Another WELS Business Hiding Behind Its Tax Status As a Charity.Don Patterson and Jeff Gunn Involved.Patterson Not a Changer?

The link is here. If you graduated from Mequon, left-click anywhere on this paragraph.

CrossTrain Ministries provides coaching services to identified Christian leaders with the stated goal of improving spiritual leadership skills amongst lay leaders, ministry professionals, and general volunteers. In conjunction with this spiritual coaching, CrossTrain also provides topical seminars on subjects with the goal of improving the quality of ministry leadership, both professional and volunteer, and ultimately providing the skills which will promote leadership of a higher capacity and excellence to involve all in ministry.

Rick Loewen (pictured above with beautiful grandaughter Rae) was a police officer for 20 years prior to serving in public ministry. As a police officer he served as a patrol officer, narcotics detective, vice detective, and homicide detective. He taught police officers in the areas of interviews and interrogation, undercover operations, and crime scene investigation. While serving as a police officer and enrolled in the staff ministry program at DMLC, he received a divine call to start the first youth and family ministry program on the White Mountain Apache Reservation AZ. He was then called by WLCFS to develop and implement family ministry programs Synod wide. He served as the director of ministries at WLCFS and oversaw their ministry support services program, family life education program, and counseling division. Rick is currently called by Crosswalk Lutheran Church. At Crosswalk, he serves for a subsidiary ministry called CrossTrain Ministries. CrossTrain Ministries is a self-supporting ministry in partnership with Wisconsin Lutheran College and Grace in Action Ministries.

CrossTrain Ministries Coaching Network Conference May 11-14 Stillwater, MN

Effective Strategies for Developing Leaders in Your Ministry (Pastor Don Patterson) Positive communications explaining what you do and why you do it Enlist their services to enjoy opportunities to handle the Word Give them opportunities to see the Word work. Develop strong relationships that allow you to know individual's strengths and weaknesses and apply God's Word to both Integrate the Word as part of every interaction with them. Value the relationship with your leaders by being grace filled and forgiving Live your expectations of others by being a servant Live in the shadow of the cross instead of our success and failures Preaching (Pastor Don Patterson) Make sure you preach exactly what the Holy Spirit was preaching in that text Preach to the street and not the professor Use illustrations appropriately Prepare your people to hear the text How to prioritize the main message over the pet message The use of syntax versus morphology How to avoid pulpit tone, irritating habits, redundant styles, and behaviors The use of natural and unnatural inflections The triangle of the sermon BIO Don grew up in Garland Texas, one of six kids. He learned leadership skills from a national youth organization early in life. He earned a degree from East Texas State University in Commerce Texas in 1985.  Married and has 4 boys. He graduated from our seminary in 1992 and has been the pastor of Holy Word since then. He was elected to his district presidium at age 34. He has spoken on marriage, leadership, and at men's, women's and missionary conferences here and in Europe. He is the speaker on a radio broadcast "A Reason For Hope" airing in Austin, Texas and Minneapolis Minnesota. It is supported by a website of that same name.  He currently serves as the first vice president of the South Central District of the WELS. His passion is mission work and church leadership. His hobbies are exercise and anything that happens outdoors.

Small Group Leadership (Pastor Jeff Gunn) The means of grace are the key to people growing in their faith. One way to deliver the means of grace to the people of our congregation is via a groups system. "Growth groups" are gatherings of 12-15 people in homes of the congregation for the purpose of sharing the word of God with one another, praying and worshipping with one another, enjoying fellowship, serving in the congregation and community, and reaching out with the gospel. In this portion of our coaching network we will discuss the groups system: why it is beneficial, how it operates, how to set a groups system up and get it rolling, what the challenges to running a groups system are, how to deal with problems with groups, and how to continue to expand groups to meet the various needs and character of the congregation. BIO Jeff Gunn is pastor of Crosswalk Lutheran Ministries in Phoenix, Arizona.  A teenage convert to Christ, Jeff was brought into the WELS fellowship through a neighboring family, an experience that God used to develop a life-long passion for outreach with the gospel. He graduated from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 1982 and subsequently served for 14 years in the Central Africa country of Zambia.  Six of those years were spent living in the bush, pastoring multiple village congregations. In the next eight years, Jeff continued to serve congregations as a pastor, but also served as WELS field coordinator for the Zambia Mission, and as a professor at the Lutheran Bible Institute and Seminary in Lusaka.  Jeff's 14 years serving in Zambia have given him a unique perspective on the management of the ministry of the gospel.  Since returning to the U.S. in 1996, Jeff has served as religion instructor and assistant principal at Arizona Lutheran Academy for five years. In 2001, he became Director of Native American Missions for the WELS. Finally, in 2004, Jeff received the call to launch CrossWalk Church on the campus of Arizona Lutheran Academy.  Starting with about 30 people in 2004, God has blessed this ministry so that today there are two services and 500 people worshipping each Sunday at CrossWalk. CrossWalk uses a contextualized approach to worship, weekly growth groups, and ministry teams as key components to its approach to gospel ministry in a church that describes itself as a "church for unchurched people."

Spiritual Resiliency (Mr. Rick Loewen) Participants will identify stressors that we all deal with along with some that are more common to those who are in leadership and ministry work. The approach will start with recognition that God has designed us like a three legged stool. We have a spiritual, emotional, and physical leg. When any one of these is out of balance we become out of balance and are more prone to suffer from the effects of stress. Each participant will be given information to form a personal action plan to address each one of these issues. This action plan will be a part of the accountability and support through the monthly individual coaching sessions. BIO Rick Loewen was a police officer for 20 years prior to serving in public ministry. As a police officer he served as a patrol officer, narcotics detective, vice detective, and homicide detective. He taught police officers in the areas of interviews and interrogation, undercover operations, and crime scene investigation. While serving as a police officer and enrolled in the staff ministry program at DMLC, he received a divine call to start the first youth and family ministry program on the White Mountain Apache Reservation AZ. He was then called by WLCFS to develop and implement family ministry programs Synod wide. He served as the director of ministries at WLCFS and oversaw their ministry support services program, family life education program, and counseling division. Rick is currently called by Crosswalk Lutheran Church. At Crosswalk, he serves for a subsidiary ministry called CrossTrain Ministries. CrossTrain Ministries is a self-supporting ministry in partnership with Wisconsin Lutheran College and Grace in Action Ministries.

AGENDA Wednesday, May 11 7 pm - 9 pm          Introductions, Top 3 Challenges,                              Most Passionate in Ministry About,                              My Goals for this Seminar Are Thursday, May 12 8:30-8:45 am         Opening Devotion 9:00-10:00 am       Spiritual Resiliency (Rick Loewen) 10:00-10:15 am     Break 10:15-11:45 am     Spiritual Resiliency (Rick Loewen) 11:45-1:00 pm       Lunch 1:00-1:30 pm         Personal Action Plan 1:30-2:30 pm         Crossroads Consulting Ministry                               (Elton  Stroh) 2:30-5:00 pm         Exercise Demonstrations, Pool Time, Hot                               Tub, Hiking, etc. 5:00-6:30 pm         Dinner 6:30-8:30 pm         Preaching (Don Patterson) 8:30-? pm              Social Gathering Friday, May 13 8:30-8:45 am         Opening Devotion 8:45-10:15 am       Leadership Introduction                               (Don Patterson/Mark Wrightsman)        10:15-10:30 am     Break 10:30-11:45 am     Growths Groups (Jeff Gunn) 11:45-1:00 pm       Lunch 1:00-2:30 pm         Growths Groups (Jeff Gunn) 2:30-2:45 pm         Break 2:45-3:15 pm         Professional Growth Plans 3:15-4:30 pm         Growths Groups (Jeff Gunn) 4:30-6:00 pm         Exercise 6:00-7:30 pm         Dinner 7:30-8:30 pm         Closing Devotion and Round Table Conference                               Feedback 8:30-? pm              Social Gathering Saturday, May 14 8:00 am                 Breakfast 9:00 am                 Departure, Shuttle to Airport, etc.

Your Costs?

• Commitment to receive 12 months of services - including a monthly webinar and personal time with your coach
• 3 days of your life for personal and professional training at a conference center*
• Personal time for completing homework including self-assessments, personal inventories, specialized readings, and much more
•  Willingness to exchange ministry strategies, Bible studies, and sermons
• Willing to coach fellow participants
• $1200.00 for the twelve months of services

*Services and costs for the 3 day conference subject to vary

This ministry is being partially funded by Grace in Action (GIA) and WELS Kingdom Workers.

Bailing Water Is Active Again.An Informed Laity May Stop This Nonsense.The Clergy Will Not Even Try

I have linked Bailing Water again. He has published some new posts on Patterson and the Austin debacle.

No one wanted to touch this stuff 25 years ago. A few dabbled but ran away like little girls, crying and sobbing lest they miss out on that choice Schwan-funded mission call. Life has been good for the apostates, but sinful man can only live so long.

From a Hospital Worker, Freeman Hospital, Joplin, Via the Mayor in Perryville, Missouri

News updates. This is the Walmart destroyed by the tornado.

Date: Tuesday, May 24, 2011, 3:21 PM

ok everybody.  here we go.. what a ride it has been.  I just woke up from crashing finally.. I was at work at Freeman hospital when the tornado hit.  I was the ONLY mantanaince man on the evening shift.  the alert sounded.  said it was a warning for carl junction which is 10 miles north of where we were.  I started all the generators.  10 of them.  just in case... when the storm hit  we did  not realize what had happened only 1/4 north of us at St Johns .  not until the caravans of people started coming in.   

St Johns took a direct hit.  blew out all the windows, then had a gas leak and an explosion.   the tornado was about 8 blocks wide and went through Joplin .  west to east.. never left the ground.  residential... business... residential... main business.. residential.  we had people coming in pickups with wounded.. cars with all the windows blown out.  people on boards, doors, tables.  we emptied 4 conference rooms of the rolling chairs .. about 100.. to use as wheel chairs.  we had 4 triage areas going full blast.  one at each entrance.  people were lined up for 10 blocks or more just to get to our driveways.  we had just gone through an earthquake drill last week, so every one knew their supplies were.  it was calm chaos.  hundreds of wounded,  covered in blankets, sitting in chairs, lying on the floor in rows.  blood every where.. new chairs coming now for sure.... the nurses and doctors were great.  our phones were out instantly... the cell towers were inundated, couldn't get out.  we couldn't call for reinforcements.. they just started showing up.  from every where.. emt's, nurses, doctors, local and even from out of town.  the few in the kitchen started making sandwiches,  we brought out all the blankets we had, brought up rolling supply carts of bandages, cases of bottled water.  formed small groups of volunteers to manage traffic so the ambulances could get in and out.  school buses of injured started coming it.  truckers were bringing in semi loads of injured.  no lights in joplin , we have a six story tower and all you could see were blue and red lights everywhere.  I personally took the 1st six bodies and started a temporary morgue.  The stories people were telling were beyond belief... we had probably 10 or 12 dogs running somewhat loose in the hospital that people had brought in with them.  smoking in the hospital on a no smoking campus. cries of pain, sorrow and yes even joy when people would find loved ones.

The situation in town is way WORSE  than you see on tv.  I came home in the dark and did not know where I was because of the destruction, untill I came to a round about in the road and realized I had gone a mile too far.  I couldn't get through to Sandy on the phones and people started coming in from the area I lived in with horror stories of total destruction.  the home depot you see on tv is just blocks from us... finally another employee came in and said his mom was ok.  and she just lives two blocks from us.  the tornado just missed my son by two blocks as well.  My daughter in law is a therapist and has no office building to go to anymore.  her father is a dentist who has no office building to go to anymore. 

Joplin will take years to rebuild.  kinda like the twin towers.  you can actually see all the way through town, end to end.  the high school is gone.  a major business street, going east and west on the east of town is flat on both sides of the street for two miles.  nothing left standing.  thousands of people have lost their homes, and their possessions, AND  their income because their places of employment have vanished off the map.

on the other hand, THANK THE LORD,  I have my home, my possesions and my job.  I never had to serve in combat, but surely this has to be somewhat similar in relation of chaos.  I kinda know what the Japanese must feel like after the sunami now.   yes I know some of the dead in joplin personally. 

  Freeman hospital still looks kinda like it did that night.  we still have STUFF everywhere.  the floor is still dirty because joplin has virtually no water pressure. we barely have enough water to run our sterilzers for instruments.   only two bathrooms work in the hospital.. don't know whey they do... the water company has SO MANY broken pipes in houses that are gone, that they can't get the pressure to come up.  a large area of the roof blew off and the rain collected and ran down inbetween the layers of roofing and into the areas full of pipes and wires and is still dripping and of course the rain won't stop so we can fix the roof.  we have buckets all over the halls and even have a couple of areas of rooms we can't even use because the water keeps coming out of the ceiling area.  we have removed hundreds of ceiling tiles that have gotten wet and were coming down anyway.  the fire alarms keep going off all the time because the  wiring system is getting wetter and wetter with all the leaks.  we have to check each alarm to make sure there is no fire and then silence it.

PLEASE PRAY FOR US.  A LOT OF PEOPLE'S LIVES ARE CHANGED FOREVER.
 MINE IS. AND I AM ALRIGHT.  THANKS FOR ALL THE CALLS, SORRY THE PHONES STILL DON'T WORK VERY WELL.  WE ARE ON A CURFEW DUSK TO DAWN WITH NATIONAL GUARD AT HUNDREDS OF INTERSECTIONS.  A 15 MINUTE DRIVE TO HOME  TOOK  ME AN HOUR.  ONLY MY FREEMAN BADGE LET ME THROUGH.  MAYBE I  WILL WRITE MORE LATER.  NOW I'M GOING BACK TO SLEEP.  JOHN

HE NEVER SAID IT WOULD BE EASY... HE JUST SAID FOLLOW ME.

Intrepid Rydecki Back to Justification by Faith, We Hope

Intrepid Comments here:

Anonymous said...

On a recent Lutheran blog a WELS member tells of how he was, in essence, excommunicated. (refused the Lord's supper) Why? Because he argued that "It is wrong to preach that one's sins are forgiven before they were born. " Do Intrepid Lutherans believe that all sins are forgiven before you believe? Do you believe there is forgiveness before repentance? It is time for this website to go beyond innocuous (albeit interesting) posts. The problems in the WELS need to be specifically and pointedly addressed. Doing the right thing most often requires rocking the boat. And you're here to do the right thing. James Danielson

May 27, 2011 9:00 PM

Rev. Paul Rydecki said...

I'll speak for myself, but it's the same thing we've stated all along (especially last year when we discussed justification in depth). Forgiveness of sins was acquired for all people of all times by the suffering and death of Christ. God truly desires all men to receive this forgiveness. This forgiveness is distributed by God in the means of grace, and is received by faith, created by the Holy Spirit through the means of grace. The one who believes in Christ believes because the Holy Spirit worked faith in his heart through those means, and that one is said to have the forgiveness of sins. The one who does not believe in God's Son is alone at fault for his unbelief, and is counted among the wicked, and his sins are not forgiven him. We must follow Luther in distinguishing between forgiveness acquired and forgiveness distributed. Was forgiveness acquired before repentance? Yes. This is the completed work of redemption. Is forgiveness distributed before repentance? That's a confusing and bad question. Better: Is forgiveness distributed apart from the means of grace? No, it is most certainly not. This belongs to the Third Article of the Creed and to the work of the Holy Spirit, who richly and daily forgives sins to me and all believers in Christ.

***

GJ - All falsehoods and ambiguities must be eliminated. "Is forgiveness distributed before repentance?" - that is a good question. I may post more on this later, depending on whether clarifications follow or the topic is avoided again.

Kudu Don Patterson and Tim Glende Are Now Facebook Friends.Both Are Church and Changers With Their Trotters in the Trough

Holy Cow! Holy Word in Austin Is Spending $45,000 at Cornerstone, Another Tentacle of Church and Change, Where Patterson Is a Leader

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Our Plea for Change at Holy Word

On April 15th of this year I resigned my Elder-ship at Holy Word.  I dissented while on the board to contracting with Cornerstone Stewardship Ministries (a not-for-profit corporation); especially to the exorbitant fee they were charging and that we were willing to pay it.  It was wrong on so many levels and I cited Matthew 21:12 as part of my disagreement.  On April 10th at the quarterly voters' meeting, the congregation voted in favor of hiring Cornerstone.  I could not in good conscience give my offerings to Holy Word any longer since I would be supporting this.  In my mind this had a logical trickle down effect.  If I was no longer giving my offerings, how could I in good conscience be an Elder?  How could I be a member for that matter?  My only choices were to leave or stay and try to effect change.  I felt it was my Christian obligation with the help of God to do the latter.


On May 18th we submitted the following via email to the leadership at Holy Word Lutheran Church which precipitated what has been chronicled earlier on this blog.

"Pastor Patterson et al,

I have to disagree when you say (I believe you are saying this) that 1 Cor. 5:19 says that all men are reconciled to God; as in forgiven therefore justified and righteous before faith.  This is certainly not the case with say for instance Cain or Edom of the OT.  The two verses preceding contradict this as the context refers to those ‘in Christ’ as in ‘have faith in Christ’.  I believe the Bible does speak about believers the same way whether it is before or after Christ’s passion.  The trouble is that many in WELS are teaching that UOJ is in the wrong place.  It is displaced from Christ and on the whole unbelieving world.  Therefore in order to make the teaching work you have to change the meanings and context of words.  It is confusing.

Our focus is on Christ as it has been for all believers of all time; beginning with the promise in the Garden of Eden.  God was (and is) reconciling (ongoing) the world (since it is God’s will for all to be saved) for the sake of Christ so that by faith believers (who are sinners) would be saved.  As Job said in the OT…I know that my Redeemer liveth!  Christ possesses the forgiveness, righteousness and justification that He won (or would win) – objectively - for all and it is imputed to those who believe in Him as their Savior for all times.  By Grace through FAITH ALONE.  Christ stands in no one’s place aside from faith.  He that believes…will be saved…He who doesn’t is damned…no belief in Christ…means you remain in your sins.

It is troublesome how you handled a meeting with my wife Lisa.  You acknowledged that you did not want to hop over my headship in your email of 4-20-11 and yet you communicated with her via email on 4-18-11 unbeknownst to me.  Here is the brief email in its entirety; “I have no desire to get between you and Joe on the things that he has recently taken a stand on.  Just want you to know if you and Joe desire to talk to me or confront me together I am willing.  Otherwise, I will leave you to follow your husband and seek God's will in the Scriptures. I trust that you are thoughtful Christians.”  You did not hear from her.  I told you in my email two days later that she was right with me.  Instead of leaving her to me, on the 28^th of April, approximately 15 minutes before arriving at her place of employment to have your vehicle serviced, you texted Lisa if you could speak to her for a minute and ended up leaving almost 90 minutes later.  Needless to say it was in my opinion as well as that of Lisa and her employer (also a member of your congregation) that you took advantage of the situation.  You have said more than once that these kinds of discussions are a waste of time for you; that they entangle and keep you from doing your job.  It was disturbingly evident when you emphatically declared to Lisa more than once that “your job is to save souls”.  She called you on it and I am thankful for that.  She IS my better half.  Lisa was right by correcting you that it is the work of the Holy Ghost to save souls and that your job is to merely proclaim the Word.  When she pressed you as to why you would say such a thing, you changed the subject.

Even so it is still our hope to remain WELS and to work through the contradictions between worship and practice at Holy Word and what is presented in Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions; using them to guide us.  This was my fervent prayer as I was installed as Elder.

Areas that we hope for change and a willingness to help in this work are as follows:

• Suspending work with Cornerstone Stewardship Ministries.  Spending $45,000 to do stewardship is not stewardly.  To throw money at what we should have been doing all along is irresponsible.  For me to hear as an Elder that some members who have not been in attendance for at least two years without contact is astounding in light of the example we have in Jesus as our shepherd.  When I read Pastor Patterson’s background from the Holy Word website:” In addition to serving the congregation of Holy Word, he has also served the church at large. In 1996, he was appointed second Vice President of the South Central District of the WELS, and in 2000 he was appointed first Vice President. He is currently serving on the Board of Directors for Wisconsin Lutheran Child and Famliy(sic) Services, and he has spoken at numerous conferences, marriage retreats, and seminars. He has also written several articles for various synod publications such as Forward in Christ, Meditations, Lutheran Parenting, Wisconsin Lutheran Quarterly, and Lutheran Leadership.”  And when in the short time I was an Elder and saw what Pastor had on his plate…my first thought (sic) was, ‘Hey!  He works for Holy Word!  What gives?’  All of these things are honorable…but at the expense of his calling?  Shouldn’t he be spending more time at home especially now?; preaching and teaching the Word; administering the Sacraments and doing visitations?  Use the money to call a pastor who is equipped to spearhead the Hispanic ministry.  I couldn’t believe my ears in one of the Elders meetings when there was some talk of possibly selling the property to another denomination if we had to.
• Strike the official title of “Deaconess” and rename the position Coordinator of Hispanic Outreach.  To keep this title that infers authority (male version of deacon – see duties and requirements in the epistles) sets a precedent.  There are deacons who are preaching in WELS already (this is another issue).  The King James Bible does not translate to deaconness for very good reason.  There is too little info on Phoebe in the Bible to base this position and title on, nor any other female in the Bible.
• In areas of worship, there is freedom…adiophora as you like to call it.  However it ceases to be so when the reason you do it is un-biblical.  In other words…it is not that you do it; it is why you do it or why you don’t.  The Lutheran Confessions say that we do not abolish the Mass.  In Luther’s time, Mass (Holy Communion) was celebrated at least every Lord’s Day and church festivals.  So why don’t we?  You even intimated a story either in Bible class or one of your sermons about a pastor who attends HW who inquired of you from what you preached that we sin daily, hourly and even by the minute sometimes; that we are always in need of forgiveness…so why don’t you go to communion both services on communion Sunday?  You actually capitulated and said that now you do.  So I ask you; Why don’t we celebrate it every Sunday?  It is the Body and Blood of our Savior for the remission of sins…why withhold this?  Lisa asked the same question in your meeting with her.  Your answer was “that it is a matter of convenience”.  I see disconnect.  What about the order of service known as ‘Morning Praise’?  Was this designed for Sunday worship?  There is no Confession.  Why would we eliminate a confession of sins?  Confession was regarded as a Sacrament in Luther’s time.  What changed?  Music as well needs more scrutinizing.  I addressed this with Ron Stelljes last fall.  And yet there is more and more music sung at HW that comes from the heterodox.  The Bill and Gloria Gaither song that was used for worship last March was void of all substance and better left to venues like Trinity Broadcast Network, Joel Osteen, Jesse Duplantis and the rest.
• Pastor, you are a duly called and ordained servant of the Word.  To turn your call over to laymen is a travesty against the Office of the Holy Ministry.  These men are not equipped to be giving sermonettes during worship; teaching Bible class or leading the upcoming small groups.  You are.  HW south Bible class has been short changed ever since north began worship.  There is just too much conjecture taking place without the solid leadership of someone who has been to Seminary.  Why hasn’t our Vicar done more in leading Bible class at south?  This would be valuable experience.  I only recall being there once when Vicar led Bible class.
• By changing the name of the school you are showing your lack of faith in the power of the Word.  (How ironic since the name of our church is Holy Word)  It was stated that you won’t be changing our Lutheran doctrine and I believe you are telling the truth.  I believe it has already been changed beforehand.  This is branding and nothing else. (Or is it bait and switch?)  The success of a church or school is not measured in numbers but how well you teach the Word of God in truth and purity.  So many of the symbols of the Church Catholic are falling by the wayside and soon, very soon we will look and worship like everyone else around us; pandering to the felt needs of culture instead of transforming culture.  We are to be different.  It is not so far fetched to presume as Lisa opined in your meeting, ‘You might as well change the name of Holy Word Lutheran Church to Holy Word Christian Fellowship.’  Again it is not that you are changing the name it is the motivation behind it.
• Correct teaching of Objective Justification; that it is on Christ for the world and distributed through faith; that there is no forgiveness of sins apart from the Means of Grace (MoG) in Word and Sacrament.  Teaching forgiveness aside from the MoG nullifies the Sacraments.  You are confusing the Atonement with Justification. 
• Your role with Elders needs to be more passive.  It is possible that based on your personality no one wants the agenda because they are afraid of you.  Or, your recruitment system is 100% successful in garnering men who support you fully.  There should be an Elder lead that runs the meeting concerning spiritual matters only; worship and practice, discipline and concern for the pastor and his work load; setting the pastor’s work agenda; not the pastor telling the Elders what he is going to be doing.  Any other matters should be left to the respective boards, committees and councils.  The President and VP should be tending to council matters; all things Holy Word and not every Elders meeting.
• Fellowship ties should be examined with Christ the Rock.  Is there anyone paying attention to what is going on there?  If this video is any indication, one has to wonder.  This is from this past Easter.  Watch the ending!

            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sjjq8h8ttBw&feature=related

What we believe about the Bible and the Confessions influences greatly what we do in preaching and teaching, worship and practice.  It is my heartfelt thought that we have strayed as a Confessional Lutheran Church.

Respectfully submitted,

Joe Krohn"

WELS Boots Are Made For WalkingAnd That's What They're Gonna Do!One of These Days These Boots of TheirsGonna Stomp All Over You!

Click here is the post.

Quotations on Prayer:Suitable for Kelming on Rogate Sunday

"Prayer is made vigorous by petitioning; urgent, by supplication; by thanksgiving, pleasing and acceptable. Strength and acceptability combine to prevail and secure the petition."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholaus Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, VI, p. 107. Fourth Sunday in Advent, Philippians 4:4-7;

"The Lord's Prayer opens with praise and thanksgiving and the acknowledgement of God as a Father; it earnestly presses toward Him through filial love and a recognition of fatherly tenderness. For supplication, this prayer is unequaled. Hence it is the sublimest and the noblest prayer ever uttered."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholaus Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, VI, p. 107. Fourth Sunday in Advent, Philippians 4:4-7; Matthew 6:9-13

"Take heed, then, to embrace the message of these words presenting the love and kindness of God to all men. Daily exercise your faith therein, entertaining no doubt of God's love and kindness toward you, and you shall realize His blessings. Then you may with perfect confidence ask what you will, what your heart desires, and whatever is necessary for the good of yourself and your fellow-men."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, VI, p. 146. Second Christmas Sermon Titus 3:4-8

"In like manner, St. Paul says that God's ability is thus proved, in that He does exceeding abundantly above and better than we ask or think. Ephesians 3:20. Therefore, we should know we are too finite to be able to name, picture or designate the time, place, way, measure and other circumstances for that which we ask of God. Let us leave that entirely to Him, and immovably and steadfastly believe that He will hear us."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p. 179f. Fifth Sunday after Easter Ephesians 3:20.

"O God, I am Thy creature and Thy handiwork and Thou hast from the beginning created me. I will depend entirely on You who cares more for me, how I shall be sustained, then I do myself; Thou wilt indeed nourish me, feed, clothe and help me, where and when You know best."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed. John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House 1983, IV, p. 206. Seventh Sunday after Trinity Mark 8:1-9

"Only begin this [prayer, self-examination], I say, and see how you will succeed in the task; and you will soon discover what an unbelieving knave is hidden in your bosom, and that your heart is too dull to believe it."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, II, p. 257. Easter, Third Sermon Mark 16:1-8.

"The Christian's faith trusts in the ordinary means. Prayer is not a means of grace. Means of grace are divine appointments through which God uniformly offers blessings to all who use them. Faith is the means by which the blessings are received and appropriated. God gives us bread, when we ask it, not through the channel of prayer, but through the ordinary channels of His providence. He gives us grace when we ask it, not through prayer, but through the ordinary means appointed for this end, namely the Word and Sacraments. He who despises these will as little have grace as he who refuses to accept bread produced in the ordinary way of nature. Faith asks with confidence, and trusts in the ordinary means of God's appointment for the blessings asked."
Matthias Loy, Sermons on the Gospels, Columbus: Lutheran Book Concern, 1888, p. 387.

"His good heart and faith naturally teach him how to pray. Yea, what is such faith, but pure prayer? It continually looks for divine grace, and if it looks for it, it also desires it with all the heart."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholaus Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, V, p. 70. Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity, Luke 17:11-19.


"Lord God, Thou hast placed me in Thy church as a bishop and pastor. Thou seest how unfit I am to administer this great and difficult office. Had I hitherto been without help from Thee, I would have ruined everything long ago. Therefore I call on Thee. I gladly offer my mouth and heart to Thy service. I would teach the people and I myself would continue to learn. To this end I shall meditate diligently on Thy Word. Use me, dear Lord, as Thy instrument. Only do not forsake me; for if I were to continue alone, I would quickly ruin everything."
What Luther Says, An Anthology, 3 vols., ed., Ewald Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, II, p. 926. W 42, 513 Genesis 27:11-14

More Whopper Congregations Leaving ELCA

"At least give us credit for new mission starts, Brett."

ALPB

First Evangelical Lutheran Church, Idaho Falls, ID Status = Left ELCA Joined LCMC Baptized membership = 859
Emmaus Lutheran Community, Idaho Falls, ID Status = New ELCA

Central Lutheran Church, Elk River, MN Status = Left ELCA Joined LCMC Baptized membership = 4238
Elk River Lutheran Church, Elk River, MN Status = New ELCA

Faith Lutheran Church, Hutchinson, MN Status = Left ELCA Joined LCMC Baptized membership = 2380
Christ the King Lutheran Church, Hutchinson, MN Status = Left ELCA Joined LCMC Baptized membership = 2398
River of Hope Lutheran Church, Hutchinson, MN Status = New ELCA

Rushford Lutheran Church, Rushford, MN Status = Left ELCA Joined LCMC Baptized membership = 994
Trinity Fellowship, Rushford, MN Status = New ELCA

Martin Luther Lutheran Church, Giddings, TX Status = Left ELCA Joined LCMC Baptized membership = 742
Grace Lutheran Church, Giddings, TX Status = New ELCA

Faith Lutheran Church, Seguin, TX Status = Left ELCA Joined LCMC Baptized membership = 1668
Lutheran Mission of Seguin, Seguin, TX Status = New ELCA

When I did that exercise in reverse, and I've done it several times in this thread, I found large numbers of such pairs where a new Lutheran church of another denomination was created by the people on the losing side of a leave-the-ELCA vote. Does anyone dispute that it is positive news for the ELCA that those on the losing side of a successful leave-the-ELCA vote start a new ELCA church? Isn't this the sort of positive news that anyone would think the ELCA would be happy to report, or to have reported by others?

***

GJ - ELCA starts new congregations from the losing faction in the voting to leave ELCA drama. LCMC and NALC organize new missions from those members who quit after their congregation fails the two votes to leave. George Erdner's point, I believe, is that ELCA is hiding where their "new missions" (losing the vote and the property) are located. One began with a Gay Pride Sunday, which is like starting a WELS parish with Al Just Recognition Day.

ELCA makes the bar quite difficult to achieve, but they lose either way. The entire congregation leaves with the property, or a considerable number of members leave and start anew.

Ponder the size of these monster congregations. They will have enormous clout from day one, because they do not have to go through the struggle of finding land, borrowing money for a building, and dealing with dysfunctional mission board executives.

Meanwhile, WELS is still abusing members, as if the Internet does not exist and people cannot share documents, emails, and blog posts.

Example of Joplin, Missouri, Tornado Damage - 50 Miles From Us

This is Peace Lutheran (ELCA) in Joplin, Missouri. My wife and I have viewed tornado damage before. A tiny one landed across from our home in Sturgis, Michigan. Another one went through St. Peter, Minnesota, (near New Ulm) where Gustavus Adolphus College is located. The college shut down due to the damage on the campus.

However, we have never seen anything like the damage in Joplin, and we are only looking at photos. We would not consider driving there to look, adding to their problems of congestion and rubber-necking.

The loss of life there is still unknown, but the disaster will probably be listed at one of the worst tornadoes ever in America. The photo above is Peace Lutheran before the tornado.

Kansas Pastor Has Doubts about Lack of Faith

1) I keep seeing phrases like "logically it follows ... " in the UOJ literature that you print. Now that sounds very Calvinistic. It really sounds to me like they proponents are falling into the reasoning error - whatever God does, has to make sense to me. And I become the judge of what God can and has done.

2) It seems to me that I see the statements something like this, "our sins are forgiven and we have the status of saints in heaven because we have been justified by Christ's death ... " Now there are several things wrong with this statement but I keep coming back to Luther in the Small Catechism on the Lord's supper - "For where there is forgiveness of sins there is also life and salvation." But if I have life and salvation - what else is there? Does that not mean that logically (!) I am in heaven for how can the living be in the place of eternal death (hell)?

3) It seems to be me that you are fighting two different things.
a) the false teachings of UOJ
b) the refusal to admit that God's Word is efficacious,
reflected in Church Growth stuff, but also in Fort Wayne (some profs) statements that God's Word is only active through the Pastor (similar to the Catholic insistence on the captivity of God to the church).

***

GJ - David Scaer, who is featured in a UOJ quotation graphic, seems to fit 3b rather well. The seminary needs to explain how they manage to turn out Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox priests. Men leave Ft. Wayne shallow on Luther but hotter than Georgia asphalt for smells and bells.

Blame It on the WauwatosaThe Sect of Love

Northwest SD Lutheran has left a new comment on your post "WELS Advice - "Write a Letter" - Will Get Y'all E...":

Legalism and Bravado of Orthodoxy! I had to highlight that. This is one of the reasons why WELS should no longer say they are Lutheran. That statement alone says it right there. It seems as if Patterson and whoever the so called scholar is that wrote the paper have decided that orthodoxy is some sort of sin.To them Orthodoxy is is sin because it is making claims that are Scriptural and doctrinal and not modernistic in theological application. I left the WELS four years ago because of the non doctrinal, hyper emotional, false teaching and stench that was in a place that it should not have been my church. Of course the LCMS is still a cause of worry because nothing for sure is there as some of the rot in the LCMS is still being allowed to teach, preach etc. I have always wanted to be Lutheran and nothing else and these people keep wanting to feed me garbage in my church. To be honest, they are the ones who should be thrown out not those who hold to the Scriptures and Confessions This will be a long time coming if it ever happens and that is partially because of a Scripturally and doctrinally ignorant laity.

***

GJ - The attitude you addressed, NW, seems to come directly from Wauwatosa. I published some quotations from their material. I will have to gather some for the doctrinal (as in bad) graphics.

Kudu Don Patterson Demands Joe and Lisa Krohn Repent, Although He Insists They Were Forgiven Before Birth.Write a Letter?

Holy Word has money for multiple African safaris, but needs WELS offering money to pay for its vicar each year. The deaconess is being funded by the Antioch Foundation.

Below is Joe Krohn's account of being excommunicated by Holy Word in Austin, Texas.

Notice how similar it is to Rick Techlin being kicked out of his family's congregation, St. Peter in Freedom, Wisconsin (Pastor Tim Glende and his sidekick Ski).

Don Patterson is the VP of his WELS district. He has been called twice to teach at The Sausage Factory. Not long ago he gave a paper (as did Paul Calvin Kelm) about how to improve education at Mequon. Are they not teaching enough Enthusiasm there?

Note that Patterson is famous for gathering a bunch of WELS workers and taking them to the Exponential pan-demon conference in Orlando, Florida. One thing you will never find there - a Lutheran speaker. No, the Lutherans sit in the audience, salivating about how they can employ those same lures, sugar-coating the Gospel while beating the snot out of their flocks.

Patterson is not--and I repeat--not a Church and Change leader, unless that is another GA lie. He has spoken there and he went to the last conference in the Milwaukee area. But he denies being a Changer and I believe that he denies it.

Patterson did hire Cornerstone for fleecing the sheep. Ron Roth, paleo-Shrinker, was head of that business before they buried him. Cornerstone never divulges their conflict of interest. They have their synod rain-makers always recommending that Cornerstone be used, and it is a dual LCMS-WELS "ministry," like Mark and Avoid Jeske's.

Patterson's conference or district had an entire meeting on the joys of UOJ. The papers were sloppy, moronic, and utterly devoid of exegesis.

Remember this, when WELS leaders tell you to write a letter or sit down and speak with them, they are cobras inviting the mouse for a meeting.

Stay with Me For a Moment
I will try to explain how this works. The UOJ-Pietism faction took over slowly after the death of Gausewitz, Hoenecke, and Bading.

The Evangelicals with their mandated cell groups work the same way, very controlling and abusive, legalistic and Antimonian at the same time.

With WELS they try to pretend they are all Gospel, because everyone in the world was justified before birth (first trimester). These UOJers do not comprehend the Gospel, the Means of Grace, or the efficacy of the Word.

In the name of all-Gospel (just like ELCA), they absolve their drunken, adulterous, murderous, and false-teaching WELS fellow pastors. Their Antinomianism sounds like no-law, but they are all-law due to their complete lack of Gospel.

Luther and the Book of Concord agree in dividing the Scriptures into Law and Gospel. Since UOJers teach a gospel-without-faith, they do not trust the Gospel Promises and do not bear the fruits of the Spirit.

Because they do not trust the efficacious Word, they force cell groups on people to produce the spiritual fruits they demand.

Notice Larry Olson's early contribution to the Church Growth journal. The sub-title is "See How It Grows." Did his parish ever grow while he was there? No. Did WELS grow from the CG takeover managed by Mischke, Kelm, Valleskey, Bivens, Roth, Hartman, Hagedorn, and Kovaciny? The synod staff grew faster than kudzu vine on a hot, humid day. The synod expenses grew faster than Mark Jeske's ego. But everything else plummeted.

The last thing any layman wants to do is say, "Look at how I got beat up." That goes against anyone's nature. The publication of two different excommunications tells me that the laity are fed up with the abuse, lying, and false doctrine.

WELS Advice - "Write a Letter" - Will Get Y'all Excommunicated.Kudu Don Patterson Kicks Joe and Lisa Krohn Under the Bus

WELS deaconess demonstrates Sisera counseling method for Joe Krohn.

Friday, May 27, 2011

Holy Word Lutheran Church and WELS has broken Fellowship With Us

Last fall Pastor Patterson again approached me about becoming an Elder for Holy Word. I had mixed emotions about accepting a nomination. So much study about worship and practice had been done and it became clear to me that Christ the Rock and Holy Word to a lesser extent did not have "quia" subscriptions to the Lutheran Confessions and the Book of Concord. From my perspective through these two churches, I wondered if WELS still had one.(Pastors and Teachers swear an oath to uphold them both in light of the Scriptures.) After prayerful considerations and discussions with my wife I accepted.

In mid-November I had an orientation lunch with Pastor. I remember him stressing that if I had any hidden agendas that I should reconsider my nomination. Since I thought what I would be bringing the table would be scriptural...how would one construe this as 'hidden'? I also initiated a conversation about justification and brought up Becker's paper regarding Kokomo and my desire to have a meaningful discussion about it. He stressed that he came from the Wauwatosa Theology camp and that we would reciprocate papers; me sending the Becker Paper and him sending me a recent paper by Pastor Rautenberg reviewing an essay by JP Koehler regarding legalism and bravado of orthodoxy. A discussion about justification did not take place prior to election of church officers in December; though I did send a reminder.

After I became an Elder I again tried to initiate a discussion regarding justification. I had a need to know where he stood on Objective Justification. I got my answer the last Sunday of January. You can hear it at approximately 22:22 of this sermon audio (click on the second sermon for January 30th, 2011 & play it from 21:00 - 24:00+ for context):

http://www.holyword.net/site/audiodownloads.asp?sec_id=140005270

There are many flavors of this doctrine of Objective Justification being preached. It is confusing. I took exception that Pastor Patterson was preaching that my sins were forgiven before I was born. What good was my baptism? What good are the Means of Grace? What good is the Ministry of the Keys? How does this work with Old Testament believers...where they forgiven too before they were born?

Discussions ensued until last Saturday (May 21st) when we received this email from the leadership at Holy Word:

Dear Joe and Lisa,

We received your latest email and read through all of your concerns. We honestly disagree on all of your points and conclusions. All of your concerns are about practical matters over which God's people have freedom to disagree without the charge of sin - except for one. Your unbelief in objective justification is doctrinal and is not acceptable. In short, it is the deal breaker. I have talked to you about this in person on two occasions. On one of those Pastor Gurgel and Brad Johnston were also present. Pastor Gurgel has talked to both of you in person on two different occasions and elders have engaged you in emails about the very same subject. We are all convinced that your doctrine is unscriptural or unconfessional. Therefore we cannot be in fellowship with you until you repent of this. Your fellowship at the Lord's Table is therefore suspended until you recant your teachings and your writings regarding objective justification.

In addition, your ways of attacking me and the many recent decisions of our congregation are not appropriate. So, even if you repent of your false doctrine regarding objective justification, we have so much more to talk about regarding your critical spirit.

If you wish to pursue this any further, we will meet with you both. In that meeting, we will have two elders and me present. We will not discuss objective justification as if it is a debatable doctrine. We will not entertain changing our decision regarding the use of Cornerstone, we will not change Jocelyn's title from deaconess to anything else, and we will not change our plans to help lay people teach God's Word to God's people. We are convinced that all of these things are good and right in our fellowship and since you have been heard and we have decided not to follow you - you have to accept them. In short, the debate is over. No more discussion! The mission of making disciples must go on!

Our stance is firm but so is our love for you in Christ. Our highest goal is to see you in heaven some day.

To God be the Glory,

Pastor Patterson and the Board of Elders
Holy Word Lutheran Church


We responded May 22nd:


Dear Leadership of Holy Word,

Thank you for your email.

For those who may be scratching their heads as to why we are discussing all of this, it originated from a message preached by Pastor Patterson the last Sunday in January. I have attached a clip of the comment in context. It occurs at approximately 1:14.

Firstly, you falsely accuse us of unbelief in Objective Justification. (OJ) Nowhere have we denied OJ! We have rejected how Pastor Patterson teaches it along with many in the WELS. It is wrong to preach that one's sins are forgiven before they were born. It is not true for me as a New Testament believer in Christ anymore than it was for Old Testament believers or anyone for that matter. When Pr. Patterson in his email of 4-20-2011 says, “Truly, so much that we proclaim about the work of Christ cannot be said in the exact same words about the OT saints and their faith.” He is teaching a kind of dispensationalism. We sing on Easter ‘I know that my Redeemer Lives just as Job proclaimed in Job 19:25. St. Paul goes to great lengths in the 4th chapter of Romans to show us that the NT believers are the offspring of Abraham just as the OT believers are. The end of the chapter dovetails perfectly into chapter 5 to drive the point home the sinner is justified by grace for Christ’s sake through faith.

NIV Romans 4:22 – 5:2 “22 This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” 23 The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, 24 but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. 1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we[b] rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.”

And this from The Apology IV, 57

“57] And throughout the prophets and the psalms this worship, this latreiva, is highly praised, although the Law does not teach the gratuitous remission of sins. But the Fathers knew the promise concerning Christ, that God for Christ's sake wished to remit sins. Therefore, since they understood that Christ would be the price for our sins, they knew that our works are not a price for so great a matter [could not pay so great a debt]. Accordingly, they received gratuitous mercy and remission of sins by faith, just as the saints in the New Testament.”

When Pr. Patterson teaches that a person’s sins were forgiven (and therefore absolved and saved as Pr. Buchholz proclaims) without faith is a type of universalism. The passages used to support these teachings are always in the context of faith. Even Pastor Gurgel in his last visit left assured that our confession was Biblical. He acknowledged the way words are used regarding OJ creates confusion; in fact he opined that 'the pendulum swung too far in the opposite direction with regard to Kokomo'. I would add too that the teaching of forgiveness is flawed in the clip as well after 1:14. As the Apology quote shows, God has it in His heart to forgive those who are truly repentant. And He gladly does forgive those in faith for the sake of Christ. But there can be no forgiveness if there is no contrition. So to teach forgiveness without repentance does the offender no good any more than teaching absolution without the Law. Ironically, you are asking me for contrition and yet Patterson preaches I am already forgiven.

Secondly, to break fellowship with us would require you to forbid us at the Lord’s Table. But you say you are suspending our participation in Communion pending a recanting of alleged false doctrine. This is a mixing of processes. Please clarify for us if you are releasing/ex-communicating us pending a repentance of sin or are you retaining our membership and suspending Communion pending contrition?

Finally, there are at least two of you that are not convinced that we are unscriptural and/or unconfessional on all counts. Pastor Gurgel visited and genuinely discussed with us regarding our confession and was assured we were not in error. Brad Johnston who admitted in our meeting that ‘it was all over his head’ regarding OJ should have been disqualified.

Regarding your comment about my critical spirit I will take it as a compliment as Martin Luther would have. However I will let the Lord judge whether your inference of the assuredness of our salvation is a sin.

We will await your reply regarding our membership.

In His Grace and Mercy,

Joe


Holy Word replied back to us on May 26th:


Joe and Lisa,

If I understand all of your recent emails correctly, you wish to remain members of Holy Word only if you can convince us of the errors of our ways in regard to my preaching that "we were forgiven by God in Christ before we believed that we are forgiven" and the 8 practical matters you have listed.

Since we do not believe we have erred on any of these issues that you have sited, we cannot acknowledge that we are still in doctrinal agreement with you. Therefore, we should not commune together. In keeping with a consistent practice of the doctrine of fellowship you should mark and avoid us as persistent errorists and we are marking and avoiding you as persistent errorists as well. (Romans 16:17-18). This posture is never pleasant but necessary to protect God's people from divisive teachings.

Jack Parrish and Matt Wordell have agreed to join me in meeting with both of you to offer any clarifications you need regarding our doctrine of fellowship and the issue of your membership at Holy Word and the WELS. We will not meet with you to discuss objective justification or the 8 points you outlined as your plan to change the direction of Holy Word. You have been heard on those issues and we honestly disagree with you.

We are all free next Wednesday night, June 1 at 6:30PM or 7:00 PM, whichever time suits you. We would like to meet at church in the conference room. Are you willing to meet us?

In Him,

Pastor Don Patterson


We responded later in the day:


All,

Since the agenda would already be set; since there would be no discussion allowed and since we do not care to be subjected in such manner as previous meetings, we respectfully decline. There are many people who do not believe as you do about justification. There are many pastors who do not believe nor preach it as you do. Since you refuse discussion and have made your position clear to us, there is nothing more to say.

I pray that this explanation is satisfactory.

By Grace through faith in Christ,
Joe


I will be talking more about the other 7 issues in coming blogs.

Robert Preus in his book "Justification and Rome" talks about the vast arrays of variation on the doctrine of Justification among Lutherans. How have we become so disjointed on this pillar by which the Church stands or falls? The doctrine that our church fathers from the 16th century so eloquently exposed from the heretics of the day? I can only think of one passage that answers this question...Genesis 3:4-5, " 4And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." - KJV

To preach a forgiveness of sins apart from faith is a type of universalism that some Reformed preachers are already preaching. WELS has been wistfully gazing towards the Reformed for some time now on 'how to do church'.