I see Black Jack Cascione is up to his tricks again. (Am I correct in this rant?)
Interesting that he never seems to see how UOJ’s residue inertia seems to open the door to let the Church Growth Movement slip in the back door; he still separates the two. I also find it amusing when describing the theologians craft as interpreting scripture on the basis of terms;-- which is great scholarship; but-- only if one includes the terms inclusive in the orthodox Lutheran Faith as guided by proper exegetical hermeneutics such as:
When did Christ absolve the whole world. Is Absolution and Forgiveness a tautologous act at the time of Christ’s Crucifiction? Did the act of absolution occur at the time of Crucifixion or Resurrection? What then is the prescribed path to condemnation? Is every body saved without faith? Is that where subjective justification comes in where one receives faith? How is that process described and detailed in the Lutheran confessions? How are the two justifications bridged? Support your answer in the Bible and the Lutheran Confessions.
Does any of that then diminish the importance of the means of Grace; Baptism where we are given the promise of salvation, the Divine Service where we receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit in Confession/absolution, hearing Gods word, communion with Christ and the forgiveness of sins and the gift of faith and the resulting fruits of that faith.? (When was the last time he actually visited a parishioner?) If we are all saved, even though we do not believe it, then what good is the means of grace where the Holy Spirit works faith? Other terms that Pastor Cascione ought to consider reading? What is faith as defined by Chemnitz. Faith is a work of the Holy Spirit and not of ourselves. (no synergism here)
What is an individual’s assent to faith? How does an individual come to faith in conversion? Black Jack Cascione seems to think that you think that faith is a synergistic work rooted in the decision of man which leans toward the reformed concept of limited atonement. If he thinks that then he ought to re read Dr Jackson’s writings as well as Paul Rydecki ; that is if he has the theological ability of discernment and comprehension.
It seems that man’s assent to faith is as passive as water flowing through a pipe. Mankind cannot turn on the faucet, but he can obstruct its flow; hence the importance of the means of grace through the works of the Holy Spirit and those consequent gifts we receive in the divine service every Sunday.
That is why Lutheran doctrine, theology, a liturgical divine service with the Lords Supper every Sunday is critical to allowing the gifts of the Holy Spirit work every week in a sinners heart which includes all of us; I as Paul states, being the chief sinner of all. There is no crowds and subsequent money coming in from that kind of “dead Orthodoxy.”
That is why sects within LCMS, WELS, and ELS have abrogated that doctrine with the swill of church growth, contemporary worship, and happy clappy charismatic Karma substituting entertainment and personality with the means of Grace. Lets make them feel good and maybe they will open their wallets to keep ours “flush with mammon.”
This is a natural by-product of UOJ which distorts and twists Lutheran dogma into contemporary worship. It transcends the pastor’s role in the Office of the Holy Ministry into to “the facilitator, the entertainer, the CEO, the Marketer, the telethon Collector, the face of the “ Corporate Christian Shield.” He will talk down to the ecclesiastical church while simultaneously promoting a new ecclesiastical church which resembles a type of Christian Feudalism fueled by entertainment and gimmicks; both material and psychological, while steering the church with a totalitarianism reserved for Guatemalan Generals.
This is formula the WELS has used in the past and will continue to use in the future to keep the troupes in line.Yet it keeps the Pastor off the hook for actual work in the church; spreading the fruits of the Gospel in visiting, consoling, teaching and preaching as John outlines the Sheppard in His church according to his Gospel.
Any layman or Pastor that has had the audacity to question the WELS synod of Cardinals ,has been met with a litany of backstabbing, gossip, and the threat of financial ruin. Paul Rydecki’s treatment is the same. Instead of calling for a “ Free Conference” to discuss differences we must hold a stacked “Inquisition” where the verdict is already decided to be guilty. It’s the WELS way. I tell my WELS friends to find some reformed mega church and attend because since they are reformed anyway, at least the reformed do entertainment better. Yet the WELS/Cascione accuse Paul Redecki of reformed doctrine?
What is truly disturbing is that Black Jack Cascione who left the LCMS for the independent Association called ULMA based on principles of Lutheran doctrine, finds himself in bed defending the WELS who in comparison makes John Dillenger (LCMS) look like a choir boy in the race to apostasy.
I truly hope that the next book he publishes using NPH, gives him fat residuals then it will have been worth it. But to accuse Paul Rydecki of false doctrine in characterizing his writings--without an open dialog in a “Free Conference” format--is typically the kind of “Kangaroo Court” justice the WELS gives its dissidents.
It’s the kind of injustice Black Jack Cascione complained about when he exited the LCMS years ago.
Signed,
Caleb
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