Luther - Justification by Faith - Galatians Lectures

Lectures on Galatians, 1535. Volume 26. American Edition. Ed. Jaroslav Pelikan,

But it is because, as I often warn you, there is a clear and present danger that the devil may take away from us the pure doctrine of faith and may substitute for it the doctrines of works and of human traditions.
Lectures on Galatians, 1535. Volume 26. American Edition. Ed. Jaroslav Pelikan, p. 3

For if the doctrine of justification is lost, the whole of Christian doctrine is lost. And those in the world who do not teach it are either Jews or Turks or papists or sectarians.
Lectures on Galatians, 1535. Volume 26. American Edition. Ed. Jaroslav Pelikan, p. 9

These new monks [Anabaptists] invent a new cross and new works, and they imagine that by performing these they will please God. In short, whoever does not know the doctrine of justification takes away Christ the Propitiator. Galatians 1:3
Lectures on Galatians, 1535. Volume 26. American Edition. Ed. Jaroslav Pelikan, p. 28

For until our death Satan will never stop attacking all the doctrines of the Creed in us. He is the implacable enemy of faith, for he knows that it is the victory that overcomes the world (1 John 5:4). Therefore it is our obligation to hold constantly to our faith and to establish it, in order that we may be able to stand up to Satan. Galatians 1:3
Lectures on Galatians, 1535. Volume 26. American Edition. Ed. Jaroslav Pelikan, p. 31

["The Church of Rome is superior to the Gospels because it approves the Gospels" - or today - "The synod has approved it.]

The Church approves Christian faith and doctrine. Therefore the church is superior to them. To refute this wicked and blasphemous  doctrine of theirs, you have here a clear text and a thunderbolt. Here Paul subordinates himself, an angel from heaven, teachers on earth, and any other masters at all to Sacred Scripture. Galatians 1:9
Lectures on Galatians, 1535. Volume 26. American Edition. Ed. Jaroslav Pelikan, p. 57f.

Besides, the question of justification is an elusive thing--not in itself, for in itself it is firm and sure, but so far as we are concerned. I myself have had considerable experience of this, for I know how I sometimes struggle in the hours of darkness. I know how often I suddenly lose sight of the rays of the Gospel and of grace, which have been obscured for me by thick, dark clouds. In other words, I know how slippery the footing is even for those who are mature and seem to be firmly established in matters of faith. Galatians 1:11-12.
Lectures on Galatians, 1535. Volume 26. American Edition. Ed. Jaroslav Pelikan, p. 63f.

Lectures on Galatians, 1535. Volume 26. American Edition. Ed. Jaroslav Pelikan, Page 93 is the false argument - you weren't here from the beginning (not born in Wisconsin or didn't go to a Concordia Cemetery).

But those men look at Peter's high prestige; they admire his social position and forget the majesty of this doctrine. Paul does the opposite. He does not attack Peter sharply; he treats him with due respect. But because he sees that the prestige of Peter is endangering the majesty of the doctrine of justification, he ignores the prestige, in order to keep this doctrine pure and undefiled. Galatians 2:11
Lectures on Galatians, 1535. Volume 26. American Edition. Ed. Jaroslav Pelikan, p. 108.

The fall or error of one man can so easily bring on enormous ruin if it is not corrected. Therefore the doctrine of justification is nothing to be trifled with, and it is not without reason that we inculcate it and insist on it with such diligence. Galatians 2:13
Lectures on Galatians, 1535. Volume 26. American Edition. Ed. Jaroslav Pelikan, p. 111f.

Here let reason be far away, that enemy o faith, which, in the temptations of sin and death, relies not on the righteousness of faith or Christian righteousness, of which it is completely ignorant, but on its own righteousness, at most on the righteousness of the Law. As soon as reason and the Law are joined, faith immediately loses its virginity. Galatians 2:13
Lectures on Galatians, 1535. Volume 26. American Edition. Ed. Jaroslav Pelikan, p. 113.

Therefore the Christ who is grasped  by faith and who lives in the heart is the true Christian righteousness, on account of which God counts us righteous and grants us eternal life. Galatians 2:16.
Lectures on Galatians, 1535. Volume 26. American Edition. Ed. Jaroslav Pelikan, p. 130

We must not attribute the power of justification to a "form" that makes a man pleasing to God; we must attribute it to faith, which takes hold of Christ the Savior Himself and possesses Him in the heart. This faith justifies without love and before love. Galatians 2:16
Lectures on Galatians, 1535. Volume 26. American Edition. Ed. Jaroslav Pelikan, p. 137

The only thing necessary is that we accept the treasure  that is Christ, grasped by faith in our hearts, even though we feel that we are completely filled with sins. Thus these words, "by faith in Christ," are very emphatic, not empty and vain, as the sophists think when they leap over them so boldly. Galatians 2:16
Lectures on Galatians, 1535. Volume 26. American Edition. Ed. Jaroslav Pelikan, p. 139

Then they ridicule us for inculcating and emphasizing faith with such diligence: "Ha, ha! Faith, faith! Just wait until you get to heaven by faith! No you must strive for something more sublime. You must fulfill the Law of God...." Galatians 2:17
Lectures on Galatians, 1535. Volume 26. American Edition. Ed. Jaroslav Pelikan, p. 143

Holy Scripture, especially the New Testament, always inculcates faith in Christ and magnificently proclaims Him. It says that "whoever believes in Him is saved, does not perish, is not judged, is not put to shame, and has eternal life" (John 3:16). Galatians 2:17
Lectures on Galatians, 1535. Volume 26. American Edition. Ed. Jaroslav Pelikan, p. 146

Meanwhile my old man (Ephesians 4:22) remains outside and is subject to the Law. But so far as justification is concerned, Christ and I must be so closely attached that He lives in me and I in Him. What a marvelous way of speaking! Because He lives in me, whatever grace, righteousness, life, peace, and salvation there is in me is all Christ's; nevertheless, it is mine as well, by the cementing and attachment that are through faith, by which we become as one body in the Spirit. Galatians 2:20
Lectures on Galatians, 1535. Volume 26. American Edition. Ed. Jaroslav Pelikan, p. 167f.

Thus Ephesians 5:30 says: "We are members of the body of Christ, of His flesh and of His bones," in such a way that this faith couples Christ and me more intimately than a husband is coupled to his wife. Therefore faith is no idle quality; but it is a thing of such magnitude that it obscures and completely removes those foolish dreams of the sophists' doctrine--the fiction of a formed faith and of love, of merits, our worthiness, our quality, etc. Galatians 2:20.
Lectures on Galatians, 1535. Volume 26. American Edition. Ed. Jaroslav Pelikan, p. 168f.

Thus "You received the Spirit either from the Law or from the hearing of faith. If it was by the Law, then it was not by the hearing of faith; if it was by the hearing of faith, then it was not by the Law.  There can be no middle ground. For whatever is not the Holy Spirit or hearing with faith is clearly the Law." We are dealing with the issue of justification. But there are only two ways to justification: either the Word of the Gospel or the Law. Galatians 3:2
Lectures on Galatians, 1535. Volume 26. American Edition. Ed. Jaroslav Pelikan, p. 203

But the doctrine of justification is this, that we are pronounced righteous and are saved solely by faith in Christ, and without works. If this is the true meaning of justification--as it certainly is, or it will be necessary to get rid of all Scripture--then it immediately follows  that we are pronounced righteous neither through monasticism nor through vows nor through Masses not through any other works. Galatians 3:5
Lectures on Galatians, 1535. Volume 26. American Edition. Ed. Jaroslav Pelikan, p. 223

This discussion of the example of Abraham involves at the same time Holy Scripture itself, which says that we are reckoned righteous by faith. Therefore this is a very powerful argument on two counts, both because of the example of Abraham and because of the authority of Scripture. Galatians 3:7
Lectures on Galatians, 1535. Volume 26. American Edition. Ed. Jaroslav Pelikan, p. 240

Therefore faith always justifies and makes alive; and yet it does not remain alone, that is, idle. Not that it does not remain alone on its own level and in its own function, for it always justifies alone.  But it is incarnate and becomes man; that is, it neither is nor remains idle or without love. Galatians 3:12
Lectures on Galatians, 1535. Volume 26. American Edition. Ed. Jaroslav Pelikan, p. 272

Who can adequately proclaim the usefulness and the effect of even one work that a Christian does in faith and on the basis of faith? Galatians 3:22
Lectures on Galatians, 1535. Volume 26. American Edition. Ed. Jaroslav Pelikan, p. 334

Christian prof says Jesus was Muslim. Luther College - ELCA - Once Conservative

Christian prof says Jesus was Muslim:


Shedinger said the issue arose when a Muslim student challenged his teaching about Islam, and he rethought not only Islam, but all of religion.

He came to perceive Islam as a social justice system instead of a religion, and found that he thought the same about Jesus.

“I had to rethink what Islam is,” Shedinger said in the interview. “I came to the conclusion that it was a social justice movement and I think that’s who Jesus was in the first century so I conclude Jesus is more like a Muslim.”

He admitted it would “be a stretch” for many to follow his process and consider Jesus a Muslim, but, “It doesn’t make me uncomfortable any more.”

“Even as a Christian I have to answer yes to that,” he said

“We’re not trying to aggravate nobody,” said the interviewer, Abdush Shahid Munir.

Noting that his audience included Christians, Muslims “and other denominations,” Munir asked Shedinger to explain this book.

Shedinger said he re-evaluated a lot of the research he’d encountered during his training, and he suddenly recognized “there were a lot of scholars out there who are arguing the points I make in the book.”

He described his book as a “call for Christians and Muslims to work together to promote social justice.”

His book is published by Fortress Press, the academic book imprint of Augsburg Fortress, which “is noted for its significant publishing in the areas of religious studies, Jewish-Christian studies, African American religion, religion and science, feminist theology, and ethics.”

“The Fortress Press is academic, ecumenical, inclusive, and international,” the company explains.

The college lists Shedinger as associate professor of religion, and cites his course teachings as Intro to the Hebrew Bible, The Bible and Imperial Politics, Intro to Islam, Life After 9/11, Unity and Diversity in Contemporary Islam, and Biodiversity.


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Dresden Catechism - Why Does Everything Happen in Dresden?Dresden Catechism

Arthur Repp, Sr - Luther's Catechism Comes to America.
The Dresden Cross Catechism of 1688
was approved by the Elector, Wittenberg, and Leipzig.
Compare the Dietrich Catechism.

Here is a link to the German Dresden Catechism, a PDF.

Steve Witte Is WELS Gordon-Conwell Drive-By DMin.A Founder of Church and Change, But Schroeder Made Him the Porta-Sem President

Lettuce Prey - the Change and Change mascot.
He can't spell either.

This is how to get ahead, boys and girls -
lead seminars at Church and Change conferences,
which have gone multi-site.

Church and Chicanery leader Witte says

preaching the Gospel is not enough. "The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod is in crisis,
but revival is possible. Its leaders must get into the Scriptures, repent, and pray."



Title: Hope and a future : confronting the death of confessional Lutheranism / by Steve Witte.
Author: Witte, Steve.


Imprint: 2007.
Note: The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod is in crisis, but revival is possible. Its leaders must get into the Scriptures, repent, and pray. The definition of faithfulness must be expanded--not "just preach the gospel" but also using means to shine the gospel light into a dark world.
Note: Typescript.
Subject: Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod.
Subject: Church renewal.
Physical Description: xii, 235 leaves ; 28 cm.

Location Information
Hamilton
Circulating Coll.
BX8061.W6 W57 2007 [Available]
This item has been checked out 0 time(s)
and currently has 0 hold request(s).

[GJ - BX8061 is reserved for Lutheran denominations. This is a typescript about WELS, so how did it get to G-C?]

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Dr. Witte spoke at the last Church and Chicanery Conference.

Hmm. "Dr" - from where? Gordon Conwell? This seems to be an academic paper, probably a DMin paper. The Church and Chicaneries all want to be doctors if the process is easy enough for them: Paul Kelm (Our Lady of Sorrows, St. Louis); Larry Olson (Fooler Seminary), etc.

Witte was at Beautiful Savior in Green Bay. Under SP Schroeder Witte was promoted to Asian Cemetery Board, then president of the porta-seminary.

I was looking over the Asian Flikr site. An Asian woman graduated from their porta-sem. One photo has Dr. John Lawrenz (real PhD) with Steve Witte (DMin - fake doctorate). Both are called "Dr." - just as Paul Kelm, Larry Olson, Rich Krause, and John Parlow are - all DMins, all Church and Changers. Greed and deception, says Luther - the world is run on greed and deception.

Go thou and be continuously changing doctrine,
while denying it.
May our Father Below bless your work.

Penn State leaders disregarded victims, 'empowered' Sandusky, review finds - CNN.com

How could any man show friendship for a child rapist?
This is Joe Paterno, right, with Jerry Sandusky.

Joel Hochmuth's deviancy was known by the un-named counseling agency and his wife.
SP Schroeder publicly absolved Joel of all sin, because "Joel was sorry."
Then Joel pleaded not guilty.
Has any felon been kicked out of WELS? Al Just? William Tabor? Ed Werner? Scott Zerbe?

Darwin Schauer, LCMS, was a convicted child sex offender - and unrepentant.
So LCMS leaders got him into the lay pastor program, so he could rape again.

Penn State leaders disregarded victims, 'empowered' Sandusky, review finds - CNN.com:


State College, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- Penn State's most powerful leaders showed "total and consistent disregard" for victims of child sex abuse and failed to protect children, according to the findings of a long-awaited internal review over how the university handled a scandal involving its former defensive coordinator.
In fact, the report says several former officials "empowered" Jerry Sandusky to continue his abuse, and investigators say legendary head football coach Joe Paterno could have stopped the attacks had he done more.

In a statement released along with the 267-page report, Louis Freeh, the former FBI director and federal judge who spearheaded the review, blasted several top former officials at the school, accusing them of forging an agreement to conceal Sandusky's attacks.

"There are more red flags here than you can count," said Freeh, who added that the abuse occurred just "steps away" from where Paterno worked in the university's Lasch Building.

"Our most saddening and sobering finding is the total disregard for the safety and welfare of Sandusky's child victims by the most senior leaders at Penn State," Freeh wrote. "The most powerful men at Penn State failed to take any steps for 14 years to protect the children who Sandusky victimized."

He went on to name four former school officials -- former President Graham Spanier, former Vice President Gary Schultz, Paterno, and former athletic director Tim Curley -- saying they "never demonstrated, through actions or words, any concern for the safety and well-being of Sandusky's victims until after Sandusky's arrest."

Their failure "to protect against a child sexual predator harming children" lasted "more than a decade," the full report says.

"They exhibited a striking lack of empathy for Sandusky's victims by failing to inquire as to their safety and well-being, especially by not attempting to determine the identity of the child whom Sandusky assaulted in the Lasch Building in 2001. Further, they exposed this child to additional harm by alerting Sandusky, who was the only one who knew the child's identity, of what (Mike) McQueary saw in the shower on the night of February 9, 2001."

Then-Penn State graduate assistant McQueary reported to Paterno that he had seen what appeared to be a sexual attack involving Sandusky and a boy in the shower room on that night.

The report also says the four men, "unchecked by the board of trustees that did not perform its oversight duties, empowered Sandusky to attract potential victims to the campus and football events by allowing him to have continued, unrestricted and unsupervised access to the university's facilities and affiliation with the university's prominent football program. Indeed, that continued access provided Sandusky with the very currency that enabled him to attract his victims. Some coaches, administrators and football program staff members ignored the red flags of Sandusky's behaviors and no one warned the public about him."

The Penn State board of trustees issued a statement saying it is reviewing "the findings and recommendations. We expect a comprehensive analysis of our policies, procedures and controls related to identifying and reporting crimes and misconduct, including failures or gaps that may have allowed alleged misconduct to go undetected or unreported. We will provide our initial response later today."

The board added that it is "convening an internal team" to analyze the findings.

The report says investigators conducted 430 interviews of "key university personnel and other knowledgeable individuals."

"We tried to speak to Sandusky; he did not want to speak to us," Freeh said at a news conference.
More than 3.5 million "pieces of pertinent electronic data and documents" were analyzed, the report says.
The report found that janitors who were aware of the abuse took no action, out of fear.

"They witness what I think in the report is probably the most horrific rape that's described," Freeh told reporters. "And what do they do? They panic." One janitor, a Korean War veteran, said it was "the worst thing he's ever seen." He and other janitors were "alarmed and shocked," but were afraid that if they reported it they'd be fired.

"They said the university would circle around it. It was like going against the president of the United States. ... If that's the culture on the bottom, God help the culture at the top."

The review casts a dark shadow over the school's storied football program and over the career of Paterno, who was widely beloved for bringing Penn State football to national prominence. He died on January 22.

Attorneys for Spanier, Schultz, Curley, Paterno's family, and Sandusky did not immediately respond to CNN's requests for comment.

Barbara Dorris, a spokeswoman for a group called the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), applauded the work of investigators and called for the former top school officials who were implicated in the probe to be prosecuted.

Investigators found that even before May 1998, "several staff members and football coaches regularly observed Sandusky showering with young boys," but "none of the individuals interviewed notified their superiors of this behavior," according to the report.

It also found that university police "and the Department of Public Welfare responded promptly to the report by a young boy's mother of a possible sexual assault by Sandusky" in 1998, and top university officials were "kept informed of the investigation."

A year later in 1999, Paterno, Spanier, Schultz, and Curley decided to allow Sandusky to retire, "not as a suspected child predator, but as a valued member of the Penn State football legacy, with future 'visibility' at Penn State and ways 'to continue to work with young people through Penn State,' essentially granting him license to bring boys to campus facilities for 'grooming' as targets for his assaults. Sandusky retained unlimited access to University facilities until November 2011," the report says.

He was awarded emeritus status at the university in 1999 -- which provided Sandusky greater access to school facilities -- despite what Provost Rodney Erickson described as an "uneasiness" because of the ex-coach's "low academic title."

The university also approved a one-time lump sum payment of $168,000 to Sandusky in June of that year. Top school officials said "they had never known the university to provide this type of payment to a retiring employee," according to the report.

An effort to avoid bad publicity "is the most significant, but not the only, cause for this failure to protect child victims and report to authorities," the investigation found.

The scandal, which rocked the nation, led to the dismissal of Paterno, Spanier, Schultz and Curley.
Sandusky was convicted in June of sexually abusing young boys over a 15-year period. He maintains his innocence.

Victim No. 6: Violation and vindication
Freeh's internal investigation is separate from criminal investigations that have resulted in Sandusky's conviction and charges against Curley and Schultz over perjury and failing to report the abuse. No trial date has been set for the two ex administrators.

The cost of the investigation "is estimated to be in the millions," but is covered by the university's insurance policy, said Penn State spokesman David LaTorre.

"No one, no one, is above scrutiny," said trustee Kenneth Frazier, head of the committee addressing the scandal, when the review began in November 2011.

At the time, Freeh said to expect recommendations to improve possible leadership failures at the university "that allowed anyone to prey on children with impunity."

"Our mandate is clear," added Freeh. "We have been tasked to investigate this matter fully, fairly, and completely."

Those interviewed in the investigation included a former athletic director at nearby Juniata College.
In 2010, Sandusky requested to work as an unpaid football coach at Juniata College after retiring from Penn State in 1999, authorities said.

Video: Sandusky scandal part of Paterno legacy
A school background check turned up an investigation into the former defensive coordinator as well as a "do not hire" warning, prompting Juniata College officials to reject Sandusky's interest in the program, they said.
In June, eight young men testified in court, often in disturbingly graphic detail, of how Sandusky forced them to engage in sexual acts in various places, including in hotel rooms, the basement of his home and in the Penn State coaches' locker room.

In court documents, prosecutors say they have e-mails from university officials that allegedly contradict grand jury testimony of Curley and Schultz,

The alleged e-mails, which CNN obtained exclusively, were among other documents, including a Sandusky file maintained by Schultz. The Freeh review discovered the documents and turned them over to state prosecutors as part of ongoing investigations, according to both the university and prosecutors.

One of the alleged e-mails suggests Paterno had a previously undisclosed conversation with Curley about the shower incident from 2001.

On February 26, Penn State's vice president purportedly wrote to Curley about a plan to contact Sandusky, referred to only as "the subject," alert child welfare authorities and inform Second Mile, the charity the ex-coach founded for disadvantaged children, according to the purported exchange. Neither Sandusky nor the charity was mentioned by name. They were referred to as "the subject" and "the group."

After Curley spoke with Paterno, however, the athletic director allegedly told the school president that he had changed his mind about the best course of action to pursue.

Despite scandal, Penn State rakes in millions in donations
"After giving it more thought and talking it over with Joe yesterday, I am uncomfortable with what we agreed were the next steps," he allegedly wrote the following day.

Instead of alerting authorities, Curley apparently wrote that he would prefer meeting with Sandusky, telling him they knew about another incident in 1998, and offering him professional help. He then suggested notifying the charity "at some point" if Sandusky is cooperative, and "maybe" child welfare officials.
Paterno did not report the shower incident to police.

"We determined that his decision to do his minimum legal duty and not to do more to follow up constituted a failure of leadership by Coach Paterno," the board of trustees said in a report that explained his firing.

That decision prompted rioting by Penn State students, overturning a news van and clashing with police, who used tear gas to break up throngs of angry protesters.

Wick Sollers, a lawyer for the Paterno family, issued a statement following CNN's disclosure of the purported e-mails asserting that "the e-mails in question did not originate with Joe Paterno or go to him as he never personally utilized e-mail."

Sollers noted that Paterno, "from the beginning ... warned against a rush to judgment in this case. Coach Paterno testified truthfully, to the best of his recollection, in the one brief appearance he made before the grand jury. As he testified, when informed of an incident involving Jerry Sandusky in 2001, Coach Paterno followed university procedures and promptly and fully informed his superiors. He believed the matter would be thoroughly and professionally investigated and he did not interfere with or attempt to compromise any investigation."

The Pennsylvania attorney general's office is also investigating what Penn State knew about the 2001 incident and how it was handled.

Meanwhile, Spanier, the ousted president, has maintained that he was never informed of any incident involving Sandusky that described sexual abuse or criminality.

Spanier's attorneys have said he "wanted the Freeh Group to create an accurate report and has been determined to assist in any way he can."

According to the board of trustees, Spanier was fired in November because "he failed to meet his leadership responsibilities."


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Twisting Gausewitz into Universal Objective Justification

Gausewitz died in 1927.
A Man of Unusual Talents.

Compare the final question under the First Commandment from these edtions of Gausewitz's catechism:

1932: "What blessings do we derive from this obedience of our Savior? He that believes in Him is justified in the sight of God, and learns to follow Him."


1956: "What blessings are ours through Christ's perfect obedience? We are justified in the sight of God and learn to follow our Savior."

***

GJ -  This proves what California has argued for a long time - that the odious changes in WELS began long before people suspected. If a congregation did not recycle their old Gausewitz edition, the 1956 prevailed ever since, setting up the sect for the blatant Kuske UOJ blue catechism.

Almost everyone confirmed with the older Gausewitz is already retired or shovel-ready.

The editing with this sentence is subtle. There is no obvious denial of justification by faith. Naturally, the liars who promote UOJ still claim they support justification by faith - even though they oppose it. 

False doctrine does not openly oppose sound doctrine. The better scheme is to supplant it slowly, gradually, stealthily. Anyone can understand the 1956 sentence as justification by faith, even though "he that believes in Him" has been removed.

Thus, according to UOJ, everyone in the world has already been forgiven of all sins, even before birth, so "we are justified in the sight of God" really means grace without the Word, without the Means of Grace - and most importantly - without faith.

The language of the revision can also be used with Jay Webber's phrase about everyone forgiven "IN CHRIST" when he clearly does not know what he is talking about.

So the chief article of the Christian faith, justification by faith, has been supplanted by rewriting a faithful catechism and bending it toward apostasy. Error loves ambiguities.

Now several generations have been so completely brainwashed in UOJ that they imagine it has always been taught. 

I am holding a 1982 Robert Preus essay, printed by Concordia Cemetery, Ft. Wayne, distributed at Bethany Cemetery, Mankato, where justification without faith (Huber's position) is clearly and unequivocally repudiated. The same quotations were used in Justification and Rome, but Rolf Preus, who grew up after that essay was written, insists that his father always taught UOJ. Two publications say otherwise.

There is a definite UOJ strand in the Synodical Conference, which was founded by Pietists, where Halle University was the Jerusalem, and Knapp the last of the Old Guard. Walther taught the Pietist flavor of Easter absolution, beloved by Rambach and Jay Webber. 

Walther made sure his obedient disciples took over the training at St. Louis. Some of them founded the repugnant Wauwatosa theology in WELS.

But justification by faith was and is still being taught in Missouri and WELS. The German LCMS catechism taught justification by faith, without veering off into UOJ. The original Gausewitz did too.

I also have a copy of the CPH catechism, KJV style, which is also silent on UOJ but teaches justification by faith. The KJV catechism is still in print at CPH.

But Rolf Preus, preening for his pals at the Skunk Patch, said Pastor Harley "soiled himself" in teaching justification by faith. No one ever brought charges against Pastor Harley or had much to say against his exegesis.

The provocateur of Kokomo, Papenfuss (WELS), admitted to his members that he never heard of UOJ until he got to Mequon. Nevertheless, two families were kicked out of WELS for NOT agreeing with J. P. Meyer's three statements and the fourth statement from the Norwegian/Augustana debate. Sig Becker and the seminary defended UOJ.

VirtueOnline - News.WELS Has Practiced Open Communion for Decades, Without Admitting It

How many things are wrong with this photo?
It is real, relevant, and relational.

VirtueOnline - News:


GC2012: The Episcopal Church Moves One Step Closer to Open Table

Michael Heidt in Indianapolis
www.virtueonline.org
July 11, 2012

On passing resolution C029 in the house of Deputies, the Episcopal Church is now one step closer to tacitly recognizing the practice of "open table", in which unbaptized persons are admitted to Holy Communion. By acknowledging the increasing incidence of "open table", and failing to censure it, the House of Deputies encourages the Episcopal Church to break with its own canons and the practice of the wider church since the days of the Apostles.

C029 reaffirms that the sacrament of Baptism is "is the ancient and normative entry point to receiving Holy Communion and that our Lord Jesus Christ calls us to go into the world and baptize all peoples." However, while stressing that Baptism is normative, the resolution does not state that it is prescriptive.

At the end of its second Resolve, C029 states, "We also acknowledge that in various local contexts there is the exercise of pastoral sensitivity with those who are not yet baptized." In this instance, "pastoral sensitivity" is the admission of people to Communion without being baptized. This is against the law of the Episcopal Church as stated in Canon 1.17.7: "No unbaptized person shall be eligible to receive Holy Communion in this Church."

In an attempt to bring the resolution into accordance with Episcopal Church law, Canon Michell of the Diocese of Dallas moved that the last two lines of the resolution be struck out. Deputy Newman from the Diocese of Los Angeles disagreed, arguing that "the reality we all live in is the tension that we experience when someone puts their hands out (to receive Communion) and the law book says no."

Deputy Loeb from the Diocese of Georgia believed that open table was wrong, "make the font open," he said, "have that be the way to the table." But a clerical deputy from the Diocese of New Hampshire spoke vehemently in favor, "We are crazy Christians." she exclaimed, "because we have a crazy God. Many of us do offer open table." For her, the resolution was a "both and."

Canon Michell's motion to amend failed and C029 went to the vote as written. The resolution passed and will now go to the House of Bishops for final approval. If it passes through that House, the Episcopal Church may be justly accused of breaking the universal law of the wider catholic church of which it claims to be a part and the Prayer Book's Article XXIX, which states:

"The Wicked, and such as be void of a lively faith, although they do carnally and visibly press with their teeth (as Saint Augustine saith) the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ, yet in no wise are they partakers of Christ: but rather, to their condemnation, do eat and drink the sign or Sacrament of so great a thing."

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The CORE's Statistics - During Mark Schroeder's Watch: "We Are Getting More Confessional"

WELS members should ask why Holy Mother Synod has over $500,000 to buy a failed bar in downtown Appleton, a few blocks from a real WELS church, and even more money to fix up the bar.

---

Your offering money at work, WELS.
Why it hardly got out the door, down the street, and it landed here.
Recycle.

My secret Appleton source:

Reader question: I have driven past Revolution on Franklin Street a couple times recently and noticed that the “available” sign is down. Did somebody lease finally lease the building and what is going to be in there?


Answer: That vacant building at 222 W. Franklin St., at the corner of Superior Street in Appleton, was purchased in a deal that closed Friday.

The new owner is The CORE, a church group that previously held services in the former Big Picture theater and then the OuterEdge Stage in downtown Appleton.

The Core is an outreach ministry of St. Peter Lutheran Church in Freedom.

“We’re not a standalone congregation. We’re a second campus,” said campus pastor Jim Skorzewski, who is known as Pastor Ski. “The Revolution building fell into our lap. It’s been a blessing.”

His congregation tends to be on the young side, mostly under age 35. Worship includes live bands. The Core will continue to hold its Sunday evening worship services at OuterEdge until this building is ready in September.

“We were never looking for a building, but we we’re always looking for a building,” he said. “We didn’t want to be a church that gets a building and then its vision and mission fall to the back burner because everything turns into paying the mortgage. We wanted to put our dollars into flesh and blood, people and relationships.”

Online, real estate listings show the asking price was $850,000. Outagamie County records listed its 2011 fair market value at about $523,000.

“We paid closer to fair market value,” said Jeff Ulman, a member of the church’s executive committee. “George Karl worked with us and helped us out extensively.”

George Karl, head coach of the Denver Nuggets and former coach of the Milwaukee Bucks, owned the building.

The purchase was handled through a church extension fund, said Skorzewski.

“We received a wonderful grant and loan from WELS, the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. Our remodeling was covered by the loan from WELS.”

Church volunteers are already inside working on the renovation. The church draws about 250 people on a typical Sunday.


Revolution was the last nightclub that operated in the Franklin Street building. It was open for about six months, until July 2010. Prior to that, the club had been opened and closed by several operators under the names Tom’s Garage, The Garage and Pulse Nightclub.

Skorzewski said the church would not keep the full liquor license that went with the building. If they chose to host wedding receptions in the building in the future, he said they would apply for a beer and wine license.

This is at least the fourth building in the Fox Cities to be converted from a business into a church in recent years, including structures that previously housed the Vineyard (now Living Faith), SK Flooring (now the Mission Church) and Big Picture (now Christ's Church of the Valley).

Note that in the printed version of this story in The Post-Crescent, the church in the Big Picture was incorrect. It is correct above.

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"We don't have any loan money left for your congregation.
We gave it to Ski and Glende for remodeling their bar,
the one with Craig Groeschel on tap.
But we are getting more confessional."

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Pastor emeritus Nathan Bickel has left a new comment on your post "The CORE's Statistics - During Mark Schroeder's Wa...": 

Ichabod -

You say:

"WELS members should ask why Holy Mother Synod has over $500,000 to buy a failed bar in downtown Appleton, a few blocks from a real WELS church, and even more money to fix up the bar."

Here's my theory:

There are no limits to which the WELS will go to attempt to keep up with the culture. I think that certain personalities in WELS high places desire to change the public perception, that WELS is cosmopolitan - and, that it is a place for all people to make their "church home." Such perception though, is not Scriptural, as all one has to do is read and think about Christ's Parable of the Sower and the Seed. When a church body basically ignores the Holy Spirit and His work, its efforts to permeate the culture will always be of a fleshly nature. Hence, the shift to the teaching and preaching of universal objective justification, contrary to Christ's words found in Matthew 7 about the Narrow Gate.

Nathan M. Bickel

www.thechristianmessage.org

www.moralmatters.org