Insights from Gausewitz - By Brett Meyer

Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "The 99 Cent Kuske Catechism.Overpriced.":

My Gausewitz Small Catechism arrived today. It was owned by M. Zima and comes with most pages taped and a half dozen four leaf clovers pressed between, what seems to be, random pages.

Reading through it I noted that on page 18, The Ministry of the Keys it states, What is the Ministry of the Keys? The ministry of the Keys is the peculiar authority of the Church, given by Christ to His Church on earth, to forgive the sins of penitent sinners unto them, but to retain the sins of the impenitent as long as they do not repent.

What do you believe according to these words? I believe that when the called ministers of Christ deal with us according to His divine command (especially when they exclude manifestly impenitent sinners from the Christian congregation, and again, when they absolve those whho repent of their sins and are willing to amend), this is as valid and certain, in Heaven also, as if Christ, our dear Lord, dealt with us Himself.

This leaves no room for UOJ which falsely teaches that upon Christ's death for the sins of the world and resurrection God absolved the whole world of their sins and declared them justified and righteous in Christ.

First how can Christ's Church retain the sins of the impenitent when God the Father has already forgiven them by the sacrificial blood of Christ?!

Second, in John chapter 20 Christ gives the Keys to His Church which includes the authority to retain the sins of the impenitent but to also absolve those who repent of their sins and are willing to amend as the Gausewitz Catechism wrote. But the (W)ELS clergy, called workers and laity blatantly teach against Christ and His divine command in Our Great Heritage "And yet many Lutherans still labor under the delusion that God does not forgive us unless we believe. Instead of seeing faith as nothing more than the spiritual hand with which we make the forgiveness of God our own, they see it as a reason why God forgives us. They believe that Christ has indeed provided forgiveness for all men, that God is willing to forgive them, but before he really forgives he first of all demands that we should be sorry for our sins and that we should have faith. Just have faith they say, and then God will forgive you. All the right words are there. The only thing wrong is that the words are in the wrong order. God does not forgive us IF we have faith. He has forgiven us long ago when he raised his Son from the dead." (p. 59)

No wonder the Lutheran Confessions exclaim, "6] Let any one of the adversaries come forth and tell us when remission of sins takes place. O good God, what darkness there is! They doubt whether it is in attrition or in contrition that remission of sins occurs. And if it occurs on account of contrition, what need is there of absolution, what does the power of the keys effect, if sins have been already remitted?…" http://www.bookofconcord.org/defense_10_repentance.php

Why Does WELS Crave Worship ConferencesAt ELCA Colleges?Twice the Chance for a Date?

Prof Mouse wants us to know: "There are more and better bars near Gustavus Adolphus!"


Slogo has left a new comment on your post "Trying To Explain Why WELS Is Having A Worship Con...":

The reason the conference is at Gustavus instead of MLC is one of logistics. Gustavus has a full time summer staff whose specific job it is to host conferences of this size. MLC does not. Dining at the busiest time during the last convention was standing room only. MLC's cafeteria is about half the size and cannot accommodate that kind of traffic. It's not about air conditioning, it's about manpower, plain and simple. Some of your comments on this site are truly thought-provoking. Others, such as this article are simply asinine.

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GJ - This is far beyond the realm of adiaphora. WELS is ganz-hypocritical in sneering at ELCA while coveting their colleges. To have a worship conference, of all things, at an ELCA college - that is truly an abomination.

Slick Brenner used to say, "Judgment is coming to WELS."

Lenski wrote, "Resist the beginnings," but WELS cannot resist anything - except the Book of Concord.

Mid-Week Lenten Service

The Lord's Supper, by Norma Boeckler



Mid-Week Lenten Vespers, April 13, 2011


Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

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

Bethany Lutheran Worship, 7 PM Central Time

The Hymn # 291 Lamp of Our Feet 4:3
The Order of Vespers p. 41
The Psalmody Psalm 23 p. 128
The Lection The Passion History

The Sermon Hymn #364 How Sweet the Name 4:18

The Sermon – The Sword of the Spirit

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

The Hymn # 285 How Precious Is 4:59

KJV Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. 14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. 15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Lenski:

Do not Underestimate the Word of God, v. 12, 13.
12) This appendix is vital as the concluding word of both the warning voiced in chapter 3 and the promise given in 4:1–11. It is so essential because not only the warning and the promise are based on the Word of God as being “my voice,” Ps. 95 (see 3:8–11), but also because all that this epistle contains from 1:1 onward (“God spoke”) and will contain in the following chapters is based directly on God’s Word. So the writer says: Let there be no illusion in you, my readers, regarding this Word of God and what it says about Jesus; let no one think that disbelieving or disobeying this Word is a light matter. The writer has dwelt especially on Ps. 95:11 (3:8, 11; 4:3, 4), God’s oath, a most terrible Word of God. He now stresses the full power of the Word in its damning force. He has likewise dwelt on Ps. 95:7b plus 11: “Today” and “my rest,” with all the promise that lies in this Word (3:8, 15; 4:3–8). This, too, leads him to stress the power of the Word, the blessed promise of which is so mighty.
Lenski, R. C. H.: The Interpretation of the Epistle to the Hebrews and of the Epistle of James. Columbus, O. : Lutheran book concern, 1938, S. 139

There is a major gulf between the Lutheran interpretation of the Scriptures and the Pietistic/Reformed view of the Scriptures.

Many people overlook it because the difference has been obscured by those who favor un-Lutheran and anti-Lutheran theology.

Here is the difference.

Luther, following the plain, clear truth of the Word, always emphasized the Word of God accomplishing His will. That is why he and the Lutheran Reformers always fought for the pure Word, because it belongs to God alone and not to man. We are privileged to have the Bible, but we do not have a license to change its meaning to suit ourselves.

The Reformed view, from Calvin, is this – God’s Word is dead by itself. We must make it come alive and be relevant (real, relational) to others. That places the burden on man to make the Word of God reasonable and attractive. Man’s effort is absolutely necessary. That obviously leads to compromise with others, since each person becomes a little pope, deciding what God really meant originally – or in the cafeteria style – deciding what applies to us.

One woman said to me, when I said re-incarnation was not Biblical – “But I like the idea!” That settled it for her.

For the word of God is quick, and powerful,
and sharper than any twoedged sword,
piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit,
and of the joints and marrow,
and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight:
but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

The 99 Cent Kuske Catechism.Overpriced.

Until 1982, WELS taught justification by faith in its Gausewitz catechism, both the original and the revised version of 1956. Suddenly, in 1982, WELS taught UOJ in its Kuske catechism, the largest and most expensive, with the added advantage of the Reformed NIV Scriptures instead of the Sacramental KJV citations.

I never bought catechisms before. Now I have the original Gausewitz, the revised version, and the LCMS 1943 catechism (justification by faith, KJV - still in print). The Kuske will arrive soon. I paid 99 cents for it. The others cost me $10 each.

I wonder if readers are starting to see the scope of this massive fraud. Today the Fuller-hugging leaders of the Olde Syn Conference act as if UOJ has always been taught. But no, that is a blatant lie.

Walther taught UOJ, and his chosen disciple F. Pieper did as well. Stoeckhardt and Kretzmann were UOJ Stormtroopers. The Norwegian Pietists adored UOJ.

As LP Cruz will tell you, UOJ is just like Calvinism in confusing justification with the Atonement.

I am going to do more reading about Wauwatosa. Those WELS leaders were trained by the UOJ leaders of Missouri.

Readers will have to do more research into their own synodical history and documents. I do not have the time and eyeball power to read it all and comment.

Where's Elmo

Augustana Ministerium (not the original one) To Deal With Justification

WELS has its own Stormtrooper farm at its portable Asian seminary.
They also teach Church Shrinkage there.
The two ideologies go together well, or WELS.

The Sixth Annual Augustana Ministerium Theological Conference and Plenary Meeting

May 9-11, 2011

Our Sixth Annual Theological Conference and Plenary Meeting is scheduled for May 9-11, 2011, hosted graciously by the Rev. Dr. Kent Heimbigner and Charity Lutheran Church, Burleson, TX. This year’s theological conference will be dedicated to exploring the central article of the Christian faith - Justification – how it should and should not be preached and taught. We will examine challenges to a truly biblical and Lutheran understanding of justification over against challenges to it - some old and some more recent. It will be dedicated to exploring and discussing the great challenges that our people face today in preserving a truly biblical and reformational understanding of the central article of the Christian faith. Appropriately, our theme this year is Justification: Challenges Old and New. How should the justification of the sinner be proclaimed and taught?  What are contemporary as well as more enduring pitfalls and challenges that can derail and pervert this proclamation of the Gospel? The following theme and topics will address these important questions as delivered by an impressive lineup of very capable Lutheran pastors. And again as with our presentations last year, more formal essays will be delivered with discussion time to follow. And again as in past years, the topics intentionally overlap. Don’t miss this important the timely conference on the central article of the Christian Faith. You can register at our website, www.augustanaministerium.org.

Justification: Challenges Old and New

·       Predestination revisited: Is the sinner predestined unto salvation unto faith or in view of faith: What are the implications of this for preaching and teaching, absolution, and liturgy? How shall we peach predestination or election when we are addressing sinners with the Gospel? Essayist, Rev. Timothy Tolar

·       Is the Justification of the sinner objective? What does this mean and how does this understanding shape the preaching of the Gospel and evangelism. What happens to the preaching and teaching of the Gospel when the existing reality of justification it is denied? Essayist,  Rev. Michael Simminger

·       Justification: How a Lutheran Distinctive Shapes the Ministry of the Gospel Absolution (Public and Private), Preaching and Teaching - and what tragic things happen if it doesn’t, And Lutheran distinctives in the Doctrine of Justification: Their impact on Baptism, Conversion, and Sanctification vis-a-vis the Protestant World  (Reformed, Armenian, and Holiness Theology) Roman Catholic. Essayist, Rev. Dr. Steven Hein

·       Justification Distorted: How sloppy, trite, and imprecise language distorts the Ministry of the Gospel. Watch your language, son! Essayist, Rev. Kurt Hering