BATH, Maine – Engaged in a frenzied firefight and outnumbered by the Taliban, Navy Lt. Michael Murphy made a desperate decision as he and three fellow SEALs fought for their lives on a rocky mountainside in Afghanistan's Kunar Province in 2005.
In a last-ditch effort to save his team, Murphy pulled out his satellite phone, walked into a clearing to get reception and called for reinforcements as a fusillade of bullets ricocheted around him. One of the bullets hit him, but he finished the call and even signed off, "Thank you."
Then he continued the battle.
Dan Murphy, the sailor's father, said it didn't surprise him that his slain son nicknamed "The Protector" put himself in harm's way. Nor was he surprised that in the heat of combat his son was courteous.
"That was Michael. He was cool under fire. He had the ability to process information, even under the most difficult of circumstances. That's what made him such a good SEAL officer," Murphy said.
A warship bearing the name of the Medal of Honor recipient will be christened Saturday — on what would have been Murphy's 35th birthday — at Bath Iron Works, where the destroyer is being built.
Murphy, who was 29 when he died, graduated from Pennsylvania State University and was accepted to multiple law schools, but decided he could do more for his country as one of the Navy's elite SEALS — special forces trained to fight on sea, air and land — the same forces that killed Osama bin Laden this week in Pakistan.
Heightened security will be in effect as Murphy's mother, Maureen, christens the ship by smashing a bottle of champagne against the bow of the 510-foot-long warship as Murphy's father, brother and others watch.
Murphy, of Patchogue, N.Y., earned his nickname after getting suspended in elementary school for fighting with bullies who tried to stuff a special-needs child into a locker and for intervening when some youths were picking on a homeless man, said Dan Murphy, a lawyer, former prosecutor and Army veteran who served in Vietnam.
Maureen Murphy said he thought he was too young to take a desk job as a lawyer. Instead, he went to officer candidate school, the first step on his journey to become a SEAL officer. He was in training during the Sept. 11 attacks, which shaped his views.
His view was that there are "bullies in the world and people who're oppressed in the world. And he said, 'Sometimes they have to be taken care of,'" she said.
On June 28, 2005, the day he was killed, Murphy was leading a SEAL team in northeastern Afghanistan looking for the commander of a group of insurgents known as the Mountain Tigers.
The Operation Red Wings reconnaissance team rappelled down from a helicopter at night and climbed through rain to a spot 10,000 feet high overlooking a village to keep a lookout. But the mission was compromised the following morning when three local goat herders happened upon their hiding spot.
High in the Hindu Kush mountains, Murphy and Petty Officers Marcus Luttrell of Huntsville, Texas; Matthew Axelson of Cupertino, Calif.; and Danny Dietz of Littleton, Colo.; held a tense discussion of the rules of engagement and the fate of the three goat herders, who were being held at gunpoint.
If they were Taliban sympathizers, then letting the herders go would allow them to alert the Taliban forces lurking in the area; killing them might ensure the team's safety, but there were issues of possible military charges and a media backlash, according to Luttrell, the lone survivor.
Murphy, who favored letting the goat herders go, guided a discussion of military, political, safety and moral implications. A majority agreed with him.
An hour after the herders were released, more than 100 Taliban armed with AK-47 assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades opened fire, attacking from higher elevation, and maneuvering to outflank the SEALs, said Gary Williams, author of "Seal of Honor," a biography of Murphy.
Dan Murphy said his son made the right call.
"It was exactly the right decision and what Michael had to do. I'm looking at it from Michael's perspective, that these were clearly civilians. One of them was 14 years old, which was about the age of his brother. Michael knew the rules of engagement and the risks associated with it," the father said.
As the only survivor, Luttrell has pangs of regret for voting to go along with Murphy, his best friend; he now believes the team could've survived if the goat herders were killed.
In his own book, "Lone Survivor," Luttrell wrote that Murphy was shot in the stomach early in the firefight, but ignored the wound and continued to lead the team, which killed dozens of Taliban attackers. The injuries continued to mount as the SEALs were forced to scramble, slide and tumble down the mountain in the face of the onslaught.
Three of the team members had been shot at least once when Murphy decided drastic action was needed to save the team, Luttrell wrote. With the team's radio out of commission, Murphy exposed himself to enemy gunfire by stepping into a clearing with a satellite phone to make a call to Bagram Airfield to relay the dire situation. He dropped the phone after being shot, then picked it up to complete the phone call with four words: "Roger that, thank you."
By the end of the two-hour firefight, Murphy, Dietz and Axelson were dead. The tragedy was compounded when 16 rescuers — eight additional SEALs and eight members of the Army's elite "Night Stalkers" — were killed when their MH-47 Chinook helicopter was shot down by a rocket-propelled grenade.
It was the largest single-day loss in naval special warfare history. All told, 33 SEALS have been killed in action since the Sept. 11 attacks, officials say.
Luttrell, who was blown off the mountain by a rocket-propelled grenade and knocked unconscious, evaded capture until he was taken in by villagers who protected him until he was liberated five days later by special forces. He has since left the Navy, gotten married and launched a foundation; he's unable to attend Saturday's event because his wife is in the final days of pregnancy, a spokesman for Luttrell said.
Navy Cmdr. Chad Muse, commanding officer of SEAL Delivery Team 1 in Hawaii, noted one of Murphy's favorite books was Steven Pressfield's "Gates of Fire," an account of outnumbered Spartans and their epic battle against hundreds of thousands of invading Persians nearly 2,500 years ago at the Battle of Thermopylae.
Like the Spartans, who were ultimately slaughtered, Murphy had a spirit that didn't give up. "It's about sacrifice and the Spartan ideal — and valor and heroism in battle," Muse said.
ICHABOD, THE GLORY HAS DEPARTED - explores the Age of Apostasy, predicted in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, to attack Objective Faithless Justification, Church Growth Clowns, and their ringmasters. The antidote to these poisons is trusting the efficacious Word in the Means of Grace. John 16:8. Isaiah 55:8ff. Romans 10. Most readers are WELS, LCMS, ELS, or ELCA. This blog also covers the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, and the Left-wing, National Council of Churches denominations.
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Thursday, May 5, 2011
Luther - Wherever the Word of God Is Proclaimed,
The Fruits of the Same Must Exist
"A third answer to our enemies is: We are certain that wherever the Word of God is proclaimed, the fruits of the same must exist. We have the Word of God, and therefore the Spirit of God must be with us. And where the Spirit is, faith must obtain, however weak it may be." Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids Baker Book House, 1983, VIII, p. 274. Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity Ephesians 3:13-21.
Luther - Active and Living Words
Labels:
Book of Concord
The Word Judges Us, But the World Sees Fools and Fanatics
"The Word is too sublime to pass under our judgment; it is the province of the Word to judge us. The world, however, while unwilling to be judged and convicted by us, essays to judge and convict the Word of God. Here God steps in. It would be a pity for the worldly to see a godly Christian, so God blinds them and they miss His kingdom. As Isaiah says (26:10): 'In the land of uprightness will he deal wrongfully, and will not behold the majesty of Jehovah.' For this reason, few real Christians come under the observation of cavilers*; the latter, in general, observe fools and fanatics, at whom they maliciously stumble and take offense. They are unworthy to behold God's honor in a godly Christian upon whom the Lord has poured out Himself in fulness of blessing."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids Baker Book House, 1983, VIII, p. 274. Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity Ephesians 3:13-21; Isaiah 26:10.
*To cavil means to make petty or unnecessary objections
Luther Rocks Likes the Conference Information
LutherRocks has left a new comment on your post "Synod Trifecta Going Well":
This is cool...and it rocks...in a BoC kind of way...you go Brett!!! (Insert ELCA head bishop dude here)
Labels:
ELCA; ELS; LCMS; WELS
Synod Trifecta Going Well
Brett Meyer reports that the first session went well. He spoke to a lot of laity and pastors. Most were quite friendly and interested. Some were friends of mine, some by Internet, others from way back to Mequon.
I expedited 60 copies of Luther versus the UOJ Pietists: Justification by Faith to Brett. They left Memphis just before the flood warnings began to arrive. About half the copies were given out the first day. Brett also had an equal number of Jesus Priceless Treasure. They also were picked up by participants.
Brett's commute was 30 miles! He will be back tomorrow. Some synod officials are there in addition to the named speakers.
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Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Synod Trifecta Going Well":
I thoroughly enjoyed the first day. Many people were extremely polite and friendly. I had a chance to speak to many people from the WELS, ELS, LCMS, CLC and ELCA.
Most who came to my table were unaware of any struggle for a sound doctrine of Justification in the Lutheran Synods and appreciated the free books and material. Some even brought other people back multiple times to share the information.
Pastor Buchholz brought Pastor Rydecki over to meet me. It was an unfortunate that I was talking to a old friend of Pastor Jackson at the time and I asked them to come back. I hope to have a chance to talk with him tomorrow.
All books and material were given out for free and along with the books noted in the post above were 5 page comparison of doctrinal statements by the Synods and theologians promoting UOJ and the Book of Concord and Martin Luther teaching Justification by Faith alone to the exclusion of UOJ, and a one page comparison of two versions of the Gausewitz Small Catechism without UOJ and the Kuske revision showing the insertion of the doctrine by the (W)ELS. The Justification by Faith information table can be seen in the far right side of the photo above. It was the only table offering information at the event.
Looking forward to the conference tomorrow.
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ELCA; ELS; LCMS; WELS; CLC (sic)
You Might Be a Lutheran - Catechesis Says
Catechesis has left a new comment on your post "The Secret Revealed - Youth Do Not Want Pop's Musi...":
If "the Mass is retained among us, and celebrated with the highest reverence"..., you might be a Lutheran.
If "Nearly all the usual ceremonies are also preserved...."..., you might be a Lutheran.
If your parishioners "are also advised concerning the dignity and use of the Sacrament, how great consolation it brings anxious consciences, that they may learn to believe God, and to expect and ask of Him all that is good,"..., you might be a Lutheran.
If "public ceremonies, for the most part like those hitherto in use, are retained"..., you might be a Lutheran.
If you "quia" subscribe to the Augsburg Confession Article XXIV quoted above in not only doctrine, but also practice, then you are a Lutheran.
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GJ - The quia subscription is meaningless today. WELS has repudiated it in print, while Missouri has repudiated it in practice. Quia's do not run off to Fuller to figure out how to make the Gospel effective. They do not hide the name Lutheran. They do not hide the Sacraments and even the signs of the Sacraments (altar and font) in church.
I suggest a chia subscription as the best term to use for the current situation.
Labels:
Book of Concord
Michael Murphy - Warship Named After Him
By DAVID SHARP, Associated Press – 1 hr 42 mins ago
Book Review - The Rite of Sodomy, by Randy Engels
The Rite of Sodomy: Homosexuality and the Roman Catholic Church. Volume I. Historical Perspectives from Antiquity to the Cambridge Spies.
New Engel Publishing, Export, Pennsylvania.
Paperback, 366 pages.
By Randy Engel.
Order from:
Reviewed by Gregory L. Jackson, PhD
Engel’s book will focus on the Roman Catholic Church in the second volume, which is still being finished. Delusional people think this book applies only to Catholics or those gay activists in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
WELS Hypocrisy
For example, Wisconsin Synod President Mark Schroeder has publicly criticized the ELCA for its approval of homosexual ordination. But Schroeder has done nothing about Martin Luther College (WELS) students uploading their own gay video to YouTube and promoting it with a Facebook page:
Party in the MLC - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kSdADOIG3Y –
was filmed as a frame by frame copy of
Party in the Fire Island Pines - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ezfk7s1NyY
The differences between the two videos are slight, except for a WELS student grabbing his crotch, in the outdoor scene with the slide, which appears again in another version in the outtakes at the end of the video. Both scenes would be enough to arrest the man for public indecency, but WELS thought he should be a Lutheran school teacher.
The MLC video came to my attention via a member of the synod, who was too disgusted to watch more than a few seconds. I posted it on my blog. The MLC students attack me for posting it and claimed in print (Wisconsin Lutheran College paper) that they had no idea they were copying a gay video filmed at a gay resort. They pulled the video but it was already appearing on the websites one would expect to find it. Next they posted a Facebook page – Bring Back Party in the MLC. The video was uploaded a second time to YouTube, and nothing has been done since that time.
LCMS Hypocrisy
The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod had a “study” posted on their website, a few years ago. Studies are a wonderful Lutheran tradition. Horrible ideas can be promoted without claiming any official actions will follow. Studies can appear and disappear without notice. This particular study was gayer than lavender hose, an Amen chorus to everything going on in ELCA. Homosexuals were more talented, loving, and sensitive than heterosexuals.
Randy Engel, Author
Randy Engel is a woman who began in the field of Viet Nam studies, working with refugees, starting in the mid-1960s. In 1970, she received the Distinguished Service Medal for “exceptional and meritorious service to Vietnam.”
She moved into pro-life issues and the destructive effect of sex education. She has published in many different Catholic periodicals. She found great resistance, even among conservatives, when moving into this area of research. She is a meticulous researcher and a fine writer. Fortunately, she spares us many details, although the section on Oscar Wilde contains enough facts to keep anyone from reading him again.
My Background
I attended Notre Dame and earned a PhD in theology in 1982. This gave me informal training in Roman Catholicism in America. Teaching and publishing have given me a broad historical background in the areas covered by Engel’s book.
E. Michael Jones was fired as a professor at the sister school, St. Mary’s across the road from Notre Dame, because he was pro-life.
He provided the information below in one of his published articles in Fidelity magazine.
One worship professor at Notre Dame “committed suicide.” He was a homosexual and an atheist. His homosexual atheist friend (also a professor of worship) became his spokesman post mortem. The dead atheist did not want a funeral, so Notre Dame gave him two. Evidence pointed to murder, but that would have been unpleasant, since the professor was seen hanging out with a biker leather gang. He left behind a bowl of melting ice cream. No one shoots himself when a bowl of ice cream is on the table.
History of Homosexuality
Engel has attempted an extensive history of homosexuality, as a prelude to the second volume on the Roman Catholic Church. Her thesis is - a homosexual network has taken control of her denomination, aided by the election of a homosexual pope. Massive cover-ups have protected homosexual offenders all over the world.
The only section lacking is one on the Muslim world. That would probably involve another volume by itself. The rapid increase of Muslims in the West, and their monetary influence on the media, will lead to additional propaganda efforts.
Engel has a detailed chapter about ancient Greece. Many people associate that era with unbridled homosexuality. The issues are more complicated. Societies set up rules for vice, such as excusing prostitution. Likewise, Greece had its rules, but they would not be appealing to the typical reader.
Engel unearths a wealth of valuable resources for those who want to pursue the topic. So much propaganda is being produced by gay activists that this book is a necessary counter to their claims.
Early Christianity
Much of what we value in the Western tradition has come from the Christian faith, where the Creation of the family by the Word was honored. Engel has many important quotations for anyone doing research on this topic.
I knew the game was up in the Lutheran Church in America when their national magazine (The Lutheran) published a critique of homosexuality (against natural law) and changed to active promotion of the agenda, which was officially started by Lutherans Concerned and funded by The American Lutheran Church. I was being interviewed at the Philadelphia seminary for a job when I heard seminary professors congratulate their colleague on his published critique.
As I wrote in another review, Carl Braaten shared that view. He wrote in his memoirs that every faculty member who disagreed with the gay was threatened into silence. His LSTC colleague from Seminex was arrested for soliciting a male policeman in a St. Louis park, and the Seminex faculty which trooped into their new location (Chicago) had already
The mainline academics are now providing a new history of the Christian Church, one which overlooks the very material Engel has reproduced.
Renaissance
Various factors led to an emergence of the Greek homosexual culture in Renaissance Italy. The Black Death was one, leaving devastating effects on the entire population. Savonarola campaigned against corruption and also against the abuse of teen-aged boys from the spread of homosexuality.
Engel has plenty of material about charges of homosexuality aimed at various Roman Catholic figures. She is even-handed about her sources and analytical about the facts known. Anyone can follow the debate from her chapter on the Renaissance, and read the many works she cites in the chapter. The footnotes are also illuminating. For instance, the note on Christopher Marlowe, the playwright, details reasons for charges against him and his mysterious death.
The Modern Secular State
Engel blames Protestantism for dividing the Church and hampering its authority, a claim diminished by what happened in the Medieval Church. As Luther observed, “People worshiped those cardinals as gods if they were satisfied with a woman.” Protestantism, led by Luther, established the parsonage family as the ideal, instead of holding up a vow of chastity that few could follow.
The loneliness created by the vows of Catholic religious has always fostered immorality rather than holiness. Ironically, the Catholic religious have elevated emotional tension by making normal relations a sin, so the closeness of the clergy enables them to cloak what they are doing.
Engel has observed what British histories often describe – homosexuality spread through the ease and luxury of the upper classes. They had the time, money, and upper class protection to allow it to happen.
Engel’s treatment of the Oscar Wilde scandal is a good example of her mastery of detail. She allows her research to show what actually happened, a picture contrary to the popular imagination. Wilde and his boyfriend engaged in the prostitution of minors to satisfy their whims and lusts. The father of “Bosy” taunted Wilde into suing him for slander, which was disproved by Wilde being examined in court. As the lawyers say, it is not slander if the charges are true. Wilde was perhaps protected from additional penalties because Bosy was engaged in the same crimes – using underage boys. Wilde went to prison, not entirely repentant, leaving a wife and children in shame. Wilde has become a modern homosexual hero with a fairly frank movie made in his honor.
Cambridge Spies
Those who read about government intelligence services will invariable run across the Cambridge spy ring, made up of homosexuals at the top of the British intelligence. They worked together to undermine Western governments while serving their Soviet masters. The five included Kim Philby, Donald Maclean, Guy Burgess, Anthony Blunt, and perhaps John Cairncross. Each one of the five did enormous damage through their activities. Philby said he only worked for one intelligence service his entire life – the Soviet’s.
The Soviets took advantage of the decadence of the wealthy British and their American friends. The Profumo affair involved prostitution (Christine Keeler), British officials, and a doctor (Stephen Ward) who served as a pimp, party arranger, and abortionist. Ward, a homosexual, included Hugh Montgomery in his circle. Engel’s book closes with the charge that Montgomery engaged in a homosexual affair with Msgr Giovanni Montini, later Pope Paul VI (1963-1978). If true, the Soviets had a channel into the Vatican and the power to manipulate the pope.
I did a search for rumors about Pope Paul VI and found plenty of published material. The most significant, in my opinion, was his own public denial of homosexuality. This is the final paragraph from the Wikipedia article:
“Pope Paul VI caused considerable surprise in 1968 when, to the consternation of his aides, he publicly denied rumours of "scandalous behaviour". Though rumours had circulated periodically in anti-papal and anti-Catholic publications as to Paul's sexual orientation and possible homosexuality, with suggestions of a past relationship while he was an archbishop with a priest who had served as his secretary, when what Paul called these suggestions began to feature in some elements of the Italian media, he made the controversial choice of issuing a public denial. It was the first time in the modern era that a pope had commented in any way about his sexual identity.[120]” [Peter de Rossa, Vicars of Christ: The Dark Side of the Papacy (Corgi, 1989) p.538]
Goodbye Good Men is a good parallel study, showing that American Catholic seminaries have become recruiting grounds for homosexual priests. For many years, a few authors have tried to show Catholics that their church has been taken over completely. Efforts to reform the situation has been met with conservative denial and activist opposition.
Vast amounts of information are available, but both sides resist the conclusion. The conservative Catholics do not want to admit how badly corrupted Holy Mother Church has become. They do not want Protestant converts to be repelled by rumors and facts. The liberal Catholics and gay activists love their new-found freedom, which they are not going to surrender to their ecclesiastical enemies.
Audience
Any serious student of the modern church should read this volume and its upcoming companion. Few authors have the ability to research and discuss the vast amount of detail provided in The Rite of Sodomy. The topic is unpleasant but all around us, because many secular authorities and church authorities endorse the gay agenda, whether covertly or overtly.
Lutherans will find many parallel efforts among the synods. I visited Trinity Lutheran Seminary [ELCA] in Columbus in the 1980s, where I found materials provided to future pastors, about how to answer evasively the ordination committees when asked about their orientation. One suggested answer was, “I appreciate your concern about this issue and I agree with you about how important it is.” In 25 years the ELCA has moved from playing games to apologizing to all those excluded merely for being homosexual or lesbian.
The issue affects the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, and the Evangelical Lutheran Synod. All three groups work closely with ELCA on a variety of religious projects. The agenda is always ELCA’s, because ELCA is the largest and richest of the four.
Breaking News:
They Finally Arrest a WELS Pastor
Fox Twin Cities
Minister in Theft Case Speaks with FOX 9
Leon Piepenbrink charged with theft by swindle
Updated: Wednesday, 04 May 2011, 11:55 PM CDT
Published : Wednesday, 04 May 2011, 11:55 PM CDT
Published : Wednesday, 04 May 2011, 11:55 PM CDT
by Leah Beno / FOX 9 News
Minister Leon Piepenbrink hardly seemed concerned about the seven felony counts filed against him when he spoke with FOX 9 about the case.
“The facts will come out on that,” Pienpenbrink said. “There were some differences as far as accounting and so forth and so, we'll take care of this.”
Dakota County prosecutors filed theft by swindle charges against Piepenbrink, who is accused of stealing more than $100,000 from the Shepherd of the Hills Church in Inver Grove Heights.
Pienpenbrink worked at the church for five years where his primary role was as the Hmong Ministry Coordinator.
Investigators say Piepenbrink told his church he was being threatened by the people he was working with. He claimed he was shot at while driving down Highway 55 last June and needed money for security at his St. Paul Home. According to the complaint, Piepenbrink was reimbursed for expenses ranging from bullet proof glass to a gun.
“I probably should decline to say anything about that. There were certainly security issues, “ said Piepenbrink.
Dakota County Prosecutor Jim Backstrom said he can’t remember the last time he filed criminal charges against someone in the ministry.
“It is a rare occurrence when charges are filled against someone in the ministry,” said Backstrom. “It's our obligation to pursue charges regardless who is involved.”
Shepherd of the Hills is part of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Church Synod (WELS), which is the third largest Lutheran Church in the Country. In a statement, the church told FOX 9 the case was a "unique and isolated incident in which someone had direct access to synod funds without proper protocols and oversight."
Piepenbrink said he’s confident the charges will be resolved and he looks forward to continuing his more than 25 years doing ministry work.
‘It's still my church. It's still my church and I want to do right by them,” he said. “I want to settle whatever we need to settle on this.”
“The facts will come out on that,” Pienpenbrink said. “There were some differences as far as accounting and so forth and so, we'll take care of this.”
Dakota County prosecutors filed theft by swindle charges against Piepenbrink, who is accused of stealing more than $100,000 from the Shepherd of the Hills Church in Inver Grove Heights.
Pienpenbrink worked at the church for five years where his primary role was as the Hmong Ministry Coordinator.
Investigators say Piepenbrink told his church he was being threatened by the people he was working with. He claimed he was shot at while driving down Highway 55 last June and needed money for security at his St. Paul Home. According to the complaint, Piepenbrink was reimbursed for expenses ranging from bullet proof glass to a gun.
“I probably should decline to say anything about that. There were certainly security issues, “ said Piepenbrink.
Dakota County Prosecutor Jim Backstrom said he can’t remember the last time he filed criminal charges against someone in the ministry.
“It is a rare occurrence when charges are filled against someone in the ministry,” said Backstrom. “It's our obligation to pursue charges regardless who is involved.”
Shepherd of the Hills is part of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Church Synod (WELS), which is the third largest Lutheran Church in the Country. In a statement, the church told FOX 9 the case was a "unique and isolated incident in which someone had direct access to synod funds without proper protocols and oversight."
Piepenbrink said he’s confident the charges will be resolved and he looks forward to continuing his more than 25 years doing ministry work.
‘It's still my church. It's still my church and I want to do right by them,” he said. “I want to settle whatever we need to settle on this.”
Read more: Minister in Theft Case Speaks with FOX 9 http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/dpp/news/minnesota/minister-in-theft-case-speaks-with-fox-9-may-4-2011#ixzz1LUC0fKEV
***
GJ - Actually, I can think of many WELS church workers arrested or caught in crimes: Ed Werner (molesting girls in his parish); Scott Zerbe (affair with a minor girl in vicarage, Fred Adrian, supervisor); Al Just (murdering his wife in bed with a steak knife); William Tabor (his mistress killed his wife, but he moved to a new call; the WELS presidium should have been arrested for felony obstruction of justice); Worship Professor James Tiefel (drunk driving, conviction overturned). A staffer at Michigan Lutheran Seminary was skimming the tuition money while people marveled at how well he lived on such a tiny salary; a Columbus pastor tried to mate his car with a telephone pole, DUI, but this was kept secret from everyone.
Frank Sinatra was once arrested for adultery (The Smoking Gun), but WELS promotes pastors caught in adultery, from lowly parish pastor to mission counselor. When Gurgle was confronted by a journist about this practice, he went around saying, "Do you tell him?" One of those pastors said, "Did you tell the journalist?"
Does that sound like a denial to you Ichabodians?
Labels:
ELCA; ELS; LCMS; WELS; CLC (sic)
Four Synod Non-Geographical Merger Will Continue and Make Advances
Ichabodians must enjoy how events like Emmaus are played in the synod media. The official press makes people believe these groups are together for the first time since--sniff--the big break in the 1960s. Unheeding Missouri went on to face Seminex while WELS/ELS fought the battle for truth, justice, and the American way.
The truth is far different. In the 1960s and beyond, the leadership of ELCA, Missouri, WELS, and the Little Sect eagerly sought training at their joint seminary - Fuller in Pasadena. All four synods spent millions sending their people through Fuller, and they promoted their Fuller graduates. That was one way they worked together as a non-geographical merger.
The funding apparatus of AAL/LB, merged into Thrivent, allowed formal joint operations. A few examples include the Membership Initiative, the Joy radio music ministry, and the Snowbird Leadership conference. Subtler still were programs like multi-culturalism, which sprang up magically after Snowbird, though The Lutheran (ELCA) magazine was honest about multi-culturalism coming from that event.
WELS took a sudden interest in various ethnicities because Thrivent paid them to do so. I am not sure how they worked this out with ELCA, but it was announced as a joint program.
The Joy radio ministry details became more obvious to me, because I phoned the ELCA man in charge, talking to his secretary and to him. They were appalled that WELS claimed not to be part of Joy. The man's secretary said, "But Barber (WELS) was at all our meetings." SP Mischke denied it in a letter to a WELS pastor. The ELCA man in charge asked me, "You believe me, don't you?"
Missouri admitted being part of Joy, then denied it as word leaked through Christian News.
For Snowbird, ELCA Bishop Chilstrom, the architect of gay activism in ELCA, posed with WELS SP Mischke and LCMS SP Bohlmann. ELCA ran the photo, but WELS and Missouri did not, for some reason. Then, as now, I had to do their research for them. I subscribed to The Lutheran and sent the photo to Christian NewsI for publication. An uproar followed. WELS DP Mueller defended the conference.
The four synods also work together through Lutheran World Relief, which overlaps the Lutheran World Federation, which overlaps the World Council of Churches. There are no real boundaries with staff and funding. You really think the terrorists invented money-laundering? Haha.
Jeske, The Colossal Bore
The press releases produced by Mark Jeske are even more fictional than Ed Stetzer's. At least Ed toned down on his "two master's and two doctoral degrees." The Jeske hot air balloon continues to soar ever upward.
He wants us to believe he is a great intellectual. But what distinguishes the public ministry of Mark Jeske, Fifth Generation WELS? He is an eclectic copy-cat, borrowing from fringe sects and clown ministries like Groeschel's.
Jeske is the secretive boss behind Church and Change. He does not claim the title but manages to dominate the board with his paid staff members, whose names and faces appear and disappear, like Brigadoon, on the Changer website. For instance, Ski was on the Changer board until I published that fact. Then, poof!, gone.
Ski and Bishop Katie went from working together at St. Marcus (Jeske, Inc) to working together at The CORE, a Jeske-funded operation. Katie and Ski tweeted away about their worship and study at various sectarian conference around their country, joined by their WELS colleagues.
Someone lavishly funded The CORE, which is simply a downtown parasite extension of St. Peter, Freedom, to draw members from other WELS congregations. The many trips of Ski and Katie were also funded and tweeted. Ski and Glende finally realized we were reading their public tweets, but Katie kept up the barrage.
The Ski-Katie pilgrimages matched the Jeske agenda exactly. Mark-and-Avoid said in one of his public proclamations that he was too good for WELS pastoral conferences, only going to those men who could show him how to be a gigantic success.
Jeske has both trotters in the government trough and relies on funds from WELS Daddy Warbucks from various parts of the synod. His school business could not exist without massive tax subsidies. His church business could not survive on its own, if he lacked Thrivent, foundation, and Warbucks grants.
Jeske is the Lutheran leader of the moment. His ideas are all borrowed and his funds are all skimmed. He has no problem offering a joint ministry program with an ELCA pastor, as long as he is the keynote speaker. WELS models itself after him, and it should, because WELS Enthusiasm produced him. WELS discipline protects him. "Touch not the Lord's Anointed!"
---
Catechesis has left a new comment on your post "Cacophony Defined: WELS Emergent Church. Rock N R...":
CTR: "A church designed to meet you where you’re at."
And where's that, pray tell?
Lazy. "We’re casual!"
Shallow. "We're friendly!"
Narcissistic. "We're relevant!"
You can come and go as you are. We will not offend with Word (theology of the cross) and Sacrament.
http://ctrtx.net/ministries/worship-gatherings/
"Crumbled have spires......"
Labels:
ELCA; ELS; LCMS; WELS; CLC (sic)
WELS Comfortable with Pro-Abortion Crowd
I didn’t have insurance, so I went there and I learned about birth control.”
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2011/05/03/katy-perry-strict-christian-upbringing-kept-having-childhood/#ixzz1LTR7nBf9
Oh Noes:
Strict Christian Upbringing Kept Katy Perry
From Having a Childhood
Catechesis has left a new comment on your post "Katy Perry's Mother, An Ordained Minister, Is Conc...":
June 2011 issue of Vanity Fair: Katy Perry: Strict Christian Upbringing Kept Me From Having a Childhood
http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2011/05/03/katy-perry-strict-christian-upbringing-kept-having-childhood/?test=faces
Labels:
ELCA; ELS; LCMS; WELS
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Dan Johnson Asks the Intrepids
- It has now been over a month since the meeting with regarding the issues at St. Peter, Freedom raised by Rick Techlin. He brought forward charges of false doctrine. Several pastors have stood behind him (see http://www.intrepidlutherans.com/2011/02/why-i-no-longer-attend-my-wels-church.html - "All the editors at Intrepid Lutheran stand behind him one hundred percent.") Therefore, someone must to be promoting false doctrine - whether it be the accused or the accusing pastors. As these accusations were made public, there ought to be a public retraction or reprimand of one of those groups. Are we to expect any more public word on this? This issue, and now the silence following it, has deeply shook my confidence in our synod - that it is really committed to pure doctrine. When there are charges of false doctrine made by pastors about pastors publicly, there cannot be dead silence following. Intrepids -- what do you know about the status of this? Dan Johnson
- May 3, 2011 6:28 AM
The Secret Revealed - Youth Do Not Want Pop's Music in Church.
Grandparent Are Right.
Jimmy James has left a new comment on your post "Cacophony Defined: WELS Emergent Church. Rock N R...":
Well....gotta give 'em credit for using the right music! (Sarcasm intended....)
Seriously, I can recall a group of young people telling me a few years back; "Why do they think these contemporary services cater to us? This is the kind of music my parents listen to! Why would I go to a service with their style of music?"
You would be amazed at the number of young people who LOVE the "old fashion" hymns, liturgy and general traditional worship of yesteryear. Remember, anything that grandma and grandpa did while growing up is "cool" with the young folks! It's been that way for generations.
I like what Bill Cosby stated many years ago; "The reason why grandparents and grandchildren get along so well together is because they share a common enemy."
***
GJ - While the Syn Conference was being rocked to sleep by Fuller/Willow Creek disciples, the LCMC grew to 500 congregations and the Bishops' Synod (NALC) also sprouted up.
One bishop said to a congregation, visitors can tell when there is tension. They do not need to be told. They never come back.
The same can be said for the Wisconsin and Missouri sects, not to mention the Little Sect on the Prairie. The clergy spend so much time posturing and hating each other out of their sects that people feel the hate. The Olde Synodical Conference cannot even attract decent leakage from ELCA's come-outters (the straight kind).
The Olde Synodical Conference is not true to its own statements. People know that or sense that, in spite of 40-50 years of deceit and manipulation. The leaders are handing over their synods to the next generation, Dead On Arrival.
Labels:
ELCA; ELS; LCMS; WELS; CLC (sic)
Cacophony Defined:
WELS Emergent Church.
Rock N Roll in Round Rock, Texas.
Warning - this morphs into "Crown Him with Many Crowns."
ca·coph·o·ny/kəˈkäfənē/
Noun: A harsh, discordant mixture of sounds: "a cacophony of deafening alarm bells"; "a cacophony of architectural styles", a "WELS pop music service."
Noun: A harsh, discordant mixture of sounds: "a cacophony of deafening alarm bells"; "a cacophony of architectural styles", a "WELS pop music service."
I wish the videographer would have panned across the Easter crowd, ending with a graph showing how much money has been spent on this WELS mission, officially known as Christ the Rock
Labels:
ELCA; ELS; LCMS; WELS; CLC (sic)
Craftiness, Guile, Deceit, and Peddling the Gospel
The previous post quotes J. P. Meyer and Lenski on using craftiness and huckstering in peddling the Gospel.
Those approaches remain the dominant themes in the Lutheran synods today. Craftiness (panourgia) is Satanic. Instead of being honest about issues, events, and doctrine, the ministers say:
The craftiest parsons end up as DPs and SPs. Voting is a political process, and people like craftiness. As a DP, Jerry Kieschnick altered the will of an elderly lady, robbing her estate. His defense in court was "I am just a poor dumb pastor." The LCMS elevated him to Synod President, in honor of his craftiness.
Gurgle pretended to be against amalgamation, until he was elected WELS SP. WELS pretended to ask everyone's opinion, then reversed the final vote. Next Gurgle, who already deceived everyone on amalgamation, told the district conventions that the plan would halt if it went overbudget. Once burned, twice shy? No, they loved it and approved what the national convention had actually voted down by a narrow margin. Craftiness works.
Soon there will be no Lutheran schools left. They are all Christian academies now. Instead of training members in the liberal arts and Lutheran doctrine, they are selling private education to the masses, so the right people can have jobs and extra money.
In doctrine, Syn Conf pastors will say the Reformation was based upon justification by faith. However, when challenged, they advocate Universalism as pure and untrammeled as Karl Barth's - everyone is absolved. Rather than welcome doctrinal clarification, they refuse to discuss the central article of the Christian faith. They also threaten and intimidate those laity who clearly profess the Book of Concord's confession of truth.
The WELS Church and Changers pretend to go out of business (a lie told by Gurgle, now by Schroeder) and carry on merrily. Their counterparts in the LCMS, Little Sect, and abhorrent CLC (sic) follow the same path. But they all openly support one another.
Meanwhile, the Book of Concord pastors and laity hide their names and communicate in secret, because of the enemies of sound doctrine will retaliate against them. One obvious example, already published, is Tim Glende's bullying of a member who brought up legitimate concerns about deceit, craftiness, and plagiarism.
Labels:
ELCA; ELS; LCMS; WELS; CLC (sic)
The Wisconsin Sect Ignores the Good Parts of J. P. Meyer's Ministers of Christ
"The type of minister to which we referred above as using entertainment in order to lure the people is employing panourgia, and is therefore guilty of committing secret things of disgrace. The Gospel is the word of Truth. To resort to ruses in proclaiming it, even though with the best of intentions, is heaping shame on the Truth. Not only are the truth and lures incompatible in their nature, but to use lures in connection with the Gospel ministry treats the Truth, the eternal Truth of God, as though it were inefficient, not attractive enough in itself."
John P. Meyer, Ministers of Christ, A Commentary on the Second Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, Milwaukee: Northwestern Publishing House, 1963, pp. 62. 2 Corinthians 4:2.
"Because such is Paul's ministry, he cannot, on the one hand, stoop to trickery or an adulteration of the Word, to practice the hidden things of shame; nor can he, on the other hand, ever grow weary of administering so wholesome and glorious an office."
John P. Meyer, Ministers of Christ, 1963, p. 65. 2 Corinthians 4:2.
"What he has to announce is not designed to lead men to a deeper understanding of nature, it is not science; nor to train them in the rules of hygiene, to produce a more healthy population; nor to teach them to procure greater wealth, or to get more satisfaction and enjoyment out of life; it is not even to elevate them to more idealistic views and to morally cleaner habits. No, he addresses himself strictly to the troubled consciences, promising them relief and peace."
John P. Meyer, Ministers of Christ, 1963, p. 65. 2 Corinthians 4:2.
"The very fact that we, being such cheap and fragile implements, continue in our service unbroken is proof of the excellency of God's power, and is an incentive to renewed cheerful efforts on our part."
John P. Meyer, Ministers of Christ,, 1963, p. 72. 2 Corinthians 4:7.
"Paul...is speaking about methods of preaching the Gospel. He means to say that you can introduce methods into your Gospel work which on the surface do not appear as shameful, but which in reality disgrace the Gospel. He is harking back to 2:17, where he spoke about kapeleuein, about 'selling' the Gospel. To use a coarse illustration: Some ministers in their eagerness to bring the Gospel to the people, resort to entertainment to attract the crowds, in order to get an opportunity to preach to them. If you would tell such ministers that they are ashamed of the Gospel and that by their methods they disgrace it, because they manifest a lack of trust in its efficacy, they would resent the charge. Are they not doing all in order to promote the Gospel? The disgrace their methods bring upon it does not appear on the surface; that is why Paul speaks of secret things of shame."
John P. Meyer, Ministers of Christ,1963, pp. 62f. 2 Corinthians 4:1-6; 2:17.
---
Panourgia means craftiness, as Lenski explained:
Crafty conduct is paired with “adulterating the Word of God.” These two ever go together. He who is not honest with himself will not be overhonest with the Word. The reverse is also true—and the writer may be permitted to say that he has witnessed it too often—he who is not really honest with the Word cannot be trusted very far with his conduct. Δολόω = to catch with bait, to fix up something so as to deceive and to catch somebody. It is used with regard to adulterating wine. So here: “adulterating the Word of God,” not leaving it pure lest people reject it but falsifying it to catch the crowd. Of all the dastardly deeds done in the world this is the most dastardly. None is more criminal nor more challenging to God himself. Not adulterating the Word of God had its edge against the falsifiers who had come to Corinth, who also cast aspersions upon the genuineness of Paul’s teaching.
Lenski, R. C. H.: The Interpretation of St. Paul's First and Second Epistle to the Corinthians. Minneapolis, MN. : Augsburg Publishing House, 1963, S. 955.KJV 2 Corinthians 4:2 But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness (panourgia), nor handling the word of God deceitfully (Δολόω); but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.
KJV Ephesians 4:14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with
every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness (panourgia), whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
Lenski again on craftiness:
ΙΙανουργία is the ability to do anything, and this word is used in the evil sense of stooping to use the basest means, any and all such means, to gain one’s evil ends—“craftiness.” The outstanding example is the serpent and his deception of Eve in the Garden of Eden; ἐκ in the verb intensifies: “completely deceived.” Jesus used the same example in John 8:44. It is so effective because it is the first deception that entered our world, and because its results were so terrible. All other deceptions are the repetitions of this original, most fatal one, are the outcome of this radical deception.
Lenski, R. C. H.: The Interpretation of St. Paul's First and Second Epistle to the Corinthians. Minneapolis, MN. : Augsburg Publishing House, 1963, S. 1238.
KJV 2 Corinthians 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty (craftiness, panourgia), so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
Lenski on hucksters:
He certainly chose a telling word when he describes the many as (peddling the Word of God) καπηλεύοντες τὸν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ. A κάπηλος is a huckster, which is suggestive in a number of directions. He peddles cheap wares, he haggles about the price, he is known to cheat because he does not expect to return, he is out for his own personal gain. The ancient hucksters, for instance, peddled wine and adulterated it so that the verb that is derived from this noun came to mean adulterating wine, food, and the like. Philosophers used it a few times in characterizing the sophists as spurious philosophers; Paul is thought to adopt this use here. “Huckstering” is too common for such a restriction; Paul is not speaking philosophically to philosophers. He is using a word which everybody understands, a homely figure.
Lenski, R. C. H.: The Interpretation of St. Paul's First and Second Epistle to the Corinthians. Minneapolis, MN. : Augsburg Publishing House, 1963, S. 903.
KJV 2 Corinthians 2:17 For we are not as many, which corrupt (GJ - peddle) the Word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.
Labels:
J. P. Meyer
Various Call Situations - From Anonymoose -
Dateline, Canada, Eh?
A friend brought me a copy of the May 2011 The [ELCA] Lutheran. In it was an interesting article on "Congregation / Pastor matches: A Work in progress" (pp 20-25). The following quote is for your consideration: "Michael W. Rinehart, bishop of the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod, took part in the meeting to assign this year's seminary graduates to regions (see page 25) and synods. He reported in his synod's newsletter that about 203 of the 1,200 to 1,400 vacant ELCA congregations have indicated an interest in a new graduate. About 250 people will graduate from ELCA seminaries in 2011, and 'quite a few of them have restrictions' on where they can go, Reinhart said. The conference ended up with about 209 candidate available for 203 vacancies, "about as close as I can remember it,"'he said " (p. 22).
Well, that does raise the question of the difference between 203 and 250 graduates, or 47 real people (which is 18,8% of the pool of 250 graduating seminarians).
From the article it sounds like a lot of those are disappointed. One seminarian reported that "some of her classmates have already been told they will soon receive profiles of congregations interested in calling a recent seminary graduate. ... Still she admitted that reality suggests that recent graduates may need a 'back up plan' to carry them through times when they are without a call" (p. 23).
Then there was the self-serving statement from Stanley N. Olson, president of Wartburg Theological Seminary, that the "number of retirements is expected to increase soon" (p. 23). Where have we heard that before? [GJ - Stan and I were in class at Yale.]
Of course there is the wringing of hands than new pastors "may owe tens of thousands of dollars in college and seminary loans." So the ELCA is trying to establish an endowment of $200 million to provide full tuition for everyone studying for rostered ministry in the ELCA. What planet are they living on; what are these people smoking? Also, not a word about those grads without a call.
The funniest comment was: "The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod is able to place all of its seminary graduates, about 200 each year, said Glen Thomas, executive director of the LCMS Board for Pastoral Education" (p 25). Maybe the ELCA did not ask the "right" question or maybe Thomas is just lying.
Then there is the blurb on "10 Years Together" (p. 9). May 1 will have marked the 10th anniversary of full communion between the ELCA and the Episcopal Church and the ELCIC and the Anglican Church in Canada. So Hanson and the Canadian Anglican primate, Fred Hiltz will preach at Holy Trinity Lutheran in Buffalo, NY, and ELCIC National Bishop Susan Johnson and Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori will preach at St. Paul's Anglican in Fort Erie, Ontario. Apostates together; how nice.
Labels:
ELCA; ELS; LCMS; WELS;
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Another ELCA Congregation Gone
Hatton church votes to leave ELCA
St. John Lutheran Church, the congregation in Hatton, N.D., where native son, pioneer aviator and famed Arctic explorer Carl Ben Eielson was baptized and buried, voted Sunday to leave the nation’s largest Lutheran denomination and join another. By: Stephen J. Lee, Grand Forks HeraldSteve Iverson, president of the 700-member congregation, said the vote Sunday — the second of the two required to leave — was 76 for leaving, 15 for staying, an 84 percent majority.
The 91 total voters is pretty close to the weekly attendance of 98, reported in the 2009 yearbook of the ELCA.
The congregation then immediately voted 80 to 10 — one member was in the basement and missed the vote — to join Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ, an organization formed a few years ago as an alternate to the ELCA.
Bethany Lutheran, a small rural congregation southeast of Hatton, which has been yoked in a parish with St. John, decided to remain in the ELCA and has linked up with two rural congregations, Little Forks, southwest of Hatton, and Goose River, west of Hatton, Iverson said.
Iverson said while the controversial vote in 2009 at the ELCA national assembly to allow gays and lesbians in lifelong, committed, monogamous relationships to serve as pastors was part of the reason for leaving.
That vote “has generated waves throughout the ELCA, but that’s not really the issue,” he said. “It’s just a symptom of what’s going on and it’s all part of what society is willing to accept versus what the Bible is willing to accept.”
“I do believe the majority of the congregation does believe that the ELCA is a very politically driving organization right now,” Iverson said.
St. John hasn’t had a permanent pastor for nearly two years and sort of delayed calling a new one, knowing it would probably vote to leave, Iverson said.
The congregation will rely on retired clergy in the area for pulpit supply while interviewing possible pastors, he said.
St. John posted a “potential” opening on a website with ties to the LCMC three weeks ago and already has received several applications, Iverson said.
Bishop Bill Rindy, head of the Eastern North Dakota Synod, attended Sunday’s meeting, about the third time he’s spoken to the congregation about its plans, Iverson said.
Fallout from the 2009 clergy decision has hurt the ELCA in the pocketbook. A church official reported in January that churchwide revenue for the past year was down $8 million, or 13 percent, from the previous 12-month period.
Many congregations have decreased or stopped giving to regional or national ELCA departments over disagreements with the gay and lesbian clergy vote, other issues, which coupled with the downturns in the economy the past three years have led to cutbacks at the national office in Chicago.
Hundreds of the 10,000 congregations in the ELCA have taken at least one vote on whether to leave the ELCA, officials have said. With about 4.4 million members, the ELCA is the nation’s largest Lutheran group and one of the largest Protestant churches in the United States.
At least three other congregations in the Eastern North Dakota Synod have completed two votes to leave, including Peace Lutheran in Devils Lake late last year, which will join the newly formed North American Lutheran Church, as will its pastor, the Rev. Rafe Allison, who left the ELCA roster.
St. John Lutheran gave about $30,000 per year to the ELCA in what are called “benevolences,” according to the ELCA yearbook.
The congregation got some national attention 81 years ago.
The funeral of Eielson, March 26, 1930, drew throngs estimated at 5,000 to 10,000 that filled the center of the city of 800, which is St. John Lutheran and its lot. Eielson was 32 when he died Nov. 29, 1929, piloting a plane in Alaska. He was buried in the St. John cemetery a half-mile north of Hatton.
Sunday’s vote is the start of a new thing for the congregation formed by Norwegian immigrants more than 120 years ago.
“The only bad part is there are 15 people who didn’t want to leave. I hope we will not lose any members. But overall, had we stayed in the ELCA, we would have lost a lot of members.”
Advantages of Sects - Satiety and Curiosity
"The sects have two great advantages among the masses. The one is curiosity, the other is satiety. These are the two great gateways through which the devil drives with a hay wagon." What Luther Says, An Anthology, 3 vols., ed., Ewald Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, III, p. 1268. 1 Corinthians 15.
Orthodox Lutherans Resist Sects
"I often say that there is no power or means to resist the sects except this one article of Christian righteousness. If we have lost it, we cannot resist any errors or sects."
What Luther Says, An Anthology, 3 vols., ed., Ewald Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, III, p. 1225. Galatians 2:20.
Grumpy Explains WELS Fellowship Rules.
Cancel the Free Conference
grumpy has left a new comment on your post "Lutherans Free Falling:In Denial about Work with E...":
Fellowship rules in the WELS:
Section 1: for the Laity
The Laity shall only have fellowship, spiritual and otherwise, with fellow WELSians. Attendance at lectures, entertainment venues, social gatherings not approved by the WELS is strictly forbidden.
Section 2: for Called Workers
Let it all hang out, baby. It's all gooooood.
Grumps,
Lutherans Free Falling:
In Denial about Work with ELCA, Salvation Army
WELS Mission Counselors' NEWSLETTER, April, 1992: authors are - James Woodworth, Disciples of Christ; "Net Results," March, 1991; Roger K. Guy, Disciples of Christ; Arnell P. C. Arn, American Baptist Church; Jane Easter Bahls, Presbyterian; C. Jeff Woods, freelance writer and minister; Lyle Schaller, United Methodist; Pastor Paul Calvin Kelm; Pastor Jim Mumm, WELS; Pastor Peter Panitzke, WELS; Pastor Randall Cutter and Mark Freier, WELS; First Congregational Church, Winchester, MA." Pastor Jim Radloff, editor, WELS Mission Counselors' NEWSLETTER, April, '92, 2929 Mayfair Road Milwaukee, WI, 53222.
"I often say that there is no power or means to resist the sects except this one article of Christian righteousness. If we have lost it, we cannot resist any errors or sects." What Luther Says, An Anthology, 3 vols., ed., Ewald Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, III, p. 1225. Galatians 2:20.
WELS SP Schroeder:
***
GJ - The posturing never ends. All three sects have their leadership trained at Fuller Seminary (Willow Creek, Trinity in Deerfield, etc) and agree in their support of Church Growth, which has now degenerated into Emergent Church.
Exhibits A, B, and C are:
A - St. John, Ellisville and all the copycats. LCMS
B - St. Peter Cares in Freedom, Wisconsin and The CORE, which are one congregation. WELS.
C - Abiding Shepherd, Cottage Grove. ELS.
All three sects work with ELCA through Thrivent, but ELCA controls the agenda. Therefore, all three recognize the ordination of women, women in authority over men, abortion for any reason whatsoever, and gay ordination and marriage.
Mark Hanson will be the invisible presence at Emmaus.
"Brett, you brought how many copies of Luther versus the UOJ Pietists?"
"I often say that there is no power or means to resist the sects except this one article of Christian righteousness. If we have lost it, we cannot resist any errors or sects." What Luther Says, An Anthology, 3 vols., ed., Ewald Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, III, p. 1225. Galatians 2:20.
WELS SP Schroeder:
I have the privilege of being the presenter at this year's Emmaus Conference. The topic assigned to me is "Church Fellowship." This is a good opportunity to try to explain and clarify the WELS doctrine and practice of church fellowship, to remove misunderstandings and caricatures that others may have about our beliefs, and to provide a public witness to our doctrine and practice of church fellowship. The presidents of both LCMS and ELS will serve as "reactors" to the essay.
A free conference such as this should not be understood as formal "doctrinal discussions" between church bodies. It should not be seen as a step toward the re-establishment of fellowship between WELS and LCMS. Rather, it is an opportunity to us to present biblical truth and to identify areas where Lutherans agree and disagree.
***
GJ - The posturing never ends. All three sects have their leadership trained at Fuller Seminary (Willow Creek, Trinity in Deerfield, etc) and agree in their support of Church Growth, which has now degenerated into Emergent Church.
Exhibits A, B, and C are:
A - St. John, Ellisville and all the copycats. LCMS
B - St. Peter Cares in Freedom, Wisconsin and The CORE, which are one congregation. WELS.
C - Abiding Shepherd, Cottage Grove. ELS.
All three sects work with ELCA through Thrivent, but ELCA controls the agenda. Therefore, all three recognize the ordination of women, women in authority over men, abortion for any reason whatsoever, and gay ordination and marriage.
Mark Hanson will be the invisible presence at Emmaus.
Doctrinal Sloth in WELS
One Eponymous Archon (https://me.yahoo.com/oneeponymousarchon) has left a new comment on your post "Here Is a Good Quotation for the Intrepids To Igno...":
Dr. Jackson,
It would seem that perhaps one man's earnestness and zeal is another man's disinterest and sloth. Matter of fact, there is not nearly enough preaching against sloth - especially doctrinal sloth - in the WELS these days. Just my opinion. I'm only -
One Eponymous Archon
That gives me extra time to sleep."
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Lutheran Doctrine
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