Uriah 'Eep Sends Letter on the Humility of the WELS Grads.Ski? Glende? Patterson? Jeske? Kelm? Mueller? Gunn? Hunter? Doebler? Olson? Radloff? Valleskey? VP Huebner?

If drinking and decrepitating earned academic credit, they would all have DMins.


Although there has never been any interest in my well-being from the Synod since I left, there is still a strong interest in my capital.  Missouri hounded me for a week and when I didn't answer sent me a letter requesting money for their Seminary in St. Louis.  (I left in 1996).  WELS doesn't call, but the dumbed-down pleas for my living stash and a ghoulish interest in what I leave behind is relentless. To paraphrase my hero Superjock Larry Lujack: "If I have but one life to live, I'm sure as HELL not gonna give it for my Synod." 

Attached is a letter stressing the humility of this year's graduating class at the Sausage Factory.
Permission to print

Jim Becker

***

GJ - I had to dab my eyes a bit when I read the letter. Only a man with a heart of stone could read that letter and not be moved...to gales of laughter.

1. This seminary approves the feminazi-Adam-as-a-myth NNIV.
2. They have promoted Fuller doctrine for decades.
3. Their faculty, even their former president, are Fuller-trained.
4. They train their students to plagiarize false teachers and lie about it.

Bruce Church - Squirrels

Bruce Church has left a new comment on your post "Squirrel Baffle Update: Spoiled Entitlement Squirr...":

My war with the squirrels began when they figured out how to climb a shepherd's crook. I think it was when a new and improved squirrel came to my yard since they looked more athletic, but also as the enamel paint on the poles (bars) and baffles dulls, it's easier for squirrels to climb. WD-40 on the pole is only effective until the first rain. I didn't feel like buying enamel paint and redoing the paint job since that could be an every year job to keep the pain shiny and slippery. That's when I inserted a shiny 6-foot 6" wide $6 chimney pipe over the pole, and they never make it up that more than a couple feet. The squirrels refer to it as the 6-6-6.

Then however, they resorted to jumping down on the feeders from the house roof, the wires, and the detached garage roof. It took a while for me to find a spot near the kitchen window where the squirrels couldn't jump to the bird feeder, moving it a few feet this way and that. Shepherds crooks are easy to move if you let a gallon of water soak in before lifting the iron out, or before standing on the iron to force it into the ground. Hot water will quickly unfreeze the ground, too. Else, you can wait for a good rain.

Once I found the perfect location that no squirrel could get to for an entire year, I replaced the crook with a 8-foot 4x4 from Menards ($6). The $29 post hole digger was on sale for $20. I dug the hole 2 feet deep. Since the post is treated, no concrete is necessary. The chimney fit over the 4x4. I drilled a 1/2" hole in the top of the 4x4 and inserted the top part of the shepherds crook. My crook has two hooks, on which I put a feeder with safflower, another with black sunflower seed, and in the middle I put a suet cage on a wire hook I made.

The juvenile robins, cardinals and black-capped chickadee really love suet, so I'm helping the next generation of birds by using year round suet. All the birds will at least occasionally eat from each feeder and suet cake. Woodpeckers eat suet 99% of the time, of course.

I'm really happy with "First Nature's Niche Waterer and Bird Bath" ($20). I tried hanging it up first, but the wind caught and all the water runs out. So I put in another 4x4 post (same as above). The waterer has a built-in mount for 4x4 posts. The birds love it.

Finally, I have a hummingbird feeder with a large homemade ant mote filled with water to keep the ants and earwigs out of the sugar water, plus out of one box bird feeder:

First Nature's Niche Waterer and Bird Bath
http://www.amazon.com/First-Natures-Niche-Waterer-Bird/dp/B000RHSS32/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1308364725&sr=8-1

Ruby Prism Hummingbird Feeder
http://www.amazon.com/Trap-Moat-Hummingbird-Feeders-Bulk/dp/tags-on-product/B001BZNWVM

Water moat:
http://www.amazon.com/Trap-Moat-Hummingbird-Feeders-Bulk/dp/tags-on-product/B001BZNWVM

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bruce-church (http://bruce-church.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "Squirrel Baffle Update: Spoiled Entitlement Squirr...":

Squirrel jumps off porch roof to defeat baffle:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YlauyBzZdU&NR=1

Squirrel defeats double baffle:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7VpKY3mPsM&feature=related

Squirrel using weld seam on baffle as grip to defeat it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwH30DAQttQ

Bruce Church Kicks One Through the Goal Posts

bruce-church (http://bruce-church.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "Brett Meyer - On the Syn Conference Covert Agenda ...":

Why suddenly all the mergers and "collaboration" among synods and groups of local churches? Success has many fathers, but failure is a orphan. Also, misery loves company.

Liberals love ecumenism since liberalism causes churches to shrink and members to donate less (the less religious give less and have fewer children generally), so one must share resources regardless of doctrine. Also, the realization is that the liberal church is failing, so liberals band together so "everyone and no one" "owns" the failure.

The same goes with so-called conservative churches. Doctrine becomes less and less important as the need for "everyone and no one" to own the failure rises, that is, the larger the failure becomes, and the greater the need for merging resources, the more people look for unions.

***

GJ - Bruce Church is correct. Congregations "merge" because it sounds better than closing. Parochial schools (Appleton) pool their resources to fulfill the Latin motto - out of many, one.

The history of the mainline denominations is one of mergers. Andover merged with Newton. Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago is comprised of Maywood, Augustana, Central, and perhaps one more. But LSTC added McCormick on the same site, a Jesuit school, and who knows what else. LSTC was a dream, a Lutheran school next to the famous University of Chicago. Now the school is a nightmare of financial meltdown.

Northwestern College in Watertown and Martin Luther College in New Ulm merged to form Martin Luther College in New Ulm.

Missouri no longer needs two seminaries and the Little Sect does not need its palatial digs at all. WELS seminary classes are shrinking as fast as WELS. Since they have all shared the same womanizer as donor, they can pool their resources in many different ways, often in one place.

In keeping with the practice of other mainline denominations, the Little Three could fund a campus at Fuller Seminary, with one administrator and a couple of instructors to maintain the Lutheran mirage. Each empty campus could become a for-profit school or a low security prison.

Salaries and benefits will not shrink but staff sizes will. The LCA once did a "study" about staff, hiring a famous outside consulting firm. Many were kicked out but the survivors received the large raises suggested by the experts they hired.

The economy is speeding up what was already happening in the Little Three. The administrators will still have so much power and money that clergy will continue to play nice in order to keep the gravy train on the right track. No one will dare get in the cross-hairs of a DP or SP. Instead, they will direct their congregations into new opportunities for sharing resources and greater cooperation.

I remember when The ALC and LCA hailed the exodus of the Seminex faculty and the formation of the AELC. Richard Jungkuntz, from the little WELS college in Watertown, was a leader in this liberation. So was Gehrke, also from NWC.

Hearts were gay as Lutheran liberals salivated at the thought of everyone getting together. The AELC fueled every bad concept knocking around both denominations, which were only 20 years old at the time. Conrad Bergendoff opposed a merger because the LCA had not really merged yet. Nevertheless, the radicals kept the momentum going and ELCA became an enormous operation with a collapsing budget, failing schools, and congregations fleeing from the wrath to come.

Today's ELCA is a portrait of what the Little Three will become in a few years.

Squirrel Baffle Update: Spoiled Entitlement Squirrel Uses Baffle To Reach Food

Here is someone's video, showing how clever squirrels are.

I have been placing peanuts on the window sill, mostly for the squirrels, but also for any birds (like blue jays) that love them.

The new baffle from the hardware store was working well since Sunday - so I thought.

Today I watched a squirrel reach the squirrel-proof bird-feeder and eat from it, using the bush as one foot-rest and the bottom of the baffle as the other. He was a little unsteady but ate continuously and happily.

Some may remember that I faced this Olympic athlete before. I cut away all the bush props at the other feeder, because he reached up into it with his tiny paws. After losing the lower perch, he dangled down from above, his hind legs allowing him to clutch the bush while his front paws scooped seed from the bird-feeder.

Brett Meyer - On the Syn Conference Covert Agenda Becoming an Overt Merger

The moderator enjoyed this vision of the real Emmaus Conference.


Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Hiding Out - The Syn Conference Method For Getting...":

The psuedo conservative Lutheran blogs are drooling over the possibility that the (W)ELS might regain open fellowship with the LCMS. The 2011 Emmaus conference was the first public expression of the hope they all have.

Each synod is brimming with false doctrine and practice being promoted or, in large part, at least condoned. SP Harrison was honest in admitting that at the conference - the (W)ELS SP's not so much. What's interesting is the Lutheran blogs talk about recovering confessionalism in their denominations but only plan to do so by trying to convert existing pastors and "called" workers. They all ignore the wellspring of false doctrine and practice which is established in their colleges and seminaries. Their approach to resolving this horrendous problem is not to heedlessly apply Law and Gospel when need, as needed, but to quietly address the most blatant issues without offending those directly involved. This approach raises relationships, fellowship and emotions above God's Word, above the Living Water, above Christ.

Open fellowship between the (W)ELS and LCMS is the next step and it's being promoted and prepared for in some interesting ways.

For instance, LCMS SP Matt Harrison is retranslating Walther's Church and Ministry. This is one doctrine which is keeping the three (two-ish) Synods apart. He stated at the Emmaus conference, in regards to the possibility that differences could be overcome between the synods, that in his translation he is finding that Mueller didn't translate Walther properly and that the Synods may not be that far apart. There are many references to Harrison's statements regarding his translation, here is one.

http://swd.lcms.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=LKITv%2Fpw4Nk%3D&tabid=3928

***

GJ - Yes, charge with smoke blowing "Church and Ministry," while all three sects fail to come clean on justification by faith, Fuller dogma, and union with ELCA.

That is how the Prinz Eugen got away from the historic sea battle that sank the Bismarck. The British ships turned away when Eugen charged, so a smaller ship got away from all the larger ships.

In the next week I will have an interesting post that will change minds about Holy Mother Synod.

Glende the Bully Published a Private Email

WELS church lady has left a new comment on your post ""They Adorn Their Venom With My Labor"":

Yes, I sent those remarks to "Glende" about a week ago. It was a personal message, so rather he posted the comment or not, made no difference to me. What is with these 39 year-old pastors? Do the Church Growth leaders give these young guys papal dispensations which allow apostasies to go unpunished? I was only looking out for his best interest.(which would be his spiritual life, of course)Take a look at some of these 29-30 year-old pastors. These guys are preaching Confessional Lutheran Doctrine! Many have been outspoken against Mark Jeske and the likes. These same pastors are also the main ones(there are others) speaking against the adoption of the NNIV. I almost forgot about Daniel Baker.(laity) He is under 21 and plays the church organ on a regular basis.

All I can say about the older church growth pastors, Cornerstone Ministry directors, and TV preachers is "Follow The Money!"

In Christ,
Rebecca

***

GJ - The blogger, who is most likely Glende, refuses to list his name and predilections, but publishes a personal email without permission?

That is standard behavior for the Changers. One Changer accused a Missouri professor (suspected of being orthodox, most likely) on Facebook of being my source. The Changer is on the Love Shack staff. That was funny, since my alleged source has never been in contact with me, apart from agreeing to be a FB friend.

A WELS DP demanded to know how an ELS pastor knew me, not in a complimentary way. That is another Shrinker/UOJ approach - assume guilt and wait for a denial or apology.
One ELS contact unfriended me lately, but so did David Scaer and Pope Paul the Unlearned, many moons ago.

Hint - Leonard Sweet and Waldo Werning are among my FB friends. So are some of the leading lights of Fuller Seminary and Lutheran Shrinkage.

---

an-observer (http://an-observer.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "Glende the Bully Published a Private Email":

“The blogger” is a coward engaging heinous acts while posing as a divine leader. The same holds true for the conspirators who ousted Rick Tecklin. It all shows just how corrupt and evil religious orders can become when headed by leaders putting their personal interests and delusions over the Word.

Racing Toward Survival: WELS and Missouri Are Just Like ELCA, Closing and Cutting Back To Stay Alive

Patterson's Easter Bunny Comforts Child.
"Everything will be just fine, after Cornerstone tugs at our purse-strings heart-strings."

Finding sustainability for Racine’s struggling Lutheran churches

STEPHANIE JONES stephanie.jones@journaltimes.com | Posted: Friday, June 17, 2011 6:34 am | 1 Comment

What is the future of the Catholic Church in Racine County?

In Racine County, east of the Interstate 94, there are 11 Catholic parishes, counted Julie Wolf, communication director for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

Similar to the Evangelical Lutheran churches, she said there is a focus on having churches work together. “The trend archdiocese-wide is for more collaboration,” she said.

In the past the church has been more “top down,” with recommendations coming from above, she said.

Now the focus is more “bottom up,” Wolf said.

In 1998, five churches merged to form St. Richard’s, 1509 Grand Ave. But she did not know about plans for any future mergers.

RACINE - In the past, "sheep stealing" was not uncommon in area churches, said Rev. Mary Janz, a pastor at Racine's Emmaus Lutheran Church.

That is the practice of competing to try to bring members from other churches into your own church, Janz said.

But now with some area churches struggling, local Lutheran churches are shedding sheep stealing in favor of herding together.

Starting earlier this year, members from most of Racine's ELCA congregations (Evangelical Lutheran Churches in America) joined together to discuss the future of area churches. The group is looking at the gifts the churches have and thinking about future partnerships to become one community-minded church instead of a dozen-plus separate churches. Those future partnerships could include mergers and consolidations of the Racine area's ELCA churches, said Rev. Michael Mueller, a pastor at St. Andrew Lutheran Church, 1015 Four Mile Road. But the focus is on working together first, he said.

The struggle
Mueller serves half-time at his parish because of budget constraints, he said, and he has not had as much time for spiritual teaching opportunities. He knows of eight other Racine area congregations in the same situation.

"A lot of us are struggling. We wouldn't be half-time if we weren't," Mueller said. The struggle is a combination of the loss of members and the economic downturn, he said.
Our community has changed, Janz said. Growing up in the 1950s stores were closed on Sundays and people went to church in part because there weren't as many alternatives, she said. The family structure has also changed, she said. Financially her church is also struggling, but her membership is up after recently adding a Hispanic ministry.

Discussions about larger partnerships go back 15 years, said Janz, who has been with Emmaus, 1925 Summit Ave., for 20 years. It hasn't worked in the past, but she thinks it will be different now.
"Because of the financial crisis there are more people who are willing to sit honestly at the table," Janz said.

Recent merger
In 2006, Good Shepard, 5040 Northwestern Ave., joined with Holy Communion, 2000 West Sixth St., to form one congregation together.

Good Shepard Lutheran Church was struggling, said Stephen Samuelson, the interim pastor at Holy Communion. Since the two churches merged, they still have services at both churches. But they now operate under one budget and share resources. The two parishes are doing well, Samuelson said.
That is one example of how churches could work together, Mueller said. Another example is that Emmaus and St. Andrew both offer a Saturday afternoon service that few people attend, Mueller said. Possibly they could combine services in the future to help share resources.

The partnership process
To help figure out what the next step is for the area ELCA churches, representatives from area congregations are working with Sandra Chrostowski, the director of evangelical missions for the Greater Milwaukee Synod., the body which represents 137 ELCA congregations in southeastern Wisconsin.

"We are taking a journey together," Chrostowski said. Leaders in area congregations are meeting with people in their congregations and community to see what area needs are and to see where resources can be pooled, she said. Then they are coming together. Possibly more formal relationships could be formed where congregations merge together, she said.

"We don't know," Chrostowski said about the final outcome. "It's not a top-down decision ... It's about congregations really faithfully listening to one another."

Squirrel - Proof Friendly Feeder Raises Score to 11-0.Squirrel Baffles Humans, Defeats Squirrel-Proof Feeder

For Father's Day last year I got a squirrel-proof bird feeder. We were all enchanted with the blue jays nesting in a bush outside the bedroom window, within eyesight of my computer desk. The squirrels are abundant, so I got the model illustrated above, with weight on the bar keeping the seed locked up.

Birds are so light that many can feed on that bar without lowering it and shutting off the food supply.

This worked well for an entire year. I fed the squirrels field corn and a new composite type of corn. When I bought a bag of peanuts in the shell, for snacks, I decided to share them on the window sill. I lift up the window, place some peanuts on the ledge, and watch them feed.

Recently two fed at once on the window sill. I thought they would fight, but instead, one groomed the other, chewing through the pal's fur. Suddenly they sat up and faced each other. Turf battle? The Sill-marillion? No, they touched paws and faces in a quick little friendship move. Grooming resumed after.

For Father's Day this year, the squirrel decided to defeat me again. He climbed the pole of the bird-feeder, held on with one arm, and pumped the bar to jiggle sunflower seed out into his mouth.

I had my wife come and watch the show. She said, "Time to take down the feeder!" I said, "No, this is entertaining. Besides, I can put a baffle on the pole."

Sassy Sue and I went to hardware store for a baffle. Duncraft sells a large one for about $30. I can imagine an ad saying, "Perfect for our formerly squirrel-proof feeders!"

Sassy went outside with me to install the bracket under the baffle. Unlike the photo above, our land is fairly level and Sassy's friends live next door. They love to have her walk over and greet them. I have to watch them, since Homer is a grouch who thinks Sassy is too peppy and loud. Sometimes he sits in the corner and looks disgusted. Once he bowled her over. Sassy watches for cues from me. I call her back after a few seconds of mutual greetings.

Sassy Sue is quite popular around town. At the dog park, children love to throw her ball and watch her snatch it out of the air, bringing it back. Very few dogs retrieve balls. I have not seen one that brings it back to the owner's hands.

More significantly, Sassy Sue astonishes the audience by jumping up with her three legs to get the ball. No one is surprised when she plants herself and catches the ball with a loud "Swak!" sound on the way down. But when she is running full speed away from me and grabs it before it hits the ground, everyone says, "How does she do that?" I am still impressed, after seeing it done many times.

One father was far away with several small children. Soon they were all behind me, watching the show. Next they were participating. More than one girl has said, "Sassy is a bossy dog!" I usually answer, "They gave her the right name." I have not heard a dog talking so much at the park. Sassy tells me to hurry up when we walk toward the gate. She barks loudly at her friends inside the park.

People see the loving nature of Sassy right away. She has a shy smile that invites petting, and she asks for more. She recently sat in my lap, put her paws around my neck, and hugged me. If she can involve two of us in petting her at the same time, that is perfect.

I happened to stop at Dairy Queen without Sassy in the back seat. The young woman gave me the cone I always share with the family and asked, "Where is Sassy Sue?"

Sassy's new duty includes watching for the fox in our yard. Our daughter-in-law first spotted it last year, but I thought that was just a chance sighting, an animal walking through. The fox must live in the wooded lot and prowl our yard a lot.

Sassy's perch is on top of my pillow, looking out the bedroom window that faces the wooded lot. This is where she keeps track of everything on our little street. Dogs and cats do not trouble her (except on TV) but that fox sends her into hunting mode.

I have seen the fox walking back into the woods, thanks to her alarms.

When I go to the kitchen, three dogs follow me, in case I am getting something they like. They love the sound of things being unwrapped. When I make a cheese sandwich, they expect some, lining up shoulder to shoulder.

I normally ask, "Would the Three Little Piggies like some cheese?"

They move forward one step, in unison. When I told this story in a sermon, Sassy's ears perked up.

Sassy Sue Vocabulary
I have lost track of how many sounds Sassy Sue can make. She has a German Shepherd vocabulary and all the strange vocal habits of the Cattle Dog, derived from the wild Dingo which is part of the breed's DNA.

She rarely warbles, but it is fun to hear. One night she saw her reflection in the bedroom window, since the inside light was on. She sat up and warbled, warning us about the dog in the window.

When I stop at the bank or post office, she sticks half her body out of the window and gives me a loud bark, once or twice. She grins at me and sits on my seat until I return. People find it comical when they see her in the driver's seat.

Last week I stopped at the vet's office to pick up medicine. Sassy's last trip earned her some shots. I left the window down. She stuck her body out and gave a long warbling warning cry. I understood. "No more shots!"

Hiding Out - The Syn Conference Method For Getting Things Done

This photo illustrates the Syn Conference method of dealing with doctrinal issues: allow plenty of room to disappear and hide.

Our old Sheltie used to bark away the trucks on the street, as long as she was safely behind the pool fence.

The Lutheran blogs are welcome to copy this as their logo. I have several designs, illustrated below. Feel free to copy and paste. That is the way to get the big grants today - copy and paste.

"They Adorn Their Venom With My Labor"

twissted_sisster has left a new comment on your post ""They Adorn Their Venom With My Labor"":

I love the caption on the photo but it may be more appropriate to call them the Appleton Dumbpling Gang or the Dumb Appleton Gang.
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Two months of hissy fits from the UOJ crowd has me in a merry mood. Tim Glende has another post, where he "reveals" the WELS Church Lady while trying to conceal his own.

He asks, "Why do you call me Tim Glende?" But he never addresses the question.

We have many data points indicating Tim Glende as the anonymous bully.

1. He blogs from Appleton on a Mac, but stopped sending comments here when I identified him.
   
2. He responds with great fury about Appleton and The CORE.
   
3. He was a bully in high school and college.
   
4. He is a mean-spirited and vindictive bully in his parish. The evidence is his treatment of a member, Rick Techlin, excommunicating him for asking questions about plagiarizing Groeschel and other foul, dishonest deeds.
   
5. He had the Doctrinal Pussycat replace the Circuit Pussycat for daring to address his plagiarism. Incidentally, he lied about copying Groeschel.
   
6. He grew up in a non-WELS, Masonic Church Growth congregation, where a pastor kicked out of Missouri for adultery was allowed to run the WELS circuit and promote false doctrine.
   
7. He became Facebook friends with Kudu Don Patterson in May.
   
8. He had a special post, when I told the truth about his classmate Aaron Frey being canned as MLS president.
   
9. All co-inky-dinks, I am sure.
   

The quotation in the headline is from the Smalcald Articles (Luther). I knew the Sausage Factory grads would never recognize it. The statement made me laugh as I thought about the LutherQueasies and Tim Glende. Together they fume, excommunicate, and name-call to perfection. They clearly hate justification by faith and denounce anyone who follows the Scriptures and Luther on the essential content of the Gospel.

LPC - On the Faith of Abraham

LPC has left a new comment on your post "Joe Krohn: Abraham Was Justified by Faith":

rlschultz and JK are onto something. When UOJers deny that the same faith of Abraham is the same faith we have today in Christ, they are functioning dispensationalists.

Jesus rejects this dispensationalism for the Lord said that Abraham rejoiced to see my day.

John 8:56

One error leads to the next, same thing that happens in Romanism.

Some Hyper-Dispensationalists have gone out to say that Baptism is not even for us today.

Also Dispensationalism makes faith a work of man.

LPC

Joe Krohn: Abraham Was Justified by Faith

Thursday, June 16, 2011

A New Dispensationalism

The false extreme teaching of Objective Justification teaches that everyone in the world is forgiven; even before they are born.   So my question naturally is; 'Including all those who ever lived?  Including those before Christ's death/resurrection?  Was Adam forgiven before he was created?  This false teaching seems to find it's grounding in the work of the cross.  For us A.D. folks, I can sort of buy it; until of course you examine the work of the Holy Ghost, the forgiveness of sins and the Means of Grace; all of which the Holy Ghost is present in.  So if this is true for us New Testament believers and we know God's relationship with His people never changes, it goes that even though the the O.T believers did not have the sacraments, they still had the Holy Ghost in and with the Word spake by the prophets; the Means of Grace.

As the Church Catholic we believe this statement to be true and the hallmark of our faith:

"The sinner is justified by grace for Christ’s sake through faith."  We know this to be absolutely true by these words in Romans 4 leading into chapter 5:  "¹⁶ Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. ¹⁷ As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.”^[c] He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.  ¹⁸ Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”^{[d] 19} Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. ²⁰ Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, ²¹ being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. 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."

The keyword throughout those passages is key.  Promise.  What is that promise?  That God will justify the sinner by grace for Christ's sake through faith.  This statement is true for all men of all time.  God promised in Eden that he would provide for mankind a Savior, namely Christ who would expiate the sin of the world in man's place. (Gen. 3:15)  From the very beginning God was reconciling men to him through Christ. (2 Cor. 5:19)  Note here that at the end of verse twenty, Paul says 'be reconciled to God'.  That is key.  It can only mean that all men are not reconciled (hence unforgiven) to God and that the only way is through faith in Christ and His promise (there's that word again) of forgiveness.

But that is not what Pastor Patterson is preaching when he says in a sermon on January 30, 2011 that we were forgiven before we were born...before we ever heard the Word of God; or were baptized into faith by the Holy Ghost.

Or when he says:

May 26, 2011 in an email Patterson said: "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"

From an email exchange of 4-4-2011: "But you have to understand that forgiveness, reconciliation, justification, atonement - all describe the amazing grace of God given for this whole world irrespective our faith or repsonse. (sic) God loves us all and forgives us all long before we do anything at all -"

From an email exchange of 2-4-2011.  I could almost buy into this one, except when you hear what he preaches along with the more recent quotes, you can see he is equating justification with forgiveness as in universal absolution:  "That the Bible speaks of justification by faith I will not disagree (how could I) but unless he had already done all the work objectively- then we have no hope - he objectively justified the whole world 2 Corinthians 5:19 and only those who beleive (sic) receive the benefits -John 3:16." 

And there are others teaching this false doctrine.  This paper came highly recommended by Pastor Patterson.  He emailed it to me and asked me to read it.  Pastor Buchholz (AZ/CA District President) summarily discredits Prof. Sig Becker in his defense of the Kokomo Statements in the appendix, but spends the essay defending the very theology of Becker.  Here are some excerpts from the Buchholz essay:

"Let’s begin by considering the word justification. The basic meaning of justify is to prove something to be right, just or valid; to absolve; or to free a person from guilt or sin. Justification is the act of justifying, absolving, or declaring free from guilt. To be justified is to be forgiven"

"Here is the legal or juridical nature of justification, revealed at Calvary. The change does not take place in the sinner. The change takes place in the relationship or the status between a sinner and God. A verdict has been rendered, which declares man free of sin and guilt, righteous in God’s sight, and worthy of eternal life, for Jesus’ sake."

It is here where the theology goes wrong.  The status was never changed at Calvary.  He is making it a Second Article forgiveness of sins and this is wrong.  The relationship with God and man was changed in the Garden of Eden when God made a promise (there's that word) to provide an out for man through faith in Christ as Savior (it was as good as done); worked by the Holy Ghost preached by the prophets;  the message of repentance and the remission of sins.  We know this to be true as before Christ even died on the cross, there was Moses and Elijah with Him at the Transfiguration.  Or when He told the thief on the cross that he would be with Him that very day in Paradise." 

"Faith lays hold of the completed work of Christ for comfort and the certainty of salvation. “Whoever believes in him is not condemned” (John 3:18a). “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1)."

Again he has made a statement that only applies to A.D. believers, but uses verses that refer to B.C. Christians too.

There is so much more from the paper that contradicts itself and shows what an utterly disjointed theology this is like this one:

"In speaking of objective and subjective justification we may never use these terms to imply that there are two justifications. There is one justification; it is an objective, universal reality, completed by Christ at Calvary, and appropriated subjectively through faith."

A Patterson 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.”

This is how Wikipedia defines Dispensationalism:  "Dispensationalism is a nineteenth-century evangelical development based on a futurist biblical hermeneutic that sees a series of chronologically successive "dispensations" or periods in history in which God relates to human beings in different ways under different Biblical covenants."

Now I realize that the dispensationalism described in the article refers to  a specific theology, but the spirit of the term seems to fit this extreme teaching of Objective Justification.  It never deals with it's workings in regards to OT believers as evidenced by Pastor Patterson's quote.  Is this not preaching God relating to mankind in different ways regarding His covenant of forgiveness, by grace for the sake of Christ through faith alone?

***

GJ - Kelm is the sterling example of double-speak in WELS. In fact, many of the Church and Change leaders have probably used this method quite deliberately, to fool everyone. Part A is - Of course we know... Part B reverses that position. In the Kelm quote above, the Lutheran approach is mentioned first as justification for using magisterial reason from the Calvinists: Lewis, Schaeffer, and Josh McDowell. The climax is the absurd "Lord, Liar, Lunatic" sales pitch. Either Jesus was the Lord, or He was a liar, or He was a lunatic. Pick one. Lord? Now you can make a decision for Christ. Pray for Him to enter your heart by reciting this prayer.

Luther - The Abundance of God's Grace - Smalcald Articles

Martin Luther, Smalcald Articles, The Book of Concord, Part III, Article IV. Of the Gospel.

We will now return to the Gospel, which not merely in one way gives us counsel and aid against sin; for God is superabundantly rich [and liberal] in His grace [and goodness]. First, through the spoken Word by which the forgiveness of sins is preached [He commands to be preached] in the whole world; which is the peculiar office of the Gospel. Secondly, through Baptism. Thirdly, through the holy Sacrament of the Altar. Fourthly, through the power of the keys, and also through the mutual conversation and consolation of brethren, Matt. 18:20: Where two or three are gathered together, etc.

Martin Luther on Faith - The Large Catechism

This is again most beautifully and clearly expressed in the words: He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. That is, faith alone makes the person worthy to receive profitably the saving, divine water. For, since these blessings are here presented and promised in the words in and with the water, they cannot be received in any other way than by believing them with the heart. 34] Without faith it profits nothing, notwithstanding it is in itself a divine superabundant treasure. Therefore this single word (He that believeth) effects this much that it excludes and repels all works which we can do, in the opinion that we obtain and merit salvation by them. For it is determined that whatever is not faith avails nothing nor receives anything.
Martin Luther, The Book of Concord, The Large Catechism, Holy Baptism, #33f.

Universal Objective Justification Rejects The Formula of Concord: Abraham Justified by Faith

"Here belongs also what St. Paul writes Romans 4:3, that Abraham was justified before God by faith alone, for the sake of the Mediator, without the cooperation of his works, not only when he was first converted from idolatry and had no good works, but also afterwards, when he had been renewed by the Holy Ghost, and adorned with many excellent good works, Genesis 15:6; Hebrews 11:8. And Paul puts the following questions, Romans 4:1ff.: On what did Abraham's righteousness before God for everlasting life, by which he had a gracious God, and was pleasing and acceptable to Him, rest at that time?"
Formula of Concord, SD III. #33. Righteousness of Faith. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 927. Tappert, p. 545. Heiser, p. 252. Romans 4:3; Romans 4:1ff; Genesis 15:6; Hebrews 11:8.

---

rlschultz has left a new comment on your post "Learn about Justification by Faith By Observing WE...":

Abraham believed and it was credited to him as righteousness. Teaching justification by faith alone implies that belief equals faith. Therefore, Abraham was saved by faith. Mr Meyer - your opponents argument that Christ had not come yet in Abraham's is true but it will lead to crypto-dispensationalism, as was pointed out earlier here on Ichabod.

KJV Romans 4:3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.

KJV Galatians 3:6 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.

KJV James 2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.

KJV Genesis 15:6 And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

Learn about Justification by Faith By Observing WELS Opposition to the Gospel

Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Brett Meyer on Buchholz Essay":

LutherRocks, I had the same experience multiple times. They would argue that it was different for Abraham since "Christ hadn't come yet". When I pointed out that Scripture declares the way of righteousness, for the forgiveness of sins, is the same for us as it was for Abraham, they told me to speak to the Synod officials. My brother-in-law even began yelling at me over the phone. He was on the (W)ELS school board that sent me the letter quoting August Pieper who said that you stab the Gospel in the heart if you ever so much emphasize Justification by faith and are on the way to losing your faith altogether.

The Lutheran Synods, churches and schools have abandoned Justification by Faith. It is now anathema. And cling to Justification before and without faith for assurance that they are forgiven, justified and children of God regardless of their faith. They have gone about to establish a new way to righteousness before God and have condemned themselves and those who believe what they teach without testing the spirits with Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions. The Lutheran Synods, Thrivent and a love of man has made them ripe for the picking by the New Age Religion.

***

GJ - I hear Kudu Don Patterson loves the Buchholz essay. You can bet that Buchholz speaks the same double-talk as SPindoktor Mark Schroeder about UOJ double-justification.

The sad thing is - they do not realize that their incomprehensible words are the opposite of Luther and the Book of Concord.

Roger's Brother Is Looking for Digital Sources, Orthodox Lutheran Books

A.D. is a Lutheran. He is shown looking for Kudu Don's new multi-site, figuring they would market a popular brand in Texas.
Everything is adiaphora in Kudu-Don-land, except UOJ.


I am trying to put together a set of electronic literature for African Pastors (Not that such would hurt for American). There will be a problem getting them to have and use computers, but cell phone proliferation has astounded so computers probably will too. Anyway no one could afford the paper ...

Chemnitz' Loci Theologic, "Garrett" mentioned translating. Would he have an eletronic version available? CPH is only interested in money ...

I have Keil Delitz and Edersheim electronic. Will be looking for your listings of basic authors.

***

GJ - All Martin Chemnitz Press books are free PDF downloads at Lulu.com. Three books are being turned into e-books by Lulu. I am also looking at Amazon resources.

Lulu link for Martin Chemnitz Press books.

Brett Meyer on Buchholz Essay

Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Apology, Augsburg Confesssion: Opposing Justificat...":

(W)ELS was thrust further into the false gospel of UOJ with the following
public teachings. The first three of the seven quotes below show the
contradictory heart and essence of General Justification as taught by the
WELS, ELS, LCMS, CLC, ELCA and the New Age Religion.

"God has forgiven the whole world. God has forgiven everyone his sins." This
statement is absolutely true! This is the heart of the gospel, and it must
be preached and taught as the foundation of our faith. But here's where
the caveat comes in: In Scripture, the word "forgive" is used almost
exclusively in a personal, not a universal sense. The Bible doesn't make the
statement, "God has forgiven the world."

"God has forgiven all sins, but the unbeliever rejects God's forgiveness."
Again, this statement is true-and Luther employed similar terminology to
press the point of Christ's completed work of salvation.16 But we must
also recognize that Scripture doesn't speak this way."

"God has declared the entire world righteous." This statement is true, as we
understand it to mean that God has rendered a verdict of "not-guilty" toward
the entire world. It is also true-and must be taught-that the righteousness
of Christ now stands in place of the world's sin; this is the whole point of
what Jesus did for us at Calvary. However, once again we're wresting a
term out of its usual context. In Scripture the term "righteous" usually
refers to believers. "

"God has forgiven the whole world. God has forgiven everyone his sins." This
statement is absolutely true!" Also, "God has declared the entire world
righteous." This statement is true, as we understand it to mean that God has
rendered a verdict of "not-guilty" toward the entire world."

"Faith is simply trust. Faith must have an object, something that it holds
onto. That object may or may not be real or true, but faith doesn't make it
real or true. Faith that holds onto something untrue is misplaced-no matter
how sincere it may be. Christian faith appropriates and holds onto the
reality of God's justification completed in Christ. It does not cause
justification or forgiveness to take place. It simply grasps God's
justification that is already a reality."

"Scripture teaches universal reconciliation: "God was reconciling the world
to himself in Christ" (2 Corinthians 5:19). Jesus is the universal
peacemaker. His sacrifice on the cross has removed the barrier of guilt and
sin that separated humanity from God. Where the barrier of hostility has
been removed, there is peace. In Christ and through Christ the status
between God and the human race has changed from one of hostility to peace."

"Since the term objective justification is found neither in Scripture nor in
the Lutheran confessions, we can understand the term correctly as referring
to the justification of the entire world."

BM - All quotes are from (W)ELS District President, Pastor Jon Buchholz's
2005 Conference essay: http://www.wlsessays.net/node/390

To date Pastor Jon Buchholz has never retracted any of the false doctrine he
taught in the 2005 essay. It is this doctrines teachings, such as those
quoted above from DP Buchholz, which the Krohn family was recently
excommunicated from the (W)ELS for rejecting based on their faithfulness to
Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions.


Brett Meyer

Luther's Large Catechism in the Book of Concord: The Holy Spirit Distributes the Treasure of the Gospel

He first leads us into His holy congregation, and places us in the bosom of the Church, whereby He preaches to us and brings us to Christ. For neither you nor I could ever know anything of Christ, or believe on Him, and obtain Him for our Lord, unless it were offered to us and granted to our hearts by the Holy Ghost through the preaching of the Gospel. The work is done and accomplished; for Christ has acquired and gained the treasure for us by His suffering, death, resurrection, etc. But if the work remained concealed so that no one knew of it, then it would be in vain and lost. That this treasure, therefore, might not lie buried, but be appropriated and enjoyed, God has caused the Word to go forth and be proclaimed, in which He gives the Holy Ghost to bring this treasure home and appropriate it to us. Therefore sanctifying is nothing else than bringing us to Christ to receive this good, to which we could not attain of ourselves.
Martin Luther, The Large Catechism, Article III, #37f. Concordia Triglotta, p. 689. Tappert, p. 415. Heiser, p. 194.

Apology, Augsburg Confesssion: Opposing Justification by Faith Means Abolishing the Gospel

"These things are so plain and so manifest that we wonder that the madness of the adversaries is so great as to call them into doubt. The proof is manifest that, since we are justified before God not from the Law, but from the promise, it is necessary to ascribe justification to faith. What can be opposed to this proof, unless some one wish to abolish the entire Gospel and the entire Christ? "
Apology of the Augsburg Confession, III. #177. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 205. Tappert, p. 153. Heiser, p. 60.

Chemnitz Taught Justification by Faith - Not Universal Objective Justification

"Therefore God, 'who is rich in mercy' [Ephesians 2:4], has had mercy upon us and has set forth a propitiation through faith in the blood of Christ, and those who flee as suppliants to this throne of grace He absolves from the comprehensive sentence of condemnation, and by the imputation of the righteousness of His Son, which they grasp in faith, He pronounces them righteous, receives them into grace, and adjudges them to be heirs of eternal life. This is certainly the judicial meaning of the word 'justification,' in almost the same way that a guilty man who has been sentenced before the bar of justice is acquitted."
Martin Chemnitz, Loci Theologici, 2 vols., trans. J. A. O. Preus, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1989, II, p. 482. Ephesians 2:4.

***

GJ - I bought this book, still a typescript, through Jay Webber and Paul McCain. They were convinced it would never be published. Since both MDivs from Ft. Wayne are ardent UOJ advocates, I wonder, "Did they ever read this work? If they did, do they have any reading comprehension skills? Any doctrinal discernment?"

Two Views - Money versus the Word of God:One Opposes the Other

One reader wrote that he liked the post about modern philosophy, which is the dividing line in theology. Judging Luther's doctrine from the rationalistic position of modern philosophy is like viewing coal as an ornament. Yes, it once was used that way in England, because it is an easily carved mineral.

Anyone who follows the history of philosophy would find Halle University's approach to modern philosophers enlightening.

But I digress. The other dividing line is money versus the Word of God. Most congregations and pastors, and all synods make money Number One. Talking to a Doctrinal Pussycat about the Word of God is bound to irritate him as he envisions the money flying away from his consecrated and consecrating hands.

In Canada it was common for wealthy Lutherans to move to the Presbyterian church across the street, because that was where the moneyed people went to church. "It's not personal. It's business. I always liked you, kid."

The Daddy Warbucks are used to making money talk. (It does, but it's always saying "Goodbye" to me.) The wealthy make it clear that all issues will be settled in their favor, and they are pragmatists. The parish as a business is bewitching to their ears, especially when the pastor speaks the same business and new age lingo as the secular leaders do in their huddles.

In contrast, the Word of God seems weak but is all-powerful. Those who use the Word to judge everything are working in harmony with the Scriptures and the Book of Concord. But they are a minority voice and probably have always been, except for brief moments in church history.

God raised up genius leaders during the Reformation and soon after, to establish the Gospel once again, both in its positive sense and also in the rejection of false doctrine. Calvinism and rationalism entered the Lutheran Church; pragmatists compromised for the sake of outward peace and unity.

People are inclined to ask, "Why is Kelm protected and Witte promoted when they have such clear records of promoting false doctrine?"

The answer lies in God's Word and Luther's writings. God is punishing WELS for abandoning sound doctrine and advocating false doctrine.

To rub salt in the well-deserved wounds, the disciples of Satan demand and get ten times as much money as faithful pastors did before them. And they get it. People would not give a dollar to Christ, so now they have to give ten dollars to Satan.

Enjoy My Stained Glass Collection:Doctrinal Graphics To Share With Everyone

I have two folders for doctrinal graphics. I started the first to create my version of stained glass windows, art with a message. The second folder developed because false doctrine needed the same treatment. I can find my favorite good and bad quotations from the art associations.

I post the positive messages on Facebook in two places, on my profile and page and on the one for Martin Chemnitz Press. You may find it convenient to go through my MCP wall photos to find a graphic you want to copy and send to someone else. You do not need to be a FB friend to see the MCP material.

I also have both sets of graphics in menus on the left.

According to Jack Cascione, who featured this quotation and the Robert Preus essay supporting it, we were all justified before we were born. The Ed Preuss book elaborates by saying the Hindus and all other pagans in the world are also justified, declared forgiven. The UOJ Stormtroopers dance around this fact, even though this book is often cited as a great classic in Lutheran justification. Yes, it is a classic pratfall, an elegantly expressed load of baloney. The Ed Preuss fans never mention that he left the Missouri Synod seminary faculty to promote Roman Catholic dogma.

As a Lutheran, he argued against the Immaculate Conception of Mary (that Mary never sinned in her entire life). As a Roman Catholic, he anonymously published another view. That is their UOJ hero, their authority on justification, who died in the Church of Rome.

There is plenty of money to be made in WELS through promoting Fuller Seminary's dogma: Church Growth principles. The Kelm-Mueller-Valleskey crowd rubbed this in the face of WELS and everyone took it. Now they complain!

But when SPindoktor Mark Schroeder tells a whopper on the front page of Christian News, they are once again silent. My last words will be, "I told you!"

Look at those Church Growth Eyes! Hunter published this photo of himself, so I used it as is, no embellishments. Charis or another one of those overlapping groups invited Hunter and Waldo Werning to teach WELS.

The Wisconsin Sect had no problem with Methodist New Ager Leonard Sweet or ELCA theologian Martin Marty, but they had a big enough hissy over Missouri guys to get the Hunter-Werning confab nixed.

Members and pastors keep taking it and paying for it, in every way possible.

At the WELS convention, the leaders will make the NNIV seem like the best thing since Tiger Meat and the only possible translation to use. And it will be voted in.

The Yale-Priced Missouri Synod MDiv

bruce-church (http://bruce-church.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "Artful Dodger Suggests SMP Plus a Real Academic De...":

The Artful Dodger asks what Dr. Jackson recommends about SMP vs. M Div. I can't speak for Dr. Jackson, but I can guess what he'd conclude. I'd guess he'd say that for the outrageous price and other reasons, no one should seek a M Div from either Concordia St. Louis or Ft. Wayne unless he is independently wealthy. Only SMP students should go to those two places (assuming they are reasonably priced for SMPs), and only if they are in a situation that truly calls for an SMP, and they don't want a M Div. Otherwise, one ought to attend St. Catharines for quality education at a decent price (as this post suggests), especially if they can receive a M Div at St. Catharines for about the same price as a SMP at a LCMS seminary:

Modest Proposal:
http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2011/02/modest-proposal.html

Lutheran Seminary Fraud, May 16, 2011
http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2011/05/lutheran-seminary-fraud-students-are.html

***

GJ - I hasten to add that training in Enthusiasm is too high a price to pay, even if school is free.

Jay Webber, Pope Paul the Unlearned, Rolf Preus, Jack Casione, and many others prove that the Concordia system turns them into anti-Lutherans. Moreover, they consider their precious MDiv degrees such a perfect education that they no longer need to study the Word of God or the Confessions. They only need to repeat their talking points from seminary.

Missouri and WELS would have to admit they have vast doctrinal problems at the heart of their synodical education machines. Otten's Christian News has been handy in creating a smokescreen about those awful Seminex supporters still in the LCMS. The problems began with the Great Usurper, CFW Walther, and his chosen disciple F. Pieper.

According to the Bronze Age Missourians, their synod needs to return to kidnapping children (Walther), covering up their leader's promiscuity (Walther), and plagiarizing false doctrine from Halle University (Walther).

Bishop Stephan graduated from Halle University, which may explain the dominance of Knapp in Walther's dogma.

The kidnapping story is told in Philip G. Stephan's book, p. 131, available in part on Google.

Zion on the Mississippi describes Stephan's many evening walks with various women, a matter of grave concern for the police before the group set sail for America. When I first read Zion, I wondered more about Walther's studied blindness than Stephan's overt immorality.

Somehow Walther became the the mythical founder of the Missouri Synod, even though Loehe began the effort and invited the Perry County bunch to join. Now Loehe is bad (Christian News) and Walther's critics, when telling the truth, are evil.

The LCMS airbrushes their leaders' biographies. No blemishes are left. No mention is made of Al Barry's many synodical transfers. No one counts or mentions Jack Preus' multiple affiliations. And everyone is left thinking that Their Hero, CFW Walther, rescued Lutheran doctrine by suddenly discovering the adultery of Stephan and forcing him out. Walther, whose Pietism is forgotten, allegedly beat back the savage forces of false doctrine, and anointed Pieper as his successor. Walther's doctrine reflected his times, but his character was more of a cult follower who longed to become a cult leader. And he did achieve that goal.

Missouri already has a passel of stories, red herrings, to keep people from realizing that their Perry County #2 leader had serious flaws.

Dr. Lito Cruz - LutherQueasy's Ocean of Fallacies

LPC has left a new comment on your post "Has the Lutheran Church Fallen So Low That Pastors...":

Pr. Greg,

Just recently, I went to LutherQueasy and I read for some hours the content and nature of conversation there. I found so many faulty argumentation that I could not even find a place to start as there were zillions of them.

For example, if a man does not have an argument, the low down approach is to divert the discussion on some personal issue.

Another example is just what you placed here in this post. They do special pleading. They want people to not listen to you because you were in several synods, yet they want people to listen to them, though they themselves hopped from one synod to the next.A corollary fallacy to this is red herring. So can you see why I never bothered engaging with those people? The fallacy simply multiplies.

LPC

According to Scaer, Calov denied the Atonement, etc.

Brett Meyer Answers an Earlier Post

Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Has the Lutheran Church Fallen So Low That Pastors...":

Has the Lutheran Church Fallen So Low That Pastors Cannot Teach Justification by Faith?

Yes.

On Ichabod alone, there are more direct examples and quotes to prove this contention than any other place on the world wide web.

***

GJ - Perhaps someone from LutherQueasy could explain how they understand the Quenstedt quotation above, which Preus quoted with approval.

Good Argumentation: Lessons in Lutheran RhetoricSeldom Observed on Lutheran Blogs

Research is the first requirement in Lutheran rhetoric. The laity are far beyond most clergy because they read the Scriptures without the brainwashing of seminaries. Each seminary teaches its students that they belong to the best synod, really the only synod, in the world. As Thundershorts said to one student at Northwestern College, "Now that you have experienced the Wisconsin Synod, how can you return to the slime-pits of Missouri?"

The advantage a layman has is a lack of filters. The Holy Spirit speaks directly through the Word. Both the reading and the believing are instruments of the Spirit.

Christian doctrine is not subject to human logic, but the Faith is completely consistent in all parts. A layman asks, "If I am justified by faith, how can I be justified without faith?"

The brainwashed MDiv says, "According to our experts..." No one has heard of these great experts and precious few own their books. The really good ones can be misquoted and used as fake witnesses. No layman has Calov and Quenstedt at home. He may have Gerhard now, thanks to Repristination Press. Gerhard worked with Chemnitz, so he is right just fine with me. But I like Chemnitz better.

Here is another advantage for the laity. Clergy like to have large libraries which they seldom use. The laity are more likely to have a few good books. Luther's sermons and the Book of Concord are enough volumes to supplement a Bible in the Luther-KJV tradition.

Research means reading and remembering. I use a database to help me remember and cite. Chemnitz took notes by hand, like the legendary founder of the Oxford English Dictionary. Both would have loved my system. I entered quotations with all the citation material, including Biblical citations in a separate field. I can search on words, topics, authors, and Biblical passages.

Modern tools are not primary in research. They make the labor a little easier. The real issue is living in the sources, asking what that author is saying, not what another person claims that writer is communicating.

A true study of the Bible will reveal that most of the theories, advanced by favorite writers and professors, are bogus. They are not useful anyway. Mark or John may have been written down first or last. Careful study will reduce the importance of theory and increase the value of the content, which belongs to God alone.

Knowing the Word is essential in evaluating authors. The ones who communicate the Word best are: Augustine, Luther, Melanchthon, Chemnitz, Chytraeus, and Gerhard.

My secondary list includes Krauth, Jacobs, Hoenecke, Schmauk, and Lenski.

Comparing this to ice cream - Luther is vanilla, and should be read more than all the others combined. Melanchthon and Chemnitz are chocolate, to be read more than the rest of the rainbow flavors. When was the last time you ordered peppermint almond fudge ribbon ice cream? That was probably the same day you finished a volume of Krauth.

Opposition research is also necessary, but completely lacking in the blogs. I am still looking for someone who says, "I reject justification by faith because..." while giving cogent reasons and actual research.

I quoted and cited every UOJ passage I could find, although they crop up all over, like black mold in a damp unventilated house.

I showed both sides of the issue with WELSian doctrine, years ago. I quoted confessional authors on various topics and compared that to WELS quotations (chapter and verse). When I gave that paper at a conference, VP Kuske was outraged.

Special Pleading
Special pleading is is a logical fallacy known to all parents. Children give all the reasons why they need their faces pierced or their torsos tattooed. All opposing reasons are rejected as utterly invalid.

The UOJ Stormtroopers claim that anyone who disagrees with them "rejects the Gospel." No reasons are given for this outrageous statement because the writer or speaker has already determined there is only one answer.

Begging the Question, Circular Reasoning
Most people know this as circular reasoning, since the reasons and the conclusion are the same. A good fallacy is subtle, such as the question, "How long will we continue the quagmire in Iraq?" That was asked just before Petraeus mopped up in short order.

UOJ Enthusiasts claim that God must have justified all people because Jesus became sin. If sin and righteousness are exchanged, then every single person on earth has been justified, they imagine.

The Enthusiasts offer their great argument, "If you deny UOJ," assuming it is Christian doctrine, "then you are a Calvinist."

Pleading Authority
Pleading authority can be a fallacy, depending on the relevance of the argument. All celebrities are authorities on all matters, as we can see on TV - clearly a fallacy.

Jack Cascione likes to use Robert Preus as an authority, although he is not honest about it. He quotes an old essay - fair enough - but does not deal with Preus' final book.

Paul McCain, MDiv, uses Jack Kilcrease as his authority. Jack grew up in a WELS parsonage, but attended an ELCA seminary (Luther, where Jack and Robert Preus were students). Kilcrease teaches at a Roman Catholic college and is now a Missouri layman. Scaer (UOJ certified) also goes for Kilcrease.

McCain cannot use Luther, Melanchthon, or Chemnitz as his authorities for UOJ, so Kilcrease will have to do.