MooAs WELS Scrambles To Justify Disgusting Distortion of God's Word

WELS Getting More Pitiful During 400th Anniversary of the KJV, Forgotten, Like Gausewitz

As part of its work to evaluate the recently released revision of the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible, the WELS Translation Evaluation Committee met March 18 with Dr. Douglas Moo, the chairman of the Committee on Bible Translation (CBT). The CBT, which worked on the revision, is made up of 15 members from various denominations, none of which is WELS.

"We wanted to hear and get a sense from its chairman what the basic translational philosophy of the new NIV was, where it's going, and how some of the decisions were made," says Paul Wendland, chairman of the Translation Evaluation Committee and president of Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary. Two of the committee's particular concerns are how gender inclusive language is used in the revision and how the messianic prophecies are translated.

Wendland says that Moo stressed that the mission of the CBT was to put God's Word in current natural English. To help them do this, CBT members used a database of more than four billion words that provides objective information on the usage of these words in recent history. "He said it was not a matter of trying to promote an ideology," says Wendland. "It was a matter of just trying to reflect the state of our language and to render the Bible into language as it is spoken today."

Wendland says that he and the other members of the Translation Evaluation Committee were impressed by Moo and the CBT. "That doesn't mean that there won't be areas of legitimate disagreement," he says. "But my impression was that we're not seeing some insidious agenda being driven here."

Meanwhile, the WELS Translation Evaluation Committee is continuing to coordinate the work of reviewing the NIV 2011 and other translations. WELS scholars completed a book by book study of the changes in the NIV 2011 in late February; the committee is evaluating the study and the comments made on the most significant changes in the revision. Wendland says that the committee will report the results of the NIV 2011 evaluation to the districts in May and June and to the synod convention in July.

To help WELS members better understand basic translation theory, a new three-part series on translating began in the April issue of Forward in Christ.

The first article in that series as well as other articles and reports put together by the Translation Evaluation Committee are available online.

***

GJ - WELSians - your objections mean nothing to these boozos. Do not order their NIV books. Do not use their NIV materials. Do not defend the butchering of God's Word.


Douglas J. Moo (b. 1950) is a Christian theologian and has been the Blanchard Professor of New Testament at Wheaton College Graduate School since 2000. He previously taught at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School for over 20 years. Moo received his Ph.D. from the University of St. Andrews, Scotland (1980).

He has published several theological works and commentaries on the Bible; notable among them are An Introduction to the New Testament and A Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans. He is currently writing commentaries on Galatians,

Douglas J. Moo, Idiot

Mark Schroeder Joins Rick Miller and Other Shrinkers in Decrying the Boring Worship Service

I see a debbil in her eyes.
WELS should merge with Osteen in a few years.
At least he does apostasy well.

From Church and Change Headquarters

This month, the Commission on Worship is asking called workers and laypeople alike to start making plans to attend WELS National Conference on Worship, Music, and the Arts held every three years—this year July 19-22 at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn.


The first worship conference I attended was in 2008, and I was not disappointed. I came away marveling at the many gifts and talents that God has given to people in our synod [GJ - and many other denominations, including Roman Catholicism]. Those gifts were on display in the inspiring worship services and in the many workshops that were held. Some of us are not very emotional people by nature, but there were times when the beauty of the music and messages left very few dry eyes.

The worship conference is designed to celebrate and encourage our Lutheran liturgical worship heritage—Christ-centered and gospel-proclaiming. But that doesn't mean it will be stale and stodgy. Quite the contrary. Attendees will experience new and fresh musical settings that they will want to take back to their own congregations.

Drink in our new ideas, for a Fuller knowledge of Jesus.
You will be loaded.
Our worship is intoxicating.
Your spirits will be lifted up.

Hauerwas Memoir - Hannah's Child

Stan Hauerwas earned his PhD at Yale, taught at Augustana, and became my first contact with Notre Dame's doctoral program.

American Specator Book Review

I do not buy modern theology books or keep them in my library. During graduate school I had to read many modern theologians and met many of them.

Hauerwas was right out of Yale when I was a freshman at Augustana College. They did not renew his contract ("They fired me," he said) because he did not harmonize with Swedish Pietism. He took a pay cut to teach at Notre Dame, where he achieved great fame. Pope John Paul II visited Notre Dame, picked up an honorary doctorate, and told the school to get rid of its Protestant and liberation theology faculty members in the theology department.

Hauerwas left for Duke. Wilken (LCMS apostate) joined Duke. Elisabeth Schussler-Fiorenze departed for the Episcopal school near Harvard. Her fellow-professor husband, Frank, left for any job available. Both Fiorenzas ended up with endowed professorships at Harvard. Being a Roman Catholic feminist (Elisabeth) or a Marxist (Frank) will not hurt a job search at Harvard Divinity.

I was at Notre Dame before the JP.2 purge, so I had a rainbow coalition of professors: Hauerwas (Methodist), Yoder (Mennonite), Hommes (liberal Dutch Calvinist), both Fiorenzas, Primus (Rabbinic Judaism), and guest lectureships from Ahlstrom (Yale Lutheran), Wiesel (Judaism), and many others. The most fun was having a long conversation with Prince Charles' personal guru, Laurens van der Post. Laurens was being ignored during a long break at the Jung conference on campus, so I struck up a conversation with him. After he lectured, a knot of people surrounded him. Such are the vicissitudes of fame.

I used to think that years of studying modern theology were an enormous waste of time, which I might have spent in taxidermy or another useful profession. However, seldom does anyone have the time and energy to study hundreds of related books, only to burrow through the library again to study a more focused topic for a dissertation, taking notes, interviewing people, writing letters, reading archives.

According to WELS' ecumenical Pietism, I cannot be trusted to discern the spirits because of my first-hand knowledge. One publisher asked me to review a book before publication because I studied under Hauerwas and Yoder.

WELS honors those who study at Fuller Seminary, Willow Creek, and Trinity Divinity School - as long as they lie about it.

Hauerwas and Yoder are both examples of Enthusiasm. Neither one had a real confessional base. Hauerwas is associated with Methodism, Anabaptism, Roman Catholicism, and the Episcopal Church (Peace-nik conference). Yoder got involved with the Cambellites (Disciples of Christ, Church of Christ) - influencing them so much that they write about him long after his death.

Hauerwas is a kindly man who cares about other people and relates well to his students. Although I have not been in contact with him for decades, I still remember his thoughtfulness at critical times.

Two people influenced my approach to publishing: Bainton and Hauerwas. Whatever theological journals or books I searched through, those names jumped out everywhere. Their publication list was endless, it seemed.

I thought it worthwhile to do the same for traditional Lutheran theology. I could not stay in the LCA, so I wrote about that in 1987, knowing my PhD gave me credibility.

I have experienced two dominant responses among the "conservative" Lutherans.

The first was a demonic hatred for Lutheran doctrine and anyone connected with it. Some (like John Seifert) tried to ascribe this to a local phenomenon, such as the long-standing wobbly nature of Columbus, Ohio. Some of the poison-pen responses on this blog are nothing compared to the things said and done by WELS and Missouri leaders, not to mention the odious ELS and CLC (sic) cults.

The second was an overwhelming effort to silence me in every possible way. This recently came from a source: "Synod and professors seem more worried about Seminary students wasting time on Ichabod."

The silencing has been more extensive than that. UOJ Enthusiasts made sure that Otten never published anything by me again, and never published anything positive about what I wrote. Some long-term readers sent in comments about Thy Strong Word. Otten refused to publish them. Trinity in Bridgeton refused to give Christian News money until I was banned. Money talks at the "independent" Christian News. And Otten listens closely to all the synodical spin-doctors, who are appointed to keep him in line.

An independent publisher asked me to provide him with book manuscripts to publish and sell. When Bivens and Valleskey heard about it, the same WELS printer said he had to protect his income. He could not afford a WELS boycott. He refused to print what he asked me to give him, and he kept all the photographs for the book about Bethany and Erin - Angel Joy. I asked for them repeatedly, but he kept them forever, finally sending them when the book was printed elsewhere. Like many in WELS, he complained about how mean WELS was. Like many in WELS, he was ready to turn on a dime when commanded.

I could not even buy an ad in Marvin-Schwan's-Logia at one point, and they refused to review anything. The most shunned book has been Thy Strong Word, but it remains the most influential (in my opinion), although that has taken a long time to develop.

The silence and shunning prove to me how dangerous the Church of the Augsburg Confession appears to the Synodical Conference franchise. The Syn Conference seminaries are expensive introductions to New Age ecumenism, whether the graduates stay to wreck the sect, move to Rome, or openly join the Methodobapticostals. The shards of the Syn Conference are no better, so they should not rejoice in the breakdown of the Mother Ship. They are worse than their parents, typical of incest.

The financial fraud in WELS-ELS-LCMS is a wonder to behold, because everyone is so greedy for money but they do not notice the skimming of funds for everything except the true purpose of the Church. Mostly, the money goes to the managers who manage the money - not to mention the lawsuits they bring against the innocent and defend against the guilty. As WELS Pastor Fred Adrian said when WELS lost a $400,000 - "It doesn't matter. Insurance is paying for it." DP Seifert said about the disgraced Adrian, "We have to get him back in the parish!" (My words - Seifert's apostasy).

The worst part of this financial fraud is the doctrinal fraud, because the apostates have their claws and hooves in the treasury, doling out funds to one another and rejoicing in the confessional orthodoxy of Holy Mother Sect.

As I told one or two people, the WELS/LCMS reporting is getting repetitive. The Spineless Presidents are too timid to annoy the Daddy Warbucks and their allies, making the SPs the enablers. They throw a little raw meat to the base from time to time, but the trend line is pure apostasy, funded apostasy, planned and programmed apostasy.

I am going to do a long-term study of the Formula of Concord, starting with the beginning and going through every article - though not every word of it. I will label it so people can find the parts from clicking the label.

John Howard Yoder was drawn into teaching at Notre Dame by Hauerwas and became my dissertation advisor.
The Book of Concord annoyed him for naming his sect as wrong about doctrine.
But he did the same about the Book of Concord.