Joe Krohn Asks the Intrepids To Be...Intrepid

Luther Rocks

Standing on the Word of God in Worship and Practice

Friday, July 22, 2011

A Little Less Talk and a Little More Action

Revelation 3:15-17 (NIV '84)
"¹⁵ I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! ¹⁶ So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. ¹⁷ You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked."

Intrepid Lutherans are patting themselves on the back today for 'rocking SS Good Ship WELS '.  The vessel may have done a bit of a tippy tippy, but that is only because a few folks may have changed positions aboard deck; albeit becoming visible; hardly 'rockaboatus'.

I do applaud their efforts, but at the same time take issue regarding the bullet point of  "our central teaching, "Justification by Faith Alone"." and the sloppy teachings that emanate from a sloppy confession.  Hardly.  Take a look in the WELS essay files.  So many writings back up "This We Believe"; WELS statement of faith.  Many of the listed bullet points would go away if WELS truly confessed Justification by Faith Alone; a true rendering of the Gospel.  And as far as the Intrepids go, they are enablers.  Whenever the discussion got too intense and a 'get off the fence' moment was presented with scriptural backing, the situation was diffused.  Pity.

Here is just one example of muddying the waters just enough so no one gets in trouble; Pastor Spencer's Easter 2011 sermon (an excerpt):

"Christ is the savior of the world, that is, He has covered the sins of all people of all time, yes, even those who reject Him. No one goes to hell because of their sins. Those that go to hell do so because of their unbelief. This is why He commanded that His Gospel be preached to everyone everywhere until the end of time. There is no reason for anyone to be damned. All sins have been paid for. All can be saved."

Although Pastor Spencer rallied quite nicely in the above quote, his middle statement that 'no one goes to hell because of their sins, but because of their unbelief' is a logical fallacy and opens the door for sloppy Justification teachings.  Actually they do go to hell because of their sins and the greatest of these is the unforgivable sin; the rejection of the Holy Ghost.  (See Mark 3:28-30; Matt. 12: 30-32; Luke 12:8-10; Heb. 6:4-8; Heb. 10:26-29)

These sloppy teachings manifest themselves at Holy Word Austin with Pastor Patterson teaching that all sins were forgiven before the Holy Ghost ever enacted faith.  We took issue with this and were summarily excommunicated...for the same confession they are stating in their bullet point and which Pastor Rydecki opined here.

One of their own does not confess the official WELS confession that all are justified, righteous and forgiven regardless of faith and I have his email saying so.  Here are a couple excerpts:

"So to say that God justifies the ungodly does not mean that he has justified all people.  The tense of the very (sic - verb) also speaks to that.  Those who teach the extreme of UOJ want to say that God already justified all people.  Past tense.  This is a misunderstanding.  Christ already died for all people.  Christ already redeemed all people. Yes, true.  Christ has offered a pure offering to the Father that has satisfied his wrath against sin.  Yes, also that.  Forgiveness has already been acquired by Christ for the world.  Yes, but that forgiveness is in Christ and should not be spoken of with respect to those who are not in Christ.  Christ is the Savior of the world in the same way that the bronze serpent was the Savior of the whole Israelites community.  All who looked up at it were saved from the snake bites.  All who look to Christ in faith are saved (forgiven, justified, etc.)."

And:

"The Ohio Synod viewed faith as man's part in the equation.  God has met us halfway in Christ.  Now man's part is to believe it, and in order for man to do that, the Holy Spirit helps him a lot through the Means of Grace, but still, man must act on those Spirit-given powers in order to believe.  That's wrong.  Our faith is 100% the work of God in man, not man's work at all.  As Luther said in Bondage of the Will, "No one can possibly believe this.  But the elect do."  This is all God's work.

We ought not speak of people as being already justified before they are born.  The Confessions equate Justification with Regeneration.  Period.  And the Scriptures do the same.  Justification/The forgiveness of sins are Third Article doctrines, not Second Article doctrines.  The confusion is this, that when some people say "God has justified the world," they mean, "Christ died for the sins of the world."  But our sloppy use of the word "justify" has caused all sorts of problems.  The latter is "redemption," not "justification."  Some go so far as to say that God imputes the righteousness of Christ to all people.  This directly contradicts the passage you quoted above that says that "to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited (imputed) as righteousness.""

I also understand from a WELS layperson that one of theirs also has the ear of the Synod President.  All the more for a call to action.

May the Lord's will be done always and at the upcoming convention.

Kyrie Eleison!
***

GJ - I am trying to understand the WELS Intrepid love affair with the late Walter Martin. I have watched Martin on TV, and he is good at hunting cows with a bazooka. Given the apostasy in all Evangelical groups, even by their own standards, his work did not meet with much success.

The best conservative Baptist apologist is not even close to the truths of the Bible, especially about faith itself.

A Baptist denies that a baby can have faith, that baptism is efficacious through the Word. In fact, all Baptists denounce infant baptism as Roman Catholic heresy. Similar objections are raised about Holy Communion.


So Walter Martin is a good Baptist while Ed Stetzer is a bad Baptist. If that is a confessional Lutheran stance, I fail to see the discernment.

I believe WELS pastors are attracted to the Baptists, like lint to Velcro, because UOJ has no Gospel in it.

Can any reader imagine the Intrepids quoting one of 6,000+ posts on this blog? Or linking it?

But the Intrepids get sensitive about Mark and Avoid Jeske having two synods, even while simultaneously linking all kinds of LCMS sources, including Matt Harrison's PR team on Issues Etc.

New Design To Replace Melted Gateway Arch

McDonald's has offered this alternative to the Gateway Arch. They will take down the melted arch, and double the new version. The only difference is the color, which will be a sunny yellow.

St. Louis Arch Melting in Torrid Heat-Wave

Officials tried taking loads of dry ice up in the passenger elevator, to cool their famous landmark.

Attention has shifted to re-naming the Gateway Arch.

The pretzel industry, long dormant in this Germanic city, may rebound with a symbol of their product etching the skyline.

Luther - On Faith

Luther Quotations on Faith

April 14, 2011 by Rick

The following are five quotations from Martin Luther on the subject of faith.  They are taken from What Luther Says, compiled by Ewald M. Plass, Volume I, pages 477-479, paragraphs 1412-1415, and 1420.
Luther contended that salvation is the free gift of God, and therefore could be received only though faith, and that faith itself is a gift of God.  Says Plass regarding paragraph 1412: Faith is “a work performed in us rather than by us.”  Faith is a divine work that produces all the other works below it.
Paragraph 1412:

Faith is full of life and power.  It is not an idle thought.  It does not float on the surface of the heart, as a goose does on water; but it is as water that has been warmed by fire.  Although such water remains water, it is no longer cold but warm and, therefore, an entirely different sort of water.  So faith, which is the work of the Holy Spirit, makes the mind and the thinking of a person different and thereby makes an entirely new man of him.  Faith, then, is an active, independent (difficilis), and powerful thing; and if we want truly to evaluate it, we should call it an influence (passio) on us rather than an act (actio) performed by us.  For it changes our souls and our views.

Paragraph 1413:

Do not think lightly of faith.  It is a work that is of all works the most excellent and the most difficult.  Through it alone you will be saved, even though you were obliged to do without all other works.  For it is the work of God, not of man, as Paul teaches (Ephesians 1:19).  The other works He performs with our co-operation and through us; this alone He works within us and without our co-operation (sine nobis).

Paragraph 1414:

Faith is a divine work which God requires of us; but He Himself must give us the strength to do it.

Paragraph 1415:

It is a mistake to place faith and its work alongside other virtues and works.  Faith should be elevated above all and regarded, as it were, as a sort of constant and general influence above all works, through the movement and activity of which everything that is in man is sent into motion, works, is vigorous and pleasing.

Paragraph 1420:

A Christian modestly says to God: Dear Lord, although I am sure of my position, I am unable to sustain it without Thee.  Help Thou me, or I am lost. — He is indeed certain of his position, as Peter was on the water (Matthew 14:29).  Peter could not be more certain than he was.  The water was supporting him.  He saw no obstacle in his way.  But when the wind came rushing on, he saw what was lacking in him.  This must be taken well to heart.  For although we are sure of our position, have Scripture, and are covered and armed with clear passages in the very best way, yet our security depends on the power, the will, and the might of God, who protects us and defends us against the devil, our adversary and greatest enemy.

But this happens that God may make us determined and yet keep us fearful, so that we are always filled with concern and cry to Him: O Lord, help us, and increase our faith (Luke 17:5); for without Thee we are undone.  At heart we should always feel as if we were just beginning to believe today, and every day we should feel as if we had never heard the Gospel before.  We must believe anew every day.

The St. John Lutheran Church Pipe Organ Recital: This Sunday at 3 PM

rlschultz has left a new comment on your post "Tudored by History: We Need To Know Our Past. WELS...":

Several years after the WELS kicked out St. John, I was talking with my former pastor about this beautiful church. He made the comment, "well, it is just too bad that St. John's cannot get back into the synod". As Rod Serling would say - "submitted for your consideration". In my opinion, what happened to St. John's is symbolic, if not a microcosm of the direction that the dying WELS is taken. The WELS leadership could care less about Bading and Brenner now that they have Fuller to look up to. I am bringing along a friend of mine, who is blind, to the organ recital. Although he is a jaded ex-Roman Catholic, he appreciates good music, good acoustics, grand church architecture, and has a collection of organ recitals that were recorded live at different churches. Through the conversations that I have had with him, he knows more about the Lutheran Church than most WELS laity. I am looking forward to this Sunday.

For Those Whose Mothers Died Young

Nancy Hanks

If Nancy Hanks
Came back as a ghost,
Seeking news
Of what she loved most,
She'd ask first
"Where's my son?
What's happened to Abe?
What's he done?"

"Poor little Abe,
Left all alone.
Except for Tom,
Who's a rolling stone;
He was only nine,
The year I died.
I remember still
How hard he cried."

"Scraping along
In a little shack,
With hardly a shirt
To cover his back,
And a prairie wind
To blow him down,
Or pinching times
If he went to town."

"You wouldn't know
About my son?
Did he grow tall?
Did he have fun?
Did he learn to read?
Did he get to town?
Do you know his name?
Did he get on?"

- Rosemary and Stephen Vincent Benet

***

GJ - I do not mean to provoke anti-Lincoln comments. I grew up in Illinois, where Lincoln is on the license plates, in an area where Lincoln served briefly in the Blackhawk War. Our college library had a collection of Lincoln materials. He was a saint, in other words.

Someone posted on Facebook about a mother who died relatively young. I know several people who had that experience, probably the most dominating event in their lives.

The poem is quite touching, a good reminder to consider mothers while they are still alive. Mine lived to be 90 plus, active until the end, still composing poems on the fly as we wheeled her around the nursing home. She even led the nursing staff in a rousing singing of "God Bless America." When we did not sing loud enough, she made us start again. I think she was remembering her teaching days in WWII.

We sang "Don't Fence Me In" with the rest of the nursing home. I thought nothing of the song. When it was finished, she said, "That's me."

I thought, "I got this from both sides of the family."

Some have absent or disappearing dads, and some fathers die young. I remember my neighborhood friend losing his dad while we were in high school. It was a sudden heart attack while painting in a closed garage. My friend became a cardiologist.

Runaway fathers make their sons very insecure and perhaps far too attached to Holy Mother Synod. I imagine they also have great ambivalence about their mothers. Was it her fault? His fault? Both?

I worked at my father's shop, from age 8. The early years meant a few hours on Saturday. Later I worked full-time during the summers. That gave me an introduction to quality ingredients, perfectionism, and working long hours.

WELS Convention Agenda, My Version

New capital funds appeal - "Bet you can't hit me with a quarter."
B. A. Bumb, Executive Director

Opening service - a sober James P. Tiefel will pick up a New NIV, open it carefully, and throw it against the nearest wall.

The convention will only sing Lutheran hymns from The Lutheran Hymnal.

Leaders and members of Church and Change will be judged to have excommunicated themselves through their obstinate opposition to Lutheran doctrine and practice.

Paul Calvin Kelm will throw the rock band instruments off the stage, screaming, "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations." Even then, he will not be allowed back into the synod.

The faculties of The Sausage Factory, Mary Lou College, and Willowcreek's Liberal College will join hands, weeping, asking for instruction in Lutheran doctrine. People will look around the hall awkwardly, wondering who is left to teach them.

Due to demand, the Gausewitz catechism will cost $50 each on the secondary market.

The Little Sect on the Prairie will break fellowship with WELS, saying to the public media, "We have always been loosey-goosey, but those Wisconsin Synod people are way over the line."

The delegates will debate whether to use the King James Version, KJV 21, or another KJV.

Not invited to sing.

Love Shack employees will come to the microphone and say, "We have pledged to stop leaking news and spiking news through Herman Otten. It's just dishonest."

SP Schroeder will ditch Thrivent in favor of a new way to make money on the side.The name may suppress sales.Maybe they need a motto in better taste.

No Gospel, No Faith, No Love, Mercy, or Forgiveness

Greed, gluttony, lust for power.

Many people are shocked by the thuggish nature of WELS clergy, who glory in their behavior and brag about how rotten they are.

No Gospel
But they are not alone. What do Glende, Jenswold, and McCain have in common? They are ardent promoters of Universal Objective Justification. McCain probably celebrates the Assumption of Mary, while Glende honors the infallibility of Groeschel - those are simply two flavors of the same Enthusiasm.

All three clergy are incredibly nasty, nasty in their published or broadcast communications, nasty in their general behavior, nasty enough for public rebukes from many sources.

UOJ is not the Gospel - it supplants the Gospel in the name of the Gospel. All the UOJ advocates back away from UOJ when people take a look at what they are saying. They retreat to justification by faith, but their redoubt (great pun, no?) is a fraudulent appendage to their one and only dogma - everyone is forgiven.

Like ELCA, they mean universal absolution when they say Gospel!. Like ELCA, they mean every single cannibal and polytheist and Mormon is forgiven of all sin--before birth--when they say grace!.

I have provided abundant proof, with the help of friends and the late Robert Preus, that the orthodox Lutherans never taught UOJ, that the Book of Concord does not have a speck of it.

More importantly, for those who worship the Olde Synodical Conference, my researches have shown that justification was the ONLY justification taught in many publications--Missouri and WELS--for many decades.

The documentary evidence--from Luther, Calov, Gerhard, Melanchthon, Chemnitz, Andreae, Chytraeus, Gausewitz, the LCMS German catechism, the LCMS KJV catechism, and Robert Preus--shows that justification by faith alone is the Biblical, Lutheran doctrine.

No Faith
The natural result of teaching against faith in the Word is to destroy that trust. If someone could audit the leadership of WELS, Missouri, and the Little Sect on the Prairie, he would find that many leaders have no faith in God. They are simply marking time, waiting for their pensions to kick in, and hoping for a smooth exit.

How else can anyone explain their ease of fellowship and close working relationship with ELCA? Only shameless apostates would remain in the same room with ELCA leaders, who pay murdering the unborn with their lavish health plan for clergy.

Only atheists who hated the Scriptures would promote the New NIV. Murdoch's New Age Bible is so bad that the Baptists do not even want it sold in their denominational stores, let alone adopted for all their religious publications. WELS is hotter than Georgia asphalt for the New NIV, especially among their dunderhead UOJ faculty.

No Love
The Olde Synodical Conference likes to hold itself superior to ELCA, but many have fled the lovelessness of the Walther cults for the generic niceness of ELCA.

The Syn Conference leaders would like to pretend that the backsliders leave. No, people flee because of emotional, sexual, and physical abuse. They are nauseated by leaders who back up murdering church workers and cover up for sexual abuse of women and minors. ELCA (venereal warts and all) reported clergy in trouble for their abuse in The Lutheran magazine, but WELS will not admit to its own District President going to state prison, its vicar in state prison, its youth leader arrested for playing with boys, its adulterous Shrinker expert promoted back into the parish (!), and its straying parish pastor promoted to mission consultant. And the list seems endless.

God will judge. God has judged and the members are fleeing, because they do not hear the comfort of the Gospel and see only the results of lawlessness. They could enjoy the same perversions in the Roman Catholic Church with better brands of incense and fancier robes.

No Mercy
The Syn Conference pastors think they have a right, an obligation, to beat down the members. They have a nice racket going. First they demand royal treatment if anyone dares to disagree with their fanatical heresies or unethical behavior. If someone tries to follow every commandment in their Talmud, that person is condemned for doing the very thing demanded in the first place. "How dare you tell me I could be wrong? How dare you tell me to my face? How dare you quote the Scripture and Confessions? I will talk; you will listen."

Coming to the pastor is converted into the Greatest Sin of All Time, which May Destroy Our Beloved Parish and Holy Mother Synod. (Pause to sigh, "Tragic, tragic.") Now the question is whether individual is guilty of 15 or 50 felonies. Forget the false doctrine, which pales in comparison. Forget the molested teen or embezzled money. What about the 8th Commandment?

Clergy born free of sin cannot possibly be wrong, because they are free of sin. No one has explained how that does NOT apply to anyone else. That is not something to think too long and hard about. Better not to think at all.
Pray. Pay. Obey -
the Roman Catholic way.

I know of one UOJ parish where the layman apologized on the spot for the smallest slip of a tongue, a statement that happened to be true. The clergy went after him for weeks, with statement after statement about how he was a miserable sinner who had to repent. He sent me the stack of documents to show the relentless pursuit of a contrite man. And this Gospel-soaked UOJ parish shut down faster than beauty salon in a hippy commune.

No Forgiveness
If someone wants to see a lack of forgiveness, just get to know one UOJ Enthusiast. I posted something unrelated to justification on another blog. Immediately, someone posted anonymously - "Aren't you the fanatic who follows Larry Darby?"

A Collection o of Comments

AC V has left a new comment on your post "Wisconsin Sect Dirty Tricks":

"Easter celebrates the greatest treasure the world ever has received. If in this world a person has received nothing other than this treasure, he or she will have lived a rich life.

What is this treasure? It is the forgiveness of our sins. Psalm 32, verse 2 reminds us, 'Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not count against him…' Jesus’ physical resurrection on Easter declares the world 'not guilty' of sin."

http://www.bethlehem-luth.org/newsletter.htm

- Rev. George Ferch, Michigan Lutheran Seminary Governing Board Chairman

---

AC V has left a new comment on your post "Wisconsin Sect Dirty Tricks":

Inquiring minds want to know. If Tiefel is positing the WELS worship conference as the gold standard for worship, then why as Dean of the Sausage Factor Chapel (i.e. the guy in charge of worship) is he turning out CORE clones?

Coming soon to a parish (sorry, "congregation." "Parish" is too Catholic) near you: Gown-less, chancel-wandering, Bible-thumping motivational speakers.

---

AC V has left a new comment on your post "Additional Attempts To Rescue Crypto-Universalism,...":

"This is what has been taught for generations in conservative Lutheranism."

True, if you mean for the past 100 years or so. False, if you mean since the Book of Concord. Compare and contrast:

"The katallassein of Rom 5:10 and 2 Cor 5:19 does not refer…to any change that occurs in men, but describes an occurrence in the heart of God." - Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, II, 348, circa 1917–1924.

"Although Christ has acquired for us the remission of sins, justification, and sonship, God just the same does not justify us prior to our faith. Nor do we become God's children in Christ in such a way that justification in the mind of God takes place before we believe." - Abraham Calov, Apodixis Articulorum Fidei, Lueneburg, 1684.

[GJ - J. S. Bach, thoroughly orthodox, owned the Calov Bible commentary]

---

bruce-church (http://bruce-church.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "Oh! Oh! I Just Discovered a UOJ Principle: Barth's...":

Lutherans bringing Hmong over to Minneapolis area makes Clint Eastwood movie:

http://pastelder.blogspot.com/2009/01/everybody-blames-lutherans_11.html

12 January 2009
"Everybody blames the Lutherans."

A great line from the latest canonical work of the greatest theologian of our time, Clint Eastwood's "Gran Torino".

Video clip--see last few seconds:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XydN7j83m54&feature=related

Tudored by History: We Need To Know Our Past. WELS Deliberate Amnesia

Mrs. Ichabod and I have been watching historical movies, such as Mary Queen of Scots, Elizabeth R, and Mrs. Brown. The last one describes the unusual relationship between Queen Victoria and her devoted servant, possibly her husband (morganatic marriage).

I am devoted to English history and literature, especially because it is my history on the Parker side. I explained the details as we went through the series, since I have read the Weir set on the Tudors twice. I have read every book I can about Queen Victoria, including one emphasizing the Brown years. Queen Elizabeth is the central figure in literature, with her patronage of Oxford (aka Shakespeare), in religion, and in politics. Her wise rule, followed by the foolish Stuarts (King James, William I, Willam II) gave us a Protestant America free of a religious requirement for federal office.

Lutheran history should be just as important, especially to those who are most closely identified with it. In America, each ethnic Lutheran group has a separate, fascinating history that overlaps other groups in certain ways. In my hometown, First Lutheran was the mother church for the Swedish Augustana Synod.

In Milwaukee, Historic St. John Lutheran Church, on Vliet Street, is one of the most important for the Wisconsin Synod, but leaders kicked the congregation out, simply to be vindictive and petty. They have also forgotten their history, so clearly enmeshed in this congregation.

Bading and Brenner were pastors at St. John. Bading was central in turning the new synod into a Lutheran group. Brenner was the synod president during the years of the Great Depression.

These photos of St. John Lutheran Church only give a glimpse of the building as a halleluiah in brick and stone, with glorious stained glass windows and a powerful pipe organ of 39 ranks.

The exterior of St. John remains a dominant silhouette on the Milwaukee skyline. The bell tower is 141 feet tall and holds three tons in bells. I have been in multi-million dollar church buildings - vanilla yogurt, easily forgotten

I try to imagine how much it would take to reproduce St. John in every detail.

The interior of St. John represents the Means of Grace for those who worship. The altar, pulpit, and font were built for the visible Word of the Sacraments and the invisible Word of preaching.

The pipe organ is ideal for supporting the singing of Lutheran hymns. The Lutheran Hymnal on the organ is considered one of the best by musical experts. The 39 ranks are an orchestra and chorus on its own. A pipe organ has the power to move the entire building with its sound, not to annoy with the crashing and screaming of a rock group. Luther's hymn comes to mind:

"Isaiah, Mighty Seer, in Days of Old"
by Martin Luther, 1483-1546

1. Isaiah, mighty seer, in days of old
The Lord of all in Spirit did behold
High on a lofty throne, in splendor bright,
With flowing train that filled the Temple quite.
Above the throne were stately seraphim,
Six wings had they, these messengers of Him.
With twain they veiled their faces, as was meet,
With twain in reverent awe they hid their feet,
And with the other twain aloft they soared,
One to the other called and praised the Lord:
"Holy is God, the Lord of Sabaoth!
Holy is God, the Lord of Sabaoth!
Holy is God, the Lord of Sabaoth!
Behold, His glory filleth all the earth!"

The beams and lintels trembled at the cry,

And clouds of smoke enwrapped the throne on high.

Hymn 249
The Lutheran Hymnal
Text: Is. 6: 1-4
Author: Martin Luther, 1526
Composer: Martin Luther, 1526

The first time I heard a truly great pipe organ, the pews vibrated and I felt the rumbling of big pipes in my chest.

If I were near to Milwaukee area and belonged to the Wisconsin Synod or the Missouri Synod, I would study that building and the careers of the preachers there. Bading and Brenner were not just parish pastors. Their influence spread across the United States and the world, because they trusted in the Word and broadcast its message.

There were giants on the earth in those days.

Holy Word in Austin (WELS) Is Facebook Friends With Tim Glende. Both Excommunicate Members for Asking Questions.An Abusive Sect Is Silent

"In Christian love, we wish to communicate that you are going to Hell, which is full of guilt-free saints."

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Summer of Love - Another Open Letter to Holy Word Austin

On Sunday May 29th, 2011, we were compelled to write to our brothers and sisters at Holy Word, Austin, Texas in regards to our expedient excommunication via the Yahoo List Mail-serve:

"Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Some of you may know me and others not.  For those who don't, I played the trumpet at Holy Word for the past two years and occasionally before that.

Sadly, we will not be attending any longer since the leadership of your church body has broken fellowship with our family.  Many times these things happen behind the scenes and many are left with `I wonder whatever happened to so and so?' 

We feel very strongly about the issues we brought up to the leadership and we were unequivocally denied on all points.  We feel that the direction of Holy Word is drifting far from its Lutheran roots.  When the Confession is eliminated as it was during a service in March; when there is more and more music that is used that is not appropriate lyrically for worship; when it was voted to drop the name `Lutheran' from the school name; when the Pastor leaves the duties of teaching the Word to layman while teaching a false view of forgiveness, we feel compelled and obligated to bring these to your attention.

Since your leaders are acting in your stead by applying the Ministry of the Keys, it is fitting and proper that you hear us and not only what your leaders tell you so that you can determine an informed opinion.  The people who continue to be members at Holy Word share the responsibility of excommunicating a Christian--and as far as I understand it, improperly applying The Office of the Keys is a very serious sin.

I have been chronicling our experiences here:

http://hereistand2011.blogspot.com/

If the hyperlink does not work, please copy and paste the url into your browser window.

We will miss you all.

In His Grace,
The Krohns"

It was followed later in the day by this:

"Dear Saints,

God loves Joe and Lisa and so so (sic) we.  If you have any questions about this recent email please talk to me off line.  Cyberspace is not the place to air such difficult matters. 
 
We will continue to serve Christ and each other in his love as we seek to find a resolution to those things that divide us.
 
Jesus teaches us, "They will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another."  John 13:35.

If you were in worship today you know how the word of God we heard applies to this present situation. If you happened to miss it, that is okay.  It will be up
on our website soon, - www.holyword.net  Click on sermons audio.

Giving a reason for our hope,

Pastor Don Patterson"

Today marks the two month anniversary of our excommunication by the leadership of Holy Word.  We have been honest and acted in good faith regarding our confession; our willingness to discuss it with the laity of Holy Word while you refuse to do so; and an exhortation to bring this issue to an expedient end.

July marks the end of the second quarter and there has been no communication regarding the status of our membership.  The WELS Constitution states that the voting assembly has the final say on these matters and Holy Word is LONG overdue on their final public vote of disposition.  In the interim and as Confessional Lutherans, we have searched out a congregation that preaches and teaches in truth and purity and who does not pretend to have a 'quia' subscription to the Lutheran Confessions; a congregation who offers us the Means of Grace in Word and Sacrament.  It is not meet, right and salutary for you, Holy Word to continue in this behavior of delaying the matter any longer.

In His Grace,
Joe and Lisa Krohn

Joe Krohn

Not That Complicated for Congregations Leaving ELCA, Just for Red-Faced LCMS/WELS Executives Staying with ELCA

"Which necktie should I wear to the reception afterwards? Here are some samples."

Lutheran split shakes up social service network

By RACHEL ZOLL, AP Religion Writer

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

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(07-20) 16:59 PDT New York (AP) --

One of the largest social service networks in the United States, working in areas ranging from adoption to disaster relief, faces a shakeup because of Lutheran divisions over the Bible and homosexuality.
The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, a theologically conservative denomination, said Wednesday that direct work with its larger and more liberal counterpart, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, has become "difficult if not impossible," because of doctrinal conflicts, including the 2009 decision by liberal Lutherans to lift barriers for ordaining gays and lesbians.

Neither denomination would discuss the potential financial impact Wednesday. Many Lutheran-affiliated agencies receive substantial state and federal grants that would not be directly affected by any split. However, similar to Catholic Charities, Lutheran agencies are some of the biggest service providers in their communities.

Just one of the joint Lutheran agencies, Lutheran Services in America, said on its website that it encompasses more than 300 health and human services organizations with a combined annual budget of more than $16 billion.

"We recognize that this is a difficult issue. It's complicated," said the Rev. Herb Mueller, first vice president of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, based in St. Louis. "We're trying to take a nuanced and caring approach to all of these situations that's also faithful to what the Bible teaches on these issues."

The Rev. Donald McCoid, an ecumenical officer for the Chicago-based Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, said, "we are deeply concerned about the ministries of care that may be challenged by the recent action of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod."

The 2.3 million-member Missouri Synod has been studying the issue for more than a year through its Committee on Theology and Church Relations. This week, the panel issued a 15-page document of guidelines for churches, congregants and ministries deciding whether they should cut off any direct joint work with the Chicago-based Lutherans.

The only immediate announced break was for the Missouri Synod to stop its decades-old practice of training military chaplains with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The president of the Missouri Synod, the Rev. Matthew Harrison, said in a statement that the decision, effective next year, was based on the ELCA decision on gay ordination, and on the military's plan to repeal the "don't ask, don't tell," policy.

However, the guidelines for evaluating the joint relationships made it clear that cooperative work in many of the agencies is likely to end.

The Missouri-Synod theology committee said members of its denomination should examine whether joint cooperative agencies:

_ Adopt operational principles "alien or contrary" to Scripture.
_ Hire staff or a leader "whose lifestyle is scandalous or openly and unrepentantly sinful."
_ Have board members overseeing an agency who "become conflicted because of differing beliefs."
_ Have leaders or staff who advocate policies "contrary to the Christian faith."
The committee used its most direct language to discuss the future of its corps of chaplains who work outside of the military, in nursing homes and hospitals, and on college campuses, among other assignments.

"The ELCA's current theological course presents serious theological challenges to any continued cooperation in endorsement procedures," according to the Missouri-Synod report.
The tangle of Lutheran agencies is the mainly the result of decades of splits and mergers among Lutherans in the United States. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, with about 4.5 million members, was formed from a merger of four church bodies with Danish, Finnish, German and Swedish backgrounds. Mueller said in an interview that 81 of the 120 recognized service organizations of the Missouri-Synod cooperate in some way with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
Mueller said the agencies would be evaluated on a case-by-case basis in a process that could take months.
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Evangelical Lutheran Church in America: www.elca.org/
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod: www.lcms.org/

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/07/20/national/a135959D73.DTL#ixzz1SmpOL6Cp

Oh! Oh! I Just Discovered a UOJ Principle: Barth's The Gift Is a Demand

The story begins with Schleiermacher, the pivotal leader in modern theology. He was a doubter who went to Halle University and later taught there as well. He is a good representative of the transition from Biblical Pietism to Biblical Rationalism. He was a rationalist who used the Bible and made apostates feel good about calling themselves Christian.

Schleiermacher profoundly affected Karl Barth, even though Barth relied on his mistress to do his serious writing and research. Although this deeply offends the mediocre students of an unaccredited seminary, I have to admit taking classes with several Barth scholars. John Howard Yoder studied under Barth and Frank Fiorenza was president of the Barth Society. Yoder has passed away, and Fiorenza holds a chair in theology at Harvard University. My advisor loved Barth's theology, and Stan Hauerwas made fun of the Commie. In other words, I heard a lot from Barth in graduate school and read his works along with Calvin and Schleiermacher. Although I later thought it was a waste of time, now I draw on that knowledge to understand the mysteries of UOJ.

Schleiermacher is far more famous than Knapp for his UOJ. Both draw on Calvin's confusion about one universal act or one universal decree. As Dr. Lito Cruz has often stated, the UOJ of the Midwestern sects is drawn from Calvin's merger of atonement and justification.
Or, as Luther has written, any act of God apart from the Holy Spirit in the Word - is Enthusiasm.

Be patient. I am getting to my point. I have just saved you three years of doctoral seminars and required reading.

The Gift Is a Demand
Barth began his ethics section in his Dogmatics, II, 2 this way. "The gift is a demand."

That is my insight for the day. Let me explain. Barth's teaching is contrary to the Scriptures and Luther, because the Gospel bears the fruit of the Spirit. The gift of salvation is not a demand, but the beginning of the sanctified life, where the sinner--justified by faith--freely gives of himself in gratitude to God for the blessings of forgiveness, salvation, and eternal peace.

In Harmony with Calvin, Pietism, and Fuller
There is a WELS pastor who shuns me, even though he is known officially as a critic of Church Growth. He earned a precious DMin at Fuller Seminary, where he was supposed converted from pro-CG to anti-CG. I could say the same about Joel Gerlach, based upon Gerlach's protest to Otten. But silence is consent, and the poor quaking guy is silent.

This converted Enthusiast admitted, "Barth is indeed the official theologian of Fuller Seminary."

Additional research shows that Fuller Seminary changed from its original role when two men came back from studying under Barth and altered the mild inerrancy stance of the school. They could no longer, in good conscience, identify the Bible with the Word of God. No, it merely contained the Word of God. How convenient - for creative writing seminars.

The CORE and Other Perversions
Karl Barth was the typical Antinomian legalist. For him, no law existed. He lived with his mistress, Charlotte Kirschbaum, each summer, to work on his great theological research. Later, he moved Charlotte into his home, over the protests of his wife Nellie and the excruciating pain of his children.

The Barth children had two mommies.
Barth and Kirschbaum were dedicated Communists.



Barth was also a legalist. He told people they could not ask him a question unless they had read all of his (her) Dogmatics. He posed as a Christian theologian and fooled many conservative Protestants. As Robert Preus observed, reading Barth's introduction gives away the whole volume. The one I was quoting--II, 2--begins with a statement of Universalism in the introduction. Put the book down or kill a bug with it. Nothing else needs to be said. Thus Barth is exactly like Schleiermacher and all the UOJ clones. The "universal declaration" may be separated from Universalism by a fig-leaf, but the fig-leaf falls soon enough.

All the Shrinker congregations are extremely legalistic and Antinomian, whether they call themselves Lutheran or Evangelical Covenant or E. Free. The ministers demand membership in a cell group. The cell group controls the members. The cell group must study the bilge demanded by the minister.

Cell groups in a Lutheran congregation easily move into Pentecostalism, women usurping authority over men, women teaching men. Lutherans do not discuss the real issues with women in congregations, so they can debate voting and ordination - neither term is used by Paul, who faced the actual issues.

The Shrinkers have all kinds of demands for their poor, blind followers, but not one rule or law applies to them. They are far beyond the Ten Commandments. That is why so many Fuller disciples make a shipwreck of their faith with women - or men. One famous LMCS Shrinker was arrested in a roadside john.

When a layman told me Valleskey's chosen successor left the ministry over "depression," I asked, "What was her name?"

The layman said, "Who told you?"

Legalism and Antinomianism go well together, because both flourish in Enthusiasm.

The Olde Synodical Conference will not escape this blight, this soul-murdering cancer, until it repudiates and roots out Enthusiasm.

Additional Attempts To Rescue Crypto-Universalism, AKA Universal Objective Justification

Michael Thom has left a new comment on your post "New Hymn To Universalism:Conceived in the CLC (sic...":

I have not posted at this forum before, but since you have found fault with my hymn, I would like to make a few comments.

First, let me say that I believe that the sinner is justified before God by faith, and not by works of the law. Faith in Christ is the hand by which we sinners receive all of the gifts that God offers in and through our Savior. This is the individual, subjective appropriation of the work of Christ.

Having said that, I would also like to respond to what is implied in your use of red letters in my hymn.

In the first verse, you apparently saw something wrong with the words “and in Your heart of hearts, O Lord, You loved each one the same.” These words were intended to say the same thing as the Lord said in John 3:16, “God so loved the world…” I would hope that it is stating the obvious to say that “the world” is each and every soul. God loved each one. And His love for each one was a genuine, real, 100% love. He did not love some more than others. He wanted every one to be saved. He sent His Son for every sinner.

In the third verse you highlighted “that all the world might be released from sin and death and hell, And have instead His righteousness and in His presence dwell.” Again, I see nothing unscriptural in these words. The phrase is intended to be understood as conveying God’s purpose or intent. Why did God send forth His Son and lay on Him the sins of the world? It was God’s purpose or intent that the end result of His Son’s life and death would be that every sinner would be saved and enjoy eternal life with Him in heaven. This is what Scripture says (John 1:29; 1 Tim 2:4), and I believe this is easily understood in the words of this verse.

Verses four and five refer to God’s universal verdict of innocent in Christ. Jesus completely paid the penalty for every sinner’s guilt through His passive obedience. By His active obedience He satisfied every demand of God’s law. On the third day God the Father raised His Son to life, thereby declaring to all the world that He has accepted the life and death of Christ as full payment and as the required righteousness for every person in all of history. The resurrection of Jesus is God’s judicial declaration to each and every sinner: For Jesus’ sake I declare your punishment paid in full and My righteous requirements fully met.

That judicial declaration gives power to the Gospel invitation: “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.” Through faith in Jesus, the individual sinner appropriates for himself that universal verdict. It is in Christ, and only in Christ, that God declares this world of sinners forgiven and righteous. (The sinner who stands apart from Christ chooses to go it alone before God’s judgment throne and will get what his unrighteousness has earned.)

This is what has been taught for generations in conservative Lutheranism. In Francis Pieper’s comments on 2 Cor. 5:19, he says: “The katallassein of Rom 5:10 and 2 Cor 5:19 does not refer…to any change that occurs in men, but describes an occurrence in the heart of God. It was God who laid His anger by on account of the ransom brought by Christ. It was God who at that time already had in His heart forgiven the sins of the whole world, for the statement: ‘God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself’ means – and that is not our, but the Apostle’s own interpretation – that God did ‘not impute their trespasses unto them.’ And ‘not imputing trespasses’ is, according to Scripture (Rom 4:6-8) synonymous with ‘forgiving sins,’ ‘justifying’ the sinner. The resurrection of Christ is, as Holy Writ teaches, the actual absolution of the whole world of sinners. Rom 4:25: ‘Who was raised again for our justification.’ At that time we were objectively declared free from sin. (Christian Dogmatics, II, 348).

***

GJ - All the content comes from Calvinism via Pietism. Discerning readers will observe that the efficacy of the Word in the Means of Grace is never mentioned in these defenses of UOJ. Nor do we ever learn how the Holy Spirit only works through the Word and never apart from the Word. Both Biblical doctrines, which are foundational, never seem to come up when UOJ is being promoted. If the Means of Grace are mentioned, as Buchholz did, the topic is tacked on, duct tape on a bad do-it-yourself project.

The fragments of the Olde Synodical Conference are united on UOJ, even the micro-mini shards, and in perfect agreement with ELCA.

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Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Additional Attempts To Rescue Crypto-Universalism,...":

All of Michael's unscriptural defenses for the false gospel of UOJ have been discussed at length on Ichabod, Extra Nos, Bailing Water and elsewhere - even down to UOJ's withered hand of faith.

It's important to point out what his defense of UOJ really shows: that the whole world has received, in their unbelief, the adoption of sons. In order for God to declare the world righteous in Christ they have to be given the only righteousness available. That righteousness is Christ's, it is what an heir of Christ receives and having been given Christ's righteousness, UOJ teaches (contrary to Scripture and the Confessions), the whole world is forgiven of all sin, justified and declared righteous by God.

UOJ therefore teaches - having the righteousness of Christ imputed doesn't bring salvation. That forgiveness of all sins - a guiltless verdict - doesn't bring salvation. That being justified before God by Christ's righteousness doesn't save.

The heinous nature of the false gospel of UOJ is clearly shown when you look at what it teaches concerning Christ's righteousness and God's will. Christ's atonement becomes insufficient, inadequate.

UOJ also teaches that even having Christ's righteousness doesn't remove the sin of unbelief. His righteousness didn't cover that sin. UOJ teaches that's the only sin which men go to Hell for. How then does the sin of unbelief, which we were all born with, ever get paid? Why doesn't Christ's righteousness remove the guilt of that sin along with the others? If Christ's righteousness, imputed to the whole unbelieving world, didn't pay for the sin of unbelief - what does? Bueller...Bueller?

I'll tell you that whoever wields the power to remove the sin of unbelief is the real god in regards to the gospel of UOJ. What does UOJ say about this. UOJ teaches that when YOUR faith believes that God already imputed Christ's righteousness to you for the forgiveness of all your sins, even before you were born, the sin of unbelief is removed and you then, and only then, will be saved.

The god of UOJ is Y...O...U!

***

GJ - Or, "You owe Jay." I find it odd that Jay Webber and Paul McCain spend so much time on Jack Cascione's LutherQueasy, mainly because they worry so much about their facade image. LQ is the place for bottom-feeders and ankle-biters.

"My sect is imperfect? Come closer, foul demon from the underworld."

Mass Production at the WELS Worship Conference

2138 has left a new comment on your post "Wisconsin Sect Dirty Tricks":

In reference to the "observer":

Not a one of the Real/Relevant/Relational/Rock 'n' Roll/Changer is signed up for the conference, at least not the ones that are ballyhooed more than others. (Although an infamous name will show up at the final service on Friday...more at a later date...) So the conference is not so much for converting these guys back to "exciting correct and proper liturgical western rite worship" as it is for "preaching to the choir."

I myself enjoy the worship services, but know that with all the massive choirs and huge instrumental groups here, I will never be able to duplicate any of the musical experiences in my own humble congregation. But it's still nice to have some grand worship services every three years.

I agree that a conference such as this would probably not change any of the "leopards," even if they came. But I don't think you should fault a conference for not "fixing" the C&Cers, when they obviously aren't coming.

Just my two cents.

***

GJ - Lutherans have lost their nerve. Anything Goes is the motto for worship and doctrine, as long a no one rocks the rowboat. Every event like this is a smokescreen for the Shrinkers, and this one is hosted by one of the Church and Change leaders.

Pope Paul the Unlearned Publishes Some Great Posts

The Missouri Synod, like WELS and ELCA, peddles Thrivent Insurance to qualify for "grants," which are really kick-backs.
Does Paul McCain get a bonus for wearing the logo?

I love the recent posts from Pope Paul the Unlearned. They are bright and insightful, because they are copied from Ichabod.

Recently, he discovered the ELCiC (ELCA, eh?) proposal for homosexual ordination, something described in great detail many months ago. I hate to jump to conclusions, but has anyone looked at the photos of their female bishop?

Thanks to diligent research (from me), McCain has also found out that billionaire Rupert Murdoch is behind the NNIV. McCain is against the NIV business, a topic that I have covered over 20 times.

However, McCain does not deal with the King James Bible being directly connected to Luther's Bible.

Nor does he discuss the absence of his precious UOJ in the Book of Concord, a publication he claims to adore. He has many pretty editions, and some pretty old ones, but he must not like sound the horrible sound of a book being opened. C - r - a - c - k. Here is a hint - if the book is opened carefully and read often, that sound goes away.

Celebrate Luther's English Bible - The KJV - With Trashy Translations Like the NNIV

The Bible is not worth dying for today.
Watch the Wisconsin Sect vote to study the issue a little longer,
then approve the NNIV in 2013,
once this messy and unnecessary KJV 400th anniversary is over.


bruce-church (http://bruce-church.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "Wisconsin Sect Dirty Tricks":

Now I see why Zondervan wanted to produce a gender neutral translation of the NIV. It's got to keep up with the Joneses:

New Bible Aims for 'Common' Language, Gender Neutrality

http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/07/20/new-bible-translation-aims-for-common-language/

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_English_Bible

The Common English Bible is sponsored by an alliance of several denominational publishers in the USA operating under an umbrella group called the Christian Resources Development Corporation (CRDC), incorporated in 2009 and based in Nashville, Tennessee.[4] The publishing houses participating are Chalice Press, Westminster John Knox Press, Church Publishing Inc, Pilgrim Press, and Abingdon Press.

Wisconsin Sect Dirty Tricks

Richard Jungkuntz was the heresiarch in WELS, then Missouri, so The ALC gave him a promotion.
John Lawrenz was smarter, working from the inside of WELS.


rlschultz has left a new comment on your post "The Oracle of Ichabod:Mystery of the Sistine Chape...":

"There are several occasions when false stories were fed to my friends so WELS could call me a liar for publishing the lies they were promoting."

The secular work environment is more ethical. My managers have told me that they would never deliberately set me up for a fall. In over four years, they have backed that up with their actions. Compliments and encouragement are common where I work.

There is something insidiously sick within WELS leadership. It rubs off from called workers on to the new generation of 30 something lay leaders. The duplicitous treatment of members by many in the WELS leadership is unsettling. The leaders know that the members must keep their pocketbooks open in order to support the latest CG fads. However, it appears that some leaders hold their noses when they must truly serve these members.

***

GJ - The secular workplace must conform to civil and criminal law. Abusive sects take advantage of people assuming that matters are handled according to Scripture, rendering unto Caesar. Therefore, no better shelter is afforded the impenitent. The Roman Catholic bishop in Phoenix, who evaded multiple crimes, is no different from the WELS leaders.

Luther's sermon for Trinity 4 (Lenker edition) identified the problem. When there is no faith, there is also no mercy, no fruits of the Gospel. Jungkuntz led the troops in denouncing justification by faith, by glorifying unfaith, belittling the efficacy of the Word in the name of Holy Mother Synodical Conference.

The un-faith leaders of WELS are incapable of ethical behavior because they are not apt to teach. Readers have seen many comments from the Shrinkers, howling that they have been slandered, demanding that Matthew 18 be followed in addressing their public false doctrine. The worst sermon ever posted elicited exactly that kind of response, a few days ago.

But what happened when laity from two different congregations followed Matthew 18? Both were excommunicated, and WELS has already upheld the first one. Deputy Doug Englebrecht is always there to enforce UOJ lawlessness.

The WELS/ELS leadership hates God and despises His Word. There is no better explanation for their behavior. They give it away in their attacks on Biblical doctrine. They glory in their adoration of pox-filled institutions. Add up the leaders who have studied at Fuller Seminary, Willow Creek, and Trinity Divinity. Their numbers are Legion, and they will drive the swine off the cliffs soon enough. Then their Father Below will have accomplished his purpose.

Meanwhile, the WELS convention will solemnly debate or discuss whether Mark and Avoid Jeske has two synods, even though their own has been in bed with ELCA for decades and loving it. The synod leaders love all debates that take people away from the real issues, and the clergy enjoy the sport as well.

Shrinker Tiefel offering a worship conference, when he despises the Means of Grace, is just as funny as a DUI convict serving alcohol at a worship conference. What may seem jarring to the innocent makes sense to the pickled Pietists of Pewaukee. One observer said:

Many of my good, otherwise solid, conservative, confessional friends are jaunting off to G-A College in St. Peter, MN, all thrilled and excited. You see, these wonderful worship conferences are suppose to be the antidote for “whoopee worship,” and garbage like The CORE. All we have to do is show people how great and exciting correct and proper liturgical western rite worship can be, and they will just drop all their coffee-house churches, and praise-song nonsense in a heartbeat. Yeah sure, and I am selling ocean-view lots in Midland dirt cheap!!! Sorry, t’ain’t gonna happen! Never has. Never will. I don’t know of a single C&Cer nut-job who has gone back to his happy-clappy church and all of the sudden instituted liturgical worship – NOT ONE!!!!! A leopard does not and cannot change his spots. You can’t “fix” these guys. The only thing you can do is exterminate them!!!

Like all UOJ Enthusiasts, Jack Cascione has one dogma - this one,the first trimester pre-birth justification without faith declaration.

The Oracle of Ichabod:Mystery of the Sistine Chapel Revealed

Cleaning up the Sistine Chapel fresco revealed many new details in the artwork,
including the name of the Dephic Oracle.

I wonder why people are so quick to doubt my observations and predictions.

I published my thoughts about the demise of the ELCA merger, before it took place, 24 years ago. I documented all the homosexual activism taking place at that time, chapter and verse, with exact details and quotations. That issue of Christian News was sent all over ELCA, and to Lutheran groups as well. And yet the 2009 ELCA convention was a shock?

A late-comer to the Christian Faith has noted on Facebook that LIberalism: Its Cause and Cure also predicted the current situation in religion, even though it was published about 20 years ago. The book, hated by Shrinkers, became a minor best-seller for Northwestern Publishing House and began a relationship between Christian News and NPH in selling books.

Although that should be adequate proof, let me add a unique perspective that has developed, after I was ordained in 1973. As Uncle Roy has often said, "He knows everyone!" I have met church leaders from all denominations and studied under many men who are world-figures in theology. Add to that my experience with the LCMS, WELS, the Little Sect on the Prairie, and several micro-mini groups. Most people know one denomination, and sticking to one is a good career move. However, that also creates a parochial view that is blind to everything else.

People I have met, spoken to, or heard include: Paul Y. Cho, Charles Colson, James Kennedy, Robert Marshall, David Preus, Robert Preus, Jack Preus, Roland Bainton, Stan Hauerwas, Paul Holmer, John Howard Yoder, Nils Dahl, Sydney Ahlstrom, J. Pelikan, Kurt Marquart, David Scaer, and quite a few others. Real doctoral work means reading hundreds and books, and writing books demands the reading of many hundreds more.

Many contribute research to this blog without acknowledgement. They know the wrath of the UOJ Shrinkers, so they keep their pen names. Many details come from them, and they are in a position to know. Since I am routinely called a liar and slanderer, I check on the facts before I publish and I link whenever possible. There are several occasions when false stories were fed to my friends so WELS could call me a liar for publishing the lies they were promoting.

Reading Ichabod is a short-cut to Lutheran knowledge. The fact is, few can sit down and write from the same perspective and with the same freedom.

To paraphrase the fired former Synod President Gurgle - "To deny this would be false modesty, and that would be a sin."

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LutherRocks has left a new comment on your post "The Oracle of Ichabod: Mystery of the Sistine Chape...":

I am laughing...I have not done much of this of late...I will sleep well tonight...


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Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "The Oracle of Ichabod: Mystery of the Sistine Chape...":

The fact is, few can sit down and write from the same perspective and with the same freedom.

I disagree. Everyone can sit down and write with the same freedom. They decide not to. I'll let them consider why that is. From my perspective they decide not to publicly and faithfully defend and promote Christ's doctrines for fear. Fear of XYZ. Regardless the reason for the fear it is certainly not Godly, since Christ would have us contend openly as He provides the opportunities, and Oh! there are opportunities. But they do not, and the apostasy continues to advance, smothering the sheep and blinding the churches.

Jude 1:3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.

Mark 8:35 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it.

***

GJ - Ah, but Brett, you are focusing on the freedom part. I agree with that. Few have the same perspective. That was aimed at the lunk-heads in Church and Change (and Missouri counterparts). They keep repeating their talking points from seminary, never imagining that they were fed propaganda. Synodical spin is a tough sell in an academic setting. For instance, "It is true because Walther said so." That would create a yawn or a "Who?" in most universities.

Artful Dodger told me that the St. Louis Seminary put this spin on Walther kidnapping his niece and nephew: "They wanted to go to America."

Conventional Wisdom

"We're not done yet, Brett. ELCA will get a whole lot smaller after this convention."



The LCMC will meet in Des Moines starting on October 2, the day we return from the Moline High Reunion. We turn south at Des Moines, so we will stop at their gathering for a short time.

The parallel group, the NALC (the bishops' synod) will meet in Columbus in July.

WELS is meeting next week, to approve the NNIV and to re-elect Mark and Avoid Jeske as the de facto Synod President.

ELCA will meet August 15th.

• Bethel in Noblesville, IN, passed their first vote to leave ELCA by an 82% margin. This congregation has about 1300 members.
• Gethsemane Lutheran Church, Ft. Wayne, IN, 1st vote to leave ELCA, today.
• St. John's Lutheran Church, Gollad, TX, 1st vote to leave ELCA, today.
• St. Jacob Lutheran Church, Chapin, SC, second vote, already decided to join NALC (Vote Passed!)
• Going, going, gone.