Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Tim Glende's Anonymous Blog Hosts This Anonymous Person Code-Named Joel.
Joel Says Joe Krohn Cannot Think for Himself






Joel said...
Actually, I put the whole unfortunate situation with Joe and his family at the feet of Greg Jackson. If Greg hadn't gotten Joe all hot an bothered about the UOJ "controversy" (truly the lamest, insignificant religious controversy that there has ever been in the whole history of Christendom), Joe wouldn't have entered into a pointless dispute with his home congregation. How many other lives will this man ruin?
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GJ - The first logical fallacy is calling Joe Krohn a mindless follower of Ichabod, but that ignores the fact that he was sympathetic with Church and Change. The anonymous comment is also a put-down of Joe Krohn, a common tactic in WELS and other Pietistic sects.
Second, the author makes justification a non-argument, although he repeatedly posts about it.Exactly why has WELS been pounding UOJ since Richard Jungkuntz (died in ELCA) beat the drums for this precious doctrine. The entire UOJ Stormtrooper sorority imagines that the absolution of the world is the message of the Gospel. They never tire of assassinating anyone who disagrees with their fallacies, but they are unable to engage the issues.

The brave guru, Joel by name, a leader of the Pharisees, claims that Joe and Lisa Krohn were excommunicated for NOTHING!!! I refuse to copy his earlier illiterate comment. With respect, here is his corrected version.

Here is my comment with grammatical corrections:
If the debate was between limited atonement (Calvinism) and universal atonement (Lutheran), it would be a big deal. The UOJ "debate" is between universal atonement (anti-UOJ) and universal justification (UOJ). There is not a warm bucket of spit's difference between those two sides since neither side says anyone gets into heaven unless they are brought to faith. Yes, this is a pointless debate and now Joe Krohn has had an upheaval in his family and church life over NOTHING!!!!!


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LutherRocks has left a new comment on your post "Tim Glende's Anonymous Blog Hosts This Anonymous P...":

Tell it to Pastor Rydecki and the other 90+ Intrepid Lutherans... 

More Proof That Lutherans in Large Groups Are Dumber Than Babtists and Big Love Mormons.
The Synodical Sale of a Successful Campus Ministry Chapel


"Sold!"
University Lutheran Chapel To Be Sold:

The students were planning a bake sale to help raise finds to aid ULC's survival. I talked to some people who were simply perplexed as to why the MNS would want to destroy their chapel and evict them from such a beautiful facility so well-designed for Lutheran worship and so readily accessible for students. In fact, I took a photo of the ULC sign which captured in the same shot the 'Welcome to the University of Minnesota" sign.  One block down the street from ULC  (a block nearer to the heart of campus) was a fairly new Mormon temple, and next to that was the Baptist student church.  I was simply stunned by the fact the Mormons and Baptists see the value of campus ministry in Minneapolis, with the Mormons making an investment in a student church while the LCMS abandons the one they have.

Synodical Smokescreens Always Work the Same Way

This is another touching vignette from
The Sausage Factory, Mequon.


The denominational spin-doctors need to learn some new tactics. Their old methods worked well when they controlled the magazines and the grapevines.

But now, no one reads their insipid magazines, and anyone can search the web. Court cases are on the Net.

Aww.  Synodical Whac-a-Mole was so much fun. Maybe they will bring it back, like Missile Command, so the drones can play it again.




SP Schroeder needs to study psychology or read The Kidnapper's Law and Gospel. When he bans people from reading Ichabod, the forbidden fruit is that much more tempting. And word gets out - "I am not to read or even touch it - lest I die."

Any college teacher knows that the best way to keep students from studying something is to make it required reading.

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rlschultz has left a new comment on your post "Synodical Smokescreens Always Work the Same Way":

This is a stellar example of how the synodical leadership is out of touch with many members. Prohibition rarely achieves its desired effect. We live in a culture where many have become less trusting and respectful of authority. Furthermore, we are admonished to be like the Bereans. That is why personal study of the Scriptures and the Confessions by the laity drives the UOJ fanatics even more stark raving mad. Many of them would rather have you eat the cotton candy Kelmed from the Enthusiasts. The effects of false doctrine are like a festering boil that needs to be lanced. Synodical leaders do the members a great disservice when they ask them to follow them blindly.

Paul McCain's Expert on UOJ Gets His Answer


Phase One of Jack Kilcrease -

Dr. Jack Kilcrease has left a new comment on your post "Kansas City Bishop Is First To Be Charged Criminal...":

"ELCA paid $40 million for covering up the abusive past of a man they were too happy to ordain."

As a conservative Lutheran, I of course do not believe that we should cast stones at any one. In that you make a good point.

But, seriously, I mean, where do you get this stuff? Do you have any actual evidence of this? I personally don't care much for the ELCA, but this claim about the 40 million dollars doesn't sound very credible to me. I will totally believe it if you can come up with evidence.

Your response: Blah, blah, blah. You miss spelled (sic) a word. Blah, blah, you're secretly a Catholic. Blah, blah, UOJ is universalism. Blah.


No need for a response then.

Here is a lengthy response to Jack Kilcrease.

It included the entire article from Saltzmann, a well known ELCA writer and editor.

Phase Two of Jack Kilcrease -

Jack Kilcrease had to keep it up. Why should he concede anything?

Dr. Jack Kilcrease said... Where's the 40 million? I see that they sued for 300 million, but I don't see anything about paying out 40 million. Again, people sue for all sorts of absurd amounts, but paying out is another issue. That was what my question was about.

BTW, I enjoyed my titles. I sent it to my parents and my wife, and they got a big kick out it. It reminds me of that movie "A Knight's Tale" where the Geoffrey Chaucer character has all these amusing titles he gives to Heath Ledger's character when he announces him "The protector of Grecian virginity!" "trained by the ELCA and working for the Anti-Christ, it's Jack Kilcrease!!!"

Jack's approach--which always includes his title "Dr"--is simply to mock the facts, perhaps to cast doubts on everything published on this blog. He has tender toes about UOJ, his history with ELCA, and his velcro-like affinity for another lazy mocker, Paul McCain.

Unfortunately for Kilcrease and McCain, their puerile responses only emphasize the truth. I do not make statements of fact unless they are supported with evidence, a habit they have not yet acquired. I said $40 million because I knew the story well and linked it at one time. I do not have the time to do Jack's homework for him, especially since he claims two doctorates in his marriage.

So far, all the UOJ advocates encountered on this blog are allergic to the facts. So I will post more of the hideous details that Jack scoffed at twice. I never said Kilcrease was secretly a Catholic. His own profile at a Catholic school says he teaches for them. He is a Catholic employee, which is quite an accomplishment for someone whose father graduated from the Sausage Factory in Mequon.



Bishop says he regrets minister's actions


Posted: Saturday, April 24, 2004


WICHITA FALLS - Lutheran Bishop Kevin S. Kanouse apologized Friday to victims of a former minister convicted of molesting boys, a day after his synod was hit with a nearly $37 million verdict in a sexual abuse lawsuit.

Gerald Patrick Thomas Jr. is serving 397 years in prison; the abuse was at the center of Thursday's multimillion-dollar verdict.

"We do express our regrets. We pledge to make sure people like Gerry Thomas never serve a church again," said Kanouse, who heads the Dallas-based Northern Texas-Northern Louisiana Synod.

Jurors sided with nine alleged sex abuse victims who sued the synod, part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, claiming a former bishop and his assistant ignored warnings about Thomas.

Earlier settlements involved the award of another $32 million. Church officials say the combined payout will be less than $69 million due to a complicated system of credits.
Kanouse insisted church officials did not know Thomas preyed on children.
"No one in the church knew he was a predator of children until he was arrested. Were there clues? Absolutely," he said.
The bishop maintained the synod already has a system in place for preventing ministers like Thomas from entering church service.
The verdict in the court case came a day before the synod began an annual three-day assembly in Wichita Falls.
Kanouse denied that going to court instead of settling was an act of defiance toward the victims.
"The bottom line is our insurance company thought it was worth taking it to trial," he said. "It was an act of trying to tell our story and see what the jury had to say. Well, the jury said we were liable and awarded against us."



Former Marshall minister faces new charge


Published: Monday, June 03, 2002


LONGVIEW (AP) — A former Lutheran minister accused of sex crimes involving boys has been arrested on a new charge.
Gerald Patrick Thomas Jr., the 40-year-old former minister of Marshall's Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, was held Friday night by Marshall police on a Harrison County District Court warrant for aggravated sexual assault, according to jail records.
Thomas had been free on bond for three separate state charges of sex crimes. He was awaiting sentencing on a federal charge of possession of child pornography, said Marshall lawyer Don Stokes.
The former pastor had admitted in federal court in Tyler that he allowed two teen-age boys to photograph themselves engaging in sex acts at his home.
A civil lawsuit filed earlier this year claimed that Thomas molested eight boys over several years and that his actions should have been halted by church leaders. The lawsuit also named the Chicago-based Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and several other church-related organizations as defendants.
Thomas resigned from the denomination's clergy roster about a year ago. He now lives with his sister in Ocala, Fla.



Judge seals deal in Lutheran sex abuse scandal


Published: Tuesday, April 13, 2004


MARSHALL (AP) — A judge approved and sealed a settlement Monday involving the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and 14 alleged sex abuse victims who claim church officials ignored warnings about an errant minister who was later convicted of molesting boys.
Several church agencies also were included in the deal, which Harrison County District Judge Bonnie Leggat sealed pending the outcome of a civil trial against the remaining defendant — the denomination's Northern Texas-Northern Louisiana Synod. Testimony is scheduled to start today.
The case of former Lutheran pastor Gerald Patrick Thomas Jr., who was sentenced last year to 397 years in state prison for sexually assaulting boys in this East Texas town, has drawn parallels from victims' advocates to some of the worst cases in the Roman Catholic abuse crisis.
Details of the pact will become public after the trial is over, he said.
Jennifer Ainsworth, attorney for the 5 million-member ELCA, said the denomination was pleased.
"We believe it's in the best interests of the ELCA and the kids," Ainsworth said. "We believe ELCA took responsibility for any involvement in this and the kids will be taken care of."
The victims and their families accused Lutheran officials of ignoring questionable behavior by Thomas. Private, internal memos detailed allegations against Thomas before his assignment to Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Marshall in 1997.
Church officials, meanwhile, have repeatedly denied negligence.
Under the settlement, all money paid out will be put into trust funds for the victims; it won't be controlled by parents or guardians, attorneys said.
A jury of eight men and four women was selected last week before the settlement was confirmed.
Parents and guardians of most victims appeared before the judge to confirm they were satisfied with the settlement terms. In questioning of the victims' relatives Monday, the plaintiffs' lead attorney, Edward Hohn, characterized the settling defendants as "peripheral" and called the synod the "target" defendant in the case.
While allegedly aware of Thomas' "boundary issues" in seminary, the local synod did not share details of Thomas' background with the Marshall congregation later that year, court documents say. Court papers also claim that the church official in charge of pastor assignments at the time had himself been arrested twice for indecent exposure.
Thomas, 41, was charged in 2001 after a teenager found nude images of friends on the pastor's computer and tried to blackmail him.
Convicted on federal child pornography charges, Thomas is serving five years at the U.S. Penitentiary in Beaumont. His state sentence will start after that.
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Originally, I said - 








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Steven Goodrich has left a new comment on your post "Always Glad To Answer Jack Kilcrease, Son of WELS ...":

After doing some more research, here's the breakdown of who paid what.

Prior to the civil trial in April, several defendants settled with the plaintiffs: Good Shepherd ($750,000); the ELCA church wide organization ($8 million); the Michigan candidacy committee that approved Thomas for ordination ($1.2 million); and Trinity Seminary ($22 million).

Nine of the 14 plaintiffs continued their suit against the Northern Texas-Northern Louisiana Synod; its former bishop, Mark Herbener; and his assistant, Earl Eliason. On April 22, the jury awarded $36.8 million to the plaintiffs, assigning liability for the abuse at 35 percent for Eliason, 23 percent for Thomas, 20 percent for Herbener, 20 percent for Trinity, and 2 percent for the candidacy committee. The ELCA wasn't assigned a percentage of liability. The percentage allocation confused defendants and their lawyers since Trinity had already settled and was no longer involved in the case.

Here is a link to the story in the Lutheran, but you need a subscription to read the entire thing.

http://www.thelutheran.org/article/article.cfm?article_id=2390 

Steven Goodrich has left a new comment on your post "Always Glad To Answer Jack Kilcrease, Son of WELS ...":

Here's you a link, Jack.

http://amarillo.com/stories/042404/tex_regretact.shtml