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| Bad grammar - everyone...has been, but that is the UOJ Hive, always buzzing, never parsing. |
Someone on the faculty suggested that I visit his college, so Mrs. Ichabod and I drove around rural Arkansas a bit today. The scenery was perfect as we wound around country roads, past farms and through small villages.
We happened to meet the college president, so we talked while he waited for an appointment that ended up a no-show. I was sure this former missionary would not accept the strange statement above, which I mccained from LutherQuest (sic).
Today I am more convinced than ever that UOJ fanatics are Gospel-starved. They may have heard the Gospel as children, but the clergy have it drummed out of them so thoroughly that they no longer believe.
UOJ explains the nastiness and dishonesty of their Hive. They cannot wait to pounce on a victim, beat him like a rented mule, and rejoice over the results. Either he breaks down and becomes another UOJ zombie (Hurray!) or he is extended the Left Foot of Fellowship (Hurray!). Sometimes the Left Foot of Fellowship will induce the zombie state, so the overlords get a double-thrill out of their double-justification.
I imagine the SynCons have escaped to Pentecostal, Methodist, and Babtist conferences because they hear the Gospel and meet believers. The Northern Baptists are no better than other liberal groups.
The UOJ synods--ELCA, ELS, WELS, LCMS--are collapsing because they have no Gospel to teach. They teach anti-faith and anti-Gospel. The Evangelicals may criticize Luther, but the nominal Lutherans loathe Luther, especially his doctrine.
So Lutherans cast longing, covetous eyes upon the Evangelicals, wondering how they can be like that. Therefore, they live with a contradiction. The UOJ Lutherans condemn faith while aping those who teach faith in Christ. I realize many of the mods, the Emergent gay libbers like Andy Stanley, are nowhere near the kingdom, but the impression remains. The grass is greener over the septic tank.
Walther and Pieper warn against synergism, which means that man cooperates in his salvation. God has done so much, but man must complete the transaction, make a decision, and commit his life to Christ.
Nominal Lutherans are quick to condemn every form of the Christian faith, but which is worse:
- To teach people a sad, sick, cowardly form of Universalism? or
- To teach people the Gospel and the importance of faith in Christ?
