Nominated for Worst Sermon Ever. Worse Than Ski and Glende Copies?Worse Than Parlow/Kelm Xeroxes?

Hi Professor,

I've been trying to get my folks to leave their WELS church for some time now.  Last Sunday's sermon, I think, was enough to push them over the edge.  The sermon is not that surprising (typical crap-ola), but for some reason it made it into the Top-Ten-Worst-Sermons-I've-Ever-Heard list.  The absence of the Holy Spirit and the Means of Grace from evangelism is Epic.  Totally Anthropocentric.  Anyhoo, the pastor doesn't publish text versions of his sermons, so I took pains to write accurate notes while listening to the audio file.  The link to the audio file is below if you care to totally waste 20 minutes of your life.  But I figured your readers might want to read a random example of WELS rottenness.

http://www.myfaithlutheran.com/site/audiodownloads.asp?sec_id=180001587

Now Hiring, by Pastor William Monday

Starts with token story about farmers.

Hard work is the only way to get treasure

What does it take for the Church to bring in the harvest?  How much responsibility should we have (how much work ethic) do we individually need to put forth to save souls?

Do we see things like Jesus does, that hard work is necessary, or do we not yet see that it our responsibility to work hard to save souls?

Why is Jesus spending all his time preaching and talking to people?  Why doesn't he spend his leisure time on himself?  His motivation was that he had compassion on them.  His heart broke for them.  When he saw everybody without goals and without God and his heart broke for them.   So, Jesus spent all his time telling everyone that "God Loves You".

Jesus looked at all these believers (OT and NT) who are struggling be passionate about the lost, struggling to harvest souls....so what words does he have for us:  (Quote:  And I can imagine Jesus' voice cracking when he says this)  The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.  So pray to the Lord of the Harvest to send worker

Can't you see the desperation in his eyes?  Yes, Jesus paid the price for everyone by dying on the cross but they won't all be saved because there aren't enough workers in the field to tell them of the great work already been done!

[insert cute non sequitur story about farmers and puppies:   4 healthy puppies.  1 puppy with deformed leg.  Little boy with prosthetic leg decides he wants the deformed puppy.  Boy says:  That puppy is going to need someone who understand him.  The farmer promises to give the lame puppy to the lame boy for free.]

The Moral of the Story?  The Love of the Lord--it is so important to sympathize with others...to understand people.  to be compassionate.  Jesus is unique because he came to earth to understand us.  To sympathize with us.  In fact, he came to take our place.  He sees our failure.  We're all cripples.  Everyone needs something.  Jesus sees that and becomes that except without sin.   And then goes to the cross and becomes crippled for us.

Doesn't that change us?  Doesn't seeing Jesus do this for us change us?  Change how we see other people?  Don't we begin to look through our Savior's eyes?  Don't we also have compassion for one another?  Doesn't that inspire us to go from town to town and be witnesses for Jesus?  Doesn't that give us the motivation we're looking for to call out to our Savoir who is Now Hiring?

Jesus thought so.  He went and called 12 disciples and gave them authority to heal people and preach the good news.  [Insert Great Commission.]  And this applies to all of us.

Let me sum up by asking a better question:  How many of you have been assigned to a task where you needed other people?  Can you lift a couch up the stairs by yourself?  I wouldn't advice doing it by yourself.  Can you play with a teeter totter by yourself?  Nope.  If you've experienced this then you can relate to Jesus in this text.  With desperation and a choked up voice  (verbatim quote)  Jesus says to us:  "There are souls that keep dying and there aren't enough people to go out and rescue them!!!"

How wonderful things are when people volunteer and bring donuts and clean up!  How wonderful things are when we have volunteers  for money counting and ushering!  How wonderful when people sign up for VBS and all the other things that are required (quote) to further the gospel ministry along for ourselves and the Lost!

But how tough ministry becomes when nobody signs up for anything.   How tough it becomes to make the place look good for visitors.  You know, when nobody signs up to pull the weeds around the front entry, those jobs still get done.  You know who does them?  The leaders who have been charged with preaching the gospel and reaching the lost.  They pick weeds and shovel snow instead of saving people.

I've come to find this out in ministry.  That the most pressing needs are the ones that get fulfilled...but not the most important.  In order for outreach to happen, in order for us to be able to till the soil and plant the crop and bring the harvest home we need all those other things to get done. (shoveling snow, picking weeds, making coffee, serving donuts)  We need all of us together to work.  We need all of these things to happen so that outreach, which always happens last, can take place.  So take a look at Jesus.  He's standing there.  The Kingdom is Now Hiring.  Let us be people of prayer.  Let us be the ones who are willing to do the work.  Let us be willing to go out into that field and dig up that treasure.  The treasure of lost souls.

Let's do it together so that we can make sure we can turn over the field so that the people charged with doing the one-on-one soul saving can save the lost.  Maybe we're not all evangelists, but we can all hold up the evangelist's hands can't we?  Let's work while it's still day.

Monday Monday

Syn Conference Hypocrites Pretend To Ignore This:Jimmie James Research

The Rev. Richard Andersen

Rev. Richard Andersen

Rev. Richard Andersen received his Life Coaching training from the Hudson Institute of Santa Barbara, California. He is a Certified Life Coach of adults and their organizational systems.  A graduate of Luther Seminary in St. Paul,  Andersen was ordained in 1986.  He was approved for reinstatement to the roster having served a Lutheran parish earlier in his life. His second career as a senior financial consultant at Thrivent Financial for Lutherans allowed him to help clients shape their futures. He draws on these life skills in his passion for coaching people through life-enriching change.

With colleague, Ruth Frost, Richard founded Third Act Life Discovery, a spiritual journey of the heart designed to help people live purposefully and embrace a full life. Andersen is working on a Doctor of Ministry degree at United Theological Seminary.  Richard is currently the Director of Congregational Relations for Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota.  

”My life has revolved around being gay and acknowledging my call to serve the church,” Richard explains.

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Jimmy James said... 

 

Something hit me after I sent this to you, GJ. Note Andersen's quote at the end:

”My life has revolved around being gay and acknowledging my call to serve the church,” Richard explains.

Note that his life doesn't revolve around Christ. It resolves around bedroom gymnastics.

Also note that his call isn't to serve Christ, but "to serve the church".

Seems this poor fella might have more salvation issues than just his homosexuality....

***
GJ -

I saw that right away. I remember the LCA reversing itself in the last few years before I left. The Lutheran magazine published an article by a seminary professor (Philadelphia) saying that homosexuality was against Creation. I met that professor when I was interviewed at that seminary. His fellow professors were congratulating him about the article. ELCA now teaches the opposite and the seminary faculties are united in supporting that position. The former head of ministry in ELCA (via his wife, also a minister) posted a Yale alumni note about their adult daughter having a Lesbian partner.

That Yale PhD in New Testament studies, Stanley Olson, has been an LCA professor and bishop, one of the four divisional heads, and the chief of vocations in ELCA. He was just installed as the president of the ELCA seminary in Dubuque, Iowa (Wartburg, former ALC), which Loehe started.

Don't blame Loehe - he started the Missouri Synod too, and the seminary at Ft. Wayne.

Jeske-Jungend Rally , July 21

Become a chick magnet. This will be a good way to learn how to goose-step into the secretive and powerful Church and Change group.
Endorsed by DP Buchholz.
Led by Jeff Gunn, who confesses, "Jesus is my rice."

What Is the Difference? Bueller, Bueller, Anyone?

AC V has left a new comment on your post "Time of Grace Supporters Just Happen To Be Church ...":

Bethesda Lutheran Communities - Partner Congregations:

St. John Lutheran Church, Wauwatosa WI - Pastor: Rev. Joel Leyrer, also 2nd vice-president of WELS SE Wisconsin District.

http://bethesdalutherancommunities.org/page.aspx?pid=665

"Bethesda is a Lutheran human care ministry that maintains close and friendly ties with all the Lutheran churches."

"Bethesda is a Recognized Service Organization (RSO) of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod."

"...all joint expressions and demonstrations of a common Christian faith—call them church fellowship or by any other term ("partner congregations"? "close and friendly ties"?)—are essentially one, that they involve a unit concept, and that they are therefore all [also prayer] governed by one set of principles"(Proceedings, 1959, p. 165). - WELS "Unit Concept" of fellowship.

***

GJ - Missouri and WELS have been working with ELCA and its parent bodies for decades. That will not change.

More importantly, the leaders of both sects have shown an inordinate fondness for studying with and adopting the doctrines of the Enthusiasts. Their hand-scooped doctrine from the Great Kidnapper is pure Enthusiasm with Lutheran sprinkles. Look beneath the sprinkles - there it is.

Someone asked me, "Is there a reason not to join one of the LCMC or NALC congregations?"

1. Still in demi-semi-fellowship with nasty old ELCA? So are Missouri and WELS.
   
2. Don't-Ask-Don't-Tell Communion practice. Ditto WELS and Missouri.
   
3. Ordination of women? WELS and Missouri are eager to embrace it and already have women pastors.*

The LCMC (more like the ALC) and the NALC (the home for elderly ELCA bishops) are engaged in re-studying the Word of God, instead of taking everything for granted. I have no idea what the typical congregation is like, if that can even be determined. I would not be shocked to find both groups siphoning members from Missouri and WELS, simply because the doctrinal differences are slight. Few laity want to circle the wagons around the disputes of the 19th century Pietists.

Walther's approach was to offer his non-biblical theses as revealed truth, then dare anyone to dispute them. He was contentious, divisive, an unrepentant criminal with a lust for power. No wonder Syn Conference hagiographers want to begin with the Altenburg Theses, about Church and Ministry. Oh, Walther rescued the Saxon sheep from the ee-vul Bishop Stephan! Oh, he threaded the needle with his deft move between Romanism and Congregationalism. Oh, he took over the Synod Presidency and seminary presidency at once. Oh, Oh, Oh.

Starting with Altenburg means forgetting the two children kidnapped from their grandparents' home, the young man and woman who died in America. If I were those grandparents, I would not be so proud of that son (CFW) and his brother, both pastors. Starting with Altenburg allows one to forget that Walther willingly followed a known adulterer to America, pledged his lifelong support to the bishop, then organized a mob to rob, depose, and kidnap the bishop - for the crime of adultery.

* LCMS congregations hired ELCA women vicars to preach, consecrate Holy Communion, and baptize, already in the 1980s. I read their accounts in the Trinity (ELCA) Seminary library.
In WELS, the women "Staph Ministers" organized by Larry Oh! (DMin, Fuller Seminary) were consecrating Holy Communion and distributing it. The Revelation of John Brug (Glende's uncle, an Otten fave) was this - "It is not yet the right time." WELS did not condemn the practice but simply imposed a momentary delay. Brug has consistently supported women pastors, and he is the WELS dogmatician, smarter than JP Meyer, but no wiser.

Breaking News - Mark and Avoid Jeske Goes Full-time at Time of Generic Grace

The supernatural glow is Enthusiasm.
DP Rutschow is in charge of Jeske's discipline, i. e., protecting him.


"Not that Word and Sacrament are ineffective in incorporating new souls into our fellowship. Not at all! But according to some serious Church Growth studies, as many as one-third of the people gained for protestant church membership today do not feel they really belong."
David N. Rutschow, The Evangelism Life Line (WELS), Winter, 1985, p. 3. WELS DP for Southwest Wisconsin, perhaps the most loosey-goosey district of all, perhaps even worse than Englebrecht's Anything Goes District.

THIS JUST IN, DATELINE MILWAUKEE:
07/11/11 - WISCONSIN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN SYNOD - 11:53 am

P A S T O R C A L L R E P O R T
07/05/2011 through 07/11/2011


Schaefer, Rev William J I -VSt Marcus - Milwaukee WI - 06/22/2011
Associate Pastor Call

I understand that W. Schaefer is the son of Jeb Schaefer, CG Enthusiast editor of The Northwestern Lutheran. Good Ol' Jeb was Mischke's enabler and PR agent. Jeb bragged about the pan-Lutheran Shrinker conference at the same time that Wayne Mueller denied in print that WELS had any Church Growth at all.

W. Schaefer will be the Executive Pastor of St. Marcus, because Jeske has become full-time at Time of Generic Grace.

How can anyone administer pastoral discipline to someone who is no longer a WELS pastor?

YOU DON'T OWN ME - Apologies to Leslie Gore

You don't own me, I'm not just one of your Luther'an toys,
You don't own me, don't say I can't go with Babtist boys.

And don't tell me what to do,
And don't tell me what to say,
And please, when I raise funds from you
Please put me on display, 'cause

You don't own me, don't try to change me in any way;
You don't own me, don't tie me down 'cause I'd never stay.

Oh, I love to tell you what to say,
I love to tell you what to do,
So let me grow the Jeske cult,
That's all I ask of you.

I'm bad and I love to be bad
I'm free and I love being Me,
To live my life the way I want,
To say and do whatever I please

A-a-a-nd don't tell me what to do,
Oh-h-h-h don't tell me what to say,
And please, when I raise funds from you
Always put me on display.

Jeske's In-House Band

AC V has left a new comment on your post "Jeske's In-House Band - Another Business Venture F...":

Let's assume that the Koiné music genre might be an acceptable vehicle to carry Lutheran text. The problem is that Koiné is being put forward or seen as the ideal for the average parish to strive for. It's an untenable ideal. Most congregations (in the WELS at least) do not have the talent pool to sustain such a group for a consistent, week-after-week, "performance" in the divine service.

And "performance" is the real problem. Such a band and genre of music is performance-oriented, the antithesis of what the divine service liturgy along with its musical settings is intended to be and do.

I don't think Koiné nor its musical genre will stand the test of time. This is the newest flavor in WELS and will fade away like so many others,... like Time of Grace when Jeske is not there to mug for the camera.

***

GJ - "When Jeske is not there to mug for the camera..." That reminded of one Jeske performance on TV. The camera scanned the adoring audience. But I saw a tactic used that a famous criminal lawyer employed - Jeske kissed the audience. He formed a big, silent kiss as he spoke.

Look at early tapes of Rick Warren and Robert Schuller. They looked and acted normal. Once they achieved some measure of outward success, they had another look - truly Satanic.

Jeske critics miss the fact of his occultic New Age doctrine, which permeates his horrible shows. Missouri should be saying, "No you keep him."

The entire Church and Change operation is Jeske-centered and New Age. Here is a little family tree, simplified.

1. Asian polytheism offers a parallel to Satanism, with self-centeredness and material success as the core beliefs.
   
2. . Norman Vincent Peale stole his success book from an occultic writer.
   
3. Schuller borrowed Peale's doctrine and did a re-tread as Possibility Thinking.
   
4. Napoleon Hill provided a business philosophy of the occult, useful in bewitching the Shrinkers, who are rather dumb.
   
5. Paul Y. Cho influenced vast numbers of Evangelicals, Pentecostals, and Shrinkers with his blend of occult teaching and Pentecostalism. The Assemblies of God tossed him out. Fuller Seminary made him an honored lecturer. I shook his hand at a Billy Graham School of Evangelism, where he led the prayers.
   
6. Schuller, Cho, and Warren provided a safe cover for occultic success worship. Throw down that musty theology of the cross. Hybels got rid of the cross altogether, and WELS/LCMS flocked to hear the strange little wax manikin yap.
   
7. Like gay activism, Church Growthism has made its anti-Christian, Satanic philosophy into a set of assumed truths for various denominations.
   

Hanky Alert - Touching ELCA Story:SPs Harrison, Schroeder, and Moldstadt Work with This Far Left Ideology.No Sweat.

We voted to continue working with ELCA. Goodbye.

R. Guy & Keith Fry ...

Ordination stories move church forward

R. Guy Erwin's ordination on May 11 proved quintessentially Lutheran: Two ELCA bishops and a former bishop played key roles; the service doubled as a "teaching" moment for California Lutheran University students, and the 75-member university choir led the 450-strong congregation in singing the final hymn, "A Mighty Fortress is Our God."

The symbolism rang poignantly true since Erwin, 53, serves as the Gerhard and Olga J. Belgum Chair in Lutheran Confessional Theology at CLU in Thousand Oaks; taught Lutheran studies and church history at Yale Divinity School, New Haven, Conn., for several years; and studied in Germany for his doctoral thesis on Martin Luther's era.

Also new to the ELCA roster is Keith Fry, a second-career pastor serving a growing congregation in Elgin, a traditionally politically conservative northwest suburb of Chicago. Christ the Lord Lutheran isn't in the Reconciling in Christ program, which recognizes congregations that welcome lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) believers, and hadn't discussed the issue of gay pastors before calling him.

A year-and-a-half after calling Fry, 52, the congregation is thriving, and just called a deaconess to serve as its director of ministries.

Both men exemplify how openly gay leaders are finding their full expression as rostered ELCA pastors.

Erwin and Fry are among 47 gay pastors ordained, received, reinstated, consecrated, returned to active status, or approved for ordination, reception or reinstatement since the 2009 Churchwide Assembly vote accepting partnered gay and lesbian rostered leaders, according to an unofficial tally by Lutherans Concerned/North America.

R. Guy Erwin stands before the faith community at California Lutheran University, Thousand Oaks, at his service of ordination. Behind him are Pacifica Synod Bishop Murray D. Finck (left); James Boline, pastor of St. Paul Lutheran, Los Angeles; Southwest California Synod Bishop Dean W. Nelson; Mary D. Glasspool, suffragan bishop in the Episcopal Church's Diocese of Los Angeles; and Howard Wennes, former bishop of the Grand Canyon Synod now serving at CLU.

Of the total, 20 moved from the roster of Extraordinary Lutheran Ministers, which now offers a professional support network called Proclaim for LGBTQ (the "Q" was added for "queer" because some young people use that term for themselves) rostered leaders.

Erwin, who provided a crucial last-minute vote at the assembly to adopt the gay-friendly policy, believes the ELCA is "becoming more itself" and "more authentic."

"We've understood grace too narrowly in the past," he said. "Everything that moves us away from a legalistic interpretation of God's expectations toward one that is grace-filled moves us toward being the church that Christ intended."

One could hardly imagine a more credentialed Lutheran than Erwin. A native Oklahoman and member of the Osage tribe of Native Americans, he found himself drawn to the German language and the history of Christianity while living with his parents in Germany from age 8 to 12.

"I knew even then that I wanted to be connected in some way to that long, old story of Christianity," he said. "The extent to which people had believed and sacrificed so much for the sake of the faith was really compelling for me."

Erwin was drawn to Luther and the Reformation after he took a class on German history at Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. He was baptized during his senior year there in 1979 at University Lutheran Church and went on to study church history and earn his doctorate at Yale.

He returned from his doctoral work in Germany in 1985, just in time for the creation of the ELCA. In 1990, the ELCA suspended, and in 1996 expelled, two San Francisco congregations that had ordained gay and lesbian pastors — Jeff Johnson of First United and Ruth Frost and Phyllis Zillhart of St. Francis.

The church's actions dissuaded Erwin from going to seminary, and its rule requiring that gay rostered leaders be celibate cemented his decision to stay away from the pastorate. Yet Erwin said he has never felt bitter because he fulfilled his calling by teaching and by helping establish a Lutheran studies program when he taught at Yale Divinity.

"I was pretty influential in the formation of a number of people who are now Lutheran clergy," he said. "That was very rewarding for me, but a little ironic since I was teaching people how to be pastors when I couldn't be one myself."

Erwin, who is fluent in German, got over his initial misgivings that the 2009 policy had come too late for someone his age when his mentor, the late former synod bishop Paul Egertson, reminded him that the church had been calling him all his life.

In August 2010, Erwin started his candidacy process. He is now ordained into specialized ministry at the university rather than into parish ministry.

And then there's Fry ...

Fry said he "saw the Spirit's leading and the Spirit's hands" in his call to Christ the Lord since he entered seminary in fall 2005 and graduated in June 2009 — just two months before the ELCA assembly's vote.

"There were definitely anxious moments leading up to the vote," he said.

A longtime active ELCA member known for his leadership in music, outreach and preaching, Fry garnered the unanimous recommendation of Christ the Lord's council and received the congregation's call two weeks after the assembly vote.

Fry chose Reformation Sunday 2009 as his ordination day. Bishop Wayne Miller of the Metropolitan Chicago Synod presided at the ceremony — the first ordination held at Christ the Lord.

After Fry started his tenure about a dozen members left, including some of the largest donors. Yet pledge commitments are up this year from 2010, and the church last year received 24 new members and baptized seven babies.

"It is a wonderful example of how, if we can set aside the fears and the stereotypes, a congregation that hasn't even had the conversation can successfully call a pastor because of his or her gifts," Fry said.

Amalia Vagts, executive director of Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries, said the group intends to continue to support and build up the ELCA. "Our organization has always been about expanding ministry opportunities," she said. "The way we do that just evolves over time."

The group built a roster of 46 people from 1990 until 2009, of which 18 were ordained after they had completed a candidacy process that mirrored the ELCA's.

"We are now focused on candidacy accompaniment — walking alongside LGBTQ people who need our resources to give them advice and coaching and provide chaplain support," Vagts said.

The ELCA rostering process, she noted, can be more difficult for people who have cloaked their sexuality for much of their lives than for young adults who have always been out.

"There is still a great deal of education that needs to happen in this church," Vagts said.

Neither Fry nor Erwin joined the ELM roster.

The two have something else in common. Each is in a long-term relationship rivaling the length of many U.S. marriages. Fry just celebrated his 20th anniversary with his partner, while Erwin is in his 17th year with his partner.

One Lord, One Faith, One Insurance Company, One Big Laugh
Thrivent's commitment to homosexual activism is linked here.

***

GJ - Can you figure out why people are leaving ELCA, when The Lutheran magazine features stories like this - easily available on the denomination's website?

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Censure against Missouri congregation lifted

Anita Hill cleared for clergy roster

For nearly 10 years members of Abiding Peace Lutheran Church in North Kansas City, Mo., worshiped under public censure and admonition for hiring a pastor in a committed same-sex relationship. In January, the censure was lifted.

"It's an amazing feeling," said Donna Simon, who has served as pastor since August 2000. "Now there's reconciliation, and we're part of the [church] that we've loved for so long. The lifting of the censure touched us emotionally."

Simon said when she accepted the call to serve the congregation, "we entered into uncharted territory."

Gerald L. Mansholt, bishop of the Central States Synod, said Simon has through the years "been a good steady voice, a good partner in the struggle and she has the respect of a lot of people with different views. She is a generous soul with a kind heart who speaks the truth out of her own faith-life experiences."

In a Jan. 25 letter to the congregation, Mansholt formally lifted the public censure and admonition.

 

Elsewhere, the candidacy committee of the St. Paul Area Synod in February supported Anita Hill for inclusion to the ELCA clergy roster. She has served St. Paul Reformation Lutheran Church, St. Paul, Minn., for nine years as pastor and for 14 years prior as lay pastoral minister.

 

The panel asked that Hill be added to the clergy roster upon the implementation of the Vision and Expectations policy changes approved by the Churchwide Assembly. (See also "Sexuality issue causes division, sadness — and hope.")

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St. Paul Area Synod lifts sanctions on two congregations

On Jan. 15, Peter Rogness, bishop of the St. Paul Area Synod, lifted sanctions — but retained official admonitions — imposed by his predecessor on two of its congregations.
It was St. Paul-Reformation's 2000 decision to call as a pastor Anita Hill, a lesbian in a committed relationship, that prompted its censure. Hosanna! was censured for commissioning and licensing parishioners to function as full pastors.

The reasons were disparate for the sanctions imposed by Mark S. Hanson, former synod bishop, on Hosanna! (Lakeville, Minn.) and St. Paul-Reformation (St. Paul, Minn.) Lutheran churches — but the results were the same. Neither lay people nor clergy from either congregation were allowed to serve on the synod council or on any synod committee or team. The sanctions were expected to remain in place until the congregations conformed to ELCA constitutional requirements or the ELCA changed those conditions.

July 12th Anniversaries

Benjamin Rusch has left a new comment on your post "McCain - Buy My ESV Bible. Otten - Buy My AAT. WEL...":

Happy Twelfth, Pastor GJ! I hope you're wearing an orange shirt today...

***

GJ - Readers must wonder, since they come from so many cultures.

David Beckham and his wife just celebrated their 12th anniversary.

Neptune completed its first orbit since being discovered 165 years ago.

July 12th is also the 450th anniversary of St. Basil's in Moscow. Bethany's WEF will be modeled after St. Basil's, if funds permit.

But orange is the clue. Here is the holiday.

Little did Notre Dame suspect that I arrived as a descendant of English and French Protestants. One ancestor was the richest man in Scotland until he wanted his loan to the king repaid.
Notre Dame gave me a full scholarship, so I wrote Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant.

McCain - Buy My ESV Bible. Otten - Buy My AAT. WELS - Luv, Luv, Luv the New NIV. Ichabod Hearts the English Luther Bible.

The three giants of Enthusiasm - McCain, Otten, and WELS - promote three different translations of the Bible.

England thanked Tyndale for his solo translation of the Scriptures, by burning him to death.


All Lutherans (the ELCA branch too) once used the King James Version, which has this interesting history:

1. Luther and his associates translated the Bible into German from the original languages.
   
2. Tyndale translated the Bible into English, from the original languages, working directly with Luther and his associates. Tyndale was burned at the stake for his trouble.
   
3. Following Queen Elizabeth's enlightened reign, King James I authorized a single translation of the Bible in English, appointing a group of scholars. This version was meant to be read aloud in church, so precision and clarity of language were important.
   
4. The King James Version was issued in 1611, four centuries ago, and it turned out to be a slightly revised version of the Tyndale. One man could have been an ancestor of Paul Kelm. Scholars are divided.
   
5. The 1611 KJV was revised slightly, for spelling and punctuation. “It is true that there were revisions. The first was in 1629 by Samuel Ward and John Bois, who had worked on the original translation. The second was in 1638 by the Cambridge University Press. The third was in 1762 by Dr. Thomas Paris of Trinity College, Cambridge. The fourth was in 1769 by Dr. Benjamin Blayney. The changes, though, were of a very minor nature. They were largely a correction of printing errors, an updating of italics, spelling, and punctuation, and modernizing of some obsolete words. The changes also involved the addition of a large number of new marginal notes and cross-references. How different, then, is the King James Bible today than the one in 1611? The following authoritative answer is by Dr. Donald Waite of Bible for Today ministry. It is authoritative because he took the time to examine this challenge first hand by diligently and laboriously comparing every word of the 1611 KJV with a standard KJV in publication today. Following is his testimony:...” (David Cloud, “Was the 1611 King James Bible Different Than Those We Have Today?”)
   
6. Although there were various English translation attempts over the years, such as the Goodspeed, no single translation really caught on. 
7. The watershed effort was the radical Left's National Council of Churches Revised Standard Version. All the mainline denominations--units of the NCC--worked to get this translation accepted, even though the propagandists removed the Virgin Birth from Isaiah 7:14.
8. After the RSV caught on, new fad translations began to appear several times a year: Cottonpatch, Jerusalem, Good News, Living Bible, and the AAT.
9. Just as liturgical worship began to be an exceptional experience, so also was the use of the KJV and the Concordia Triglotta. WELS praised and de-listed Gausewitz. Missouri kept its KJV catechism and buried justification by faith under froth and foam of UOJ.

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Paul T. McCain (Ptmccain) Member Username: Ptmccain Post Number: 138 Registered: 4-2009

Posted on Tuesday, July 12, 2011 - 5:15 pm:    And I noticed today that over on Ickyblog, the resident writer there was whining about behavior that is not "civil." I gave that one a big old LOL. I honestly think that man is oblivious to his behavior. Funny how he can dish it out, but he can not, absolutely can not, take it. Classic bully behavior. Again, as always, funny is not so tragic.

Tim Rake (Qaliph) Senior Member Username: Qaliph Post Number: 2300 Registered: 12-2004 Posted on Tuesday, July 12, 2011 - 6:09 pm:    Pope Paul, Try tending to your own pot's swarthy hue . . . The irony is now doubly so.

Jeske's In-House Band - Another Business Venture For Church and Change

Question from a WELS member:

"What do you think about WELS churches hosting CD releasing events (and, of course, charging admission)? Is there anything unscriptural about this practice?"

GJ - It is Scriptural. Jesus drove the money-changers from the Temple courtyard, made a whip of His belt, poured out the coins, and overturned tables. "You have turned the House of God into a den of thieves!"

KJV Matthew 21:13 And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.

People can serve in many ways, but Lutherans have always discouraged turning such service into money-making ventures. Thrivent paved the way, turning the worship bulletin into one more ad for a product. Maybe Koine should wear Thrivent shirts to thank the bosses in Appleton. The tentacles of Church and Change, where Jeske is the allegedly invisible boss, reach everywhere, into the LCMS as well.

Common Language, Common People, Extraordinary Message

Koiné's humble roots originate in the heartland of America, in a city known for its rich German history, its famous barley and hops, and many festivals - Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It's here that five unique artists, each with their own talents and abilities, came together in 2003 to put a new twist on traditional, Lutheran music. Staring at each other, blankly, with their instruments in one hand and their hymnals in the other, Koiné set about reinventing the way we listen to hymns.

To date, Koiné has toured across 32 states since its inception, producing 4 studio albums and a repertoire of over 200 hymns and liturgical pieces. They sell their CD’s all over the world in places as far Germany, Australia and Hong Kong. This year alone, Koiné will play around 200 events at churches, community festivals, grade schools, high schools, and colleges. This is a full-time ministry for the members of the group, and is supported almost entirely by the generosity of people who come to their events.

The group consists of: Brian Davison - singer, Tracy Fedke - singer, Seth Bauer - piano, Seth Kock - drums, Benj Lawrenz - guitar, and Matt Scott - Bass.

Koiné is a Greek word that means “common.” Koiné Greek was the language that the New Testament was originally written in. It was a common language for the common man - everyone could understand it. The members of Koiné are common people too. They play common instruments and common hymns that many know and enjoy. The only extraordinary thing about Koiné and what they do is the message that they proclaim through the music they play. The same message of the Bible - Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world.

July 21, 2011	Thursday, July 21, 2011 06:30pm 6:30 pm Tomah, WI - VBS Closing Worship @ St. Paul Lutheran
July 24, 2011	Sunday, July 24, 2011 09:00am 9:00 am Princeton, WI - Worship at Saint Johns Lutheran Church
July 31, 2011	Sunday, July 31, 2011 - Sunday, August 07, 2011 10:00am 10:00 am Kingston, WI - Outdoor Worship @ Zion Lutheran Church
August 07, 2011	Sunday, August 07, 2011 09:00am 9:00 am Ripon, WI - Outdoor Worship @ Mount Zion Lutheran
August 14, 2011	Sunday, August 14, 2011 10:30am 10:30 am Racine, WI - Worship @ New Hope Ev Lutheran Church
August 21, 2011	Sunday, August 21, 2011 10:00am 10:00 am Appleton, WI - Outdoor Worship @ St Peter Lutheran Church
August 27, 2011	Saturday, August 27, 2011 05:00pm 5:00 pm Mosinee, WI - Worship @ Immanuel Lutheran
August 30, 2011	Tuesday, August 30, 2011 11:00am 11:00 am Milwaukee, WI - Worship @ Wisconsin Lutheran College
September 11, 2011	Sunday, September 11, 2011 10:30am 10:30 am Racine, WI - Worship @ Epiphany Lutheran Church
September 18, 2011	Sunday, September 18, 2011 08:00am 8:00 am Juneau, WI - Worship @ St Johns Evangelical Lutheran Church Sunday, September 18, 2011 10:30am 10:30 am Juneau, WI - Worship @ St Johns Evangelical Lutheran Church
September 24, 2011	Saturday, September 24, 2011 Willoughby, OH - Worship @ King of Kings Lutheran Church
September 25, 2011	Sunday, September 25, 2011 Willoughby, OH - Worship @ King of Kings Lutheran Church
October 09, 2011	Sunday, October 09, 2011 08:00am 8:00 am Brillion, WI - Worship @ Trinity Lutheran Church Sunday, October 09, 2011 10:30am 10:30 am Brillion, WI - Worship @ Trinity Lutheran Church
October 23, 2011	Sunday, October 23, 2011 08:00am 8:00 am Des Moines, IA - Worship @ Lincoln Heights Lutheran Church Sunday, October 23, 2011 10:30am 10:30 am Des Moines, IA - Worship @ Lincoln Heights Lutheran Church
October 30, 2011	Sunday, October 30, 2011 08:00am 8:00 am Rochester, MN - Worship @ Resurrection Lutheran Sunday, October 30, 2011 08:00am TBD Rochester, MN - Special Area Wide Reformation Service @ Resurrection Lutheran Sunday, October 30, 2011 10:45am 10:45 am Rochester, MN - Worship @ Resurrection Lutheran
November 06, 2011	Sunday, November 06, 2011 08:00am 8:00 am Weyauwega, WI - Worship at St Peter Evangelical Lutheran Church Sunday, November 06, 2011 10:30am 10:30 am Weyauwega, WI - Worship at St Peter Evangelical Lutheran Church
November 13, 2011	Sunday, November 13, 2011 TBD Grafton, WI - Worship @ Our Savior Lutheran
November 20, 2011	Sunday, November 20, 2011 07:45am 7:45 am Columbus, WI - Worship @ Zion Ev Lutheran Church Sunday, November 20, 2011 10:00am 10:00 am Columbus, WI - Worship @ Zion Ev Lutheran Church
December 04, 2011	Sunday, December 04, 2011 09:00am 9:00 am Marshfield, WI - Worship @ Trinity Lutheran Church & School
May 20, 2012	Sunday, May 20, 2012 09:00am 9:00 am Mankato, MN - Outdoor Worship @ St Mark Evangel Lutheran Church
June 26, 2012	Tuesday, June 26, 2012 Pewaukee, WI - Worship at WELS National School Leadership Conference  "It's over, man!"

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rlschultz has left a new comment on your post "Jeske's In-House Band - Another Business Venture F...":

One of the many problems with generic Christianity in this country is the failure to draw boundaries around activities that are deemed to be churchy. Koine's performances during worship services is a good example of this. A Divine Service meant that at most times, the organ and other instruments were behind the worshipers. They were there, but not central to the Divine Service. The worshipers should see the altar and the cross. This is central to the message. Orchestra pits in the front and praise bands within view are a distraction.

Koine performed a benefit concert once for our son in an ALHS gymnasium. This is a more appropriate venue for them.

Why Does SP Harrison Kiss Up To Paul McCain, In Public, No Less?

Habemus papam! Habemus papam!

The LutherQuesies are enjoying another round about Ichabod. Pope Paul the Unlearned continues to ignore the boundaries of civil society. CPH, to everyone's surprise, backs him up.

My surprise is seeing SP Harrison virtually shining McCain's shoes on repeated Facebook posts. It is touching to see such devotion. It reminds me of J. Edgar Hoover's vacation snapshots with Clyde Tolson.

Plus SP Harrison photos of McCain visiting the Neville Chamberlain office at the Purple Palace, where he and Al Barry prepared Missouri for Jerry Kieschnick, women's ordination, and bankruptcy. "Oh the times we had," the photos seem to say. We snookered Otten and Bob Preus, while fooling their followers. Such fun!"

I expect periodic outbursts from McCain. He was never tempered by academic success or real parish work. The nuns at his Roman Catholic school probably abused him, or worse, flattered their token Lutheran.

Harrison's repeated identification with McCain puzzled me, until I realized - Paul must have delivered a lot of votes during the most political campaign in Missouri's very political history.

They were so obvious that I expected home visits from the highly paid Issues Etc staff, comp trips to St. Louis, and a lifetime subscription to the Arch books.

When the campaign was still on, and McCain still had posting rights on ALPB, someone asked him about Harrison. He made a remark about Harrison and the banjo. The remark sounded like a putdown, but I later realized it was a smokescreen. McCain was running another campaign for another LINO.

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bruce-church (http://bruce-church.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "Why Does SP Harrison Kiss Up To Paul McCain, In Pu...":

For those who missed it, make sure to see the cartoon: "Harrison's & McCain's Excellent Adventure". The title is a rip-off of "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" for sure:

Excellent Adventures
http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2011/07/excellent-adventures.html

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_%26_Ted's_Excellent_Adventure

Cardinal Sins:German Churches Open Files To Outside Investigators

Sex Abuse in the Catholic Church

Bishops Open Personnel Files to Investigators

dpa

Catholic bishops in Germany are currently conducting an investigation into sexual abuse in the church that is unprecedented in its scale in Europe.

The credibility of the Catholic Church in Germany has suffered enormously as a result of allegations of sexual abuse. Now the country's bishops have ordered investigations of an unprecedented scale in Europe. SPIEGEL has learned the church will provide external investigators with access to personnel files in all 27 dioceses. 

The Catholic Church in Germany is seeking to win back the public's trust with an investigation into sexual abuse by priests and people of the order that is unprecedented in Europe in terms of its scale. The bishops plan to provide staff at the Criminological Research Institute of Lower Saxony (KFN), an independent institute based in Hanover, with access to all personnel files for the past 10 years in all 27 of its dioceses in Germany. Nine of the 27 dioceses are providing access to personnel data going as far back as 1945.

The German Bishops' Conference, the governing body of the Catholic Church in Germany, voted unanimously in favor of the move on June 20. Under the supervision of a KFN team comprised of retired prosecutors and judges, church workers will sift through files in search of possible evidence of sexual abuse. In a second phase, the KFN team is then expected to assess the files in cases where there are suspicions.


They then plan to distribute a questionnaire to victims who can still be found in which they will be asked to provide more details about the incidents. In cases where there is interest, they would also like to conduct extensive interviews with both the victims and, if they are willing, the perpetrators. The Bishops' Conference is hoping to use the study to determine the circumstances that led to the crimes, how the church dealt with the allegations in the past and what lessons can be learned in order to prevent new cases of sexual abuse from happening.

In a further study, a group of psychiatrists associated with Norbert Leygraf, a prominent court expert in the city of Essen, will present their analysis of 50 cases in which priests or other church workers were tried on charges of sexual abuse and given psychiatric evaluations. The German bishops plan to present the findings of the three-year study this week and said they would not comment on the findings in advance.

The Error of Modern Missouri

The Error of Modern Missouri is available at this Dropbox link.

Stellhorn did not kidnap anyone in Europe or America, so we know he was a heretic.

The pseudo-Lutherans will start crying out because I linked the book, but do not worry - they never read it. And they never will.

If something is not from the Walther School of Cult Wizardry, it is suspect to them.

Please Download the Free PDF The Story of Jesus in Pictures, By Norma Boeckler, Our Resident Artist.Text by Ichabod

I have posted a rough draft of

The Story of Jesus in Pictures, 

which is a children's book, with art by Norma Boeckler. Norma did most of the work.

The cover is also my quick version, so I could get a couple of proofs done.

Two more illustrations are being done - the baptism and the resurrection of Jesus. I am thinking of a summary statement at the end.

 

This can be used in world missions as well as in families with young children.It could also be translated easily because there is very little text and very simple sentences.

You can download the PDF for free (now and forever).

http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fAcctID=989458

I am interested in your ideas and opinions.  

Church and Change is passionate about evangelism, or at least passionate in talking about evangelism. I am sure they will endorse this effort soon.

Brett Meyer Responds to Cone

Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Creating New Dogmas By Putting Words in God's Mout...":

Cone, I've published the following a few years ago and as Becker's essay on Justification is the norm of UOJ doctrine for the (W)ELS it should fulfill your request. These quotes from Becker are very clear to his departure from Scripture and the Confessions. I've posted the Scripture passages that reject his false teaching concerning UOJ - the chief article of (W)ELS, LCMS, ELCA, CLC and the New Age religion. (Scripture is KJV)

Becker, "But universal and objective justification is one doctrine whose place in the victorious Christian life is clear. Wherever men teach that faith comes first as a condition that must be fulfilled or a work that must be done or even as a fact that must be recognized before forgiven(ess) is bestowed (Note here bestowed = imputed) Mark 2:5, "When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee." or becomes real, Mark 4:12, "That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them." men will be trained to look into their own hearts for assurance rather than to the words and promises of God. If my sins are forgiven only if I first have faith Acts 10:43, "To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins." then I have no solid foundation on which to rest my hope for eternal life Romans 8:24, "For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?" I must then know that I have faith before I can know that my sins are forgiven John 3:18, "He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." But there are times when a Christian does not know that he has faith Mark 16:16, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." Romans 10:9, "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." And many people who think they have faith do not have it, and many that think they are not believers are believing children of God Hebrews 11:6, "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." In regard to our own faith we may be in error or filled with doubt Romans 14:23, "And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin."

But there is nothing uncertain in the truth that is proclaimed in the Gospel. Your sin is taken away, wiped out, forgiven, cancelled, swallowed up in the empty grave in Joseph’s garden. To that we must cling. To that we can cling. On that we can build a solid hope that will not make us ashamed. In times of temptation when I am no longer aware of my faith, when my heart tells me that I am an unbeliever, I have no place to turn for assurance if faith must come before forgiveness Romans 4:16, "Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all" But if forgiveness comes first, if it is always there, if it is true whether I believe it or not, I do not need to know whether I have faith or not before I can cling to God’s promise Romans 11:20, "Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith.") (2 Cor. 13:5, "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? I know that my sins are forgiven whether I feel forgiven or unforgiven. I know that my iniquity is pardoned whether I believe it or not Romans 9:31-32, "But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith" And when I know that, then I know also that I am a believer James 2:19, "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble." Knowledge without faith does not make someone a believer - the devils know Christ paid for the worlds sin but are not believers). John teaches us that when he writes, “Brethren, if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart and knows all things.” Take away objective and universal justification and you have gone a long way toward cutting the heart out of the Gospel message.

The United Church of Christ Reveals the End-Game For the for NIV Feminazi Translation:The Sausage Factory Loves It

United Church of Christ

The Book of Worship of the United Church of Christ provides an Order for Baptism and orders for Affirmation of Baptism. The recognition of our baptism by the ecumenical church is important to us, and the Book of Worship encourages the use of language recognized in most Christian churches: "I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit." Feminine images for God may surround these words to enrich understandings and offer balance.

Thrivent's Commitment To Homosexual Activism:Addie Butler a Leader with LCNA (Started with ELCA Funds) Just Like the Changers with WELS Funds

Not without reason is Church and Change dominant in Thrivent's headquarter city - Appleton.


Jimmy James has left a new comment on your post "Mark and Avoid Jeske Sits on the Thrivent Board:"I...":

I see Mark is seated right next to the beloved Addie Butler. Yes, the same Addie Butler who started up the Delaware Chapter of 'Lutherans Concerned' and was also a VP in ELCA.

What is 'Lutherans Concerned' you ask? Well....it's a homosexual advocacy organization for homosexual 'Lutherans'.

Oh! Did I mention that Thrivent for Lutherans (aka: 'The Lutheran Knights of Columbus') is in a business relationship with the folks at LC? Here's a couple of links:

http://www.lcna.org/lcna/donations

http://www.lcna.org/images/stories/downloads/evergreen_giving_form.pdf

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Money makes the District Puppydogs especially affectionate toward false doctrine.



GJ - I predict the District Puppydogs will be wagging their tails and dry-humping Jeske's leg at the WELS convention.

I do not have exact figures, but here are some estimates about Thrivent's ownership of the Big Four Synods - ELCA, LCMS, WELS, ELS. The rest are a fraction of 1%.

LCMS - a known figure - Harrison says Missouri gets $50 to 60 million a year from Thrivent.

WELS estimate - based on membership alone, I estimate about $6 million in grants.

ELCA estimate - They probably get at least $100 million, but perhaps more because they are more affluent per member than the other groups. They are also more educated as a group, so that is a good group to insure.

The Little Sect on the Prairie - They might get $500,000 and a carton of Thrivent napkins.

"Confessional" WELS leaders lack credibility, especially when they promote synod infallibility.