VirtueOnline - News - GC2012 - GC2012: The Episcopal Church Boldly Goes Where No Man Has Gone Before. Bishop Katie Warns - "Watch Out World, We're Coming!"

VirtueOnline - News - GC2012 - GC2012: The Episcopal Church Boldly Goes Where No Man Has Gone Before:


GC2012: The Episcopal Church Boldly Goes Where No Man Has Gone Before

By Michael Heidt
www.virtueonline.org
July 13, 2012

The 77th General Convention of the Episcopal Church, one of the largest bi-cameral legislative bodies in the world, is over. What did it achieve? The church's leader, Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori, gave the world a clue in her sermon at the event's opening Eucharist. "We must boldly go," she preached, "where Jesus has gone before."

She would have done better to stick with the Star Trek original because by end of business on Thursday, July 12, the Episcopal Church had passed a series of resolutions taking the small denomination into uncharted space.

By overwhelming majorities in both the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies, the Episcopal Church scored an historic first, brokering transsexualism into church law. With the passage of the "transgender twins," resolutions D019 and D002, it's now against church law to exclude people who have had sex-changes from the life of the church at any level. Watch out, world, for the first ever "trans" bishop.

In similar vein, both Houses gave a resounding thumbs-up to gay-marriage, breaking with Scripture and twenty centuries of Christian tradition, to authorize rites for same-sex blessing. I Will Bless You and You Will Be a Blessing is due to hit the pews on the first Sunday of Advent, December 2, 2012. Realizing that a small minority of bishops and dioceses are against this unprecedented step, the gay-marriage resolution, A049, contains a conscience clause. No one has to use this innovative liturgical resource, at least not yet.

Far-sighted observers of the Anglican Communion and its North American franchise may remember that similar language, nearly word for word, was employed in the legislation that introduced another first into the church in the halcyon days of the 1970s. No bishop had to ordain women then; now they do. Bets are off on the likelihood of the gay-marriage conscience clause remaining for any appreciable length of time.

Some will inevitably argue, correctly, that such a thing goes against the church's non-discrimination policy, enshrined in Title I, Canon 17, Section 5 of the church's law. This states that, "No one shall be denied rights, status or access to an equal place in the life, worship, and governance of this Church because of... sexual orientation." It's a small step from that to passing a resolution at a future Convention mandating same-sex blessing.

But for now, the few remaining traditional bishops and dioceses in the Episcopal Church don't have to celebrate gay-marriage, and these made a fight-back, of sorts, at the Convention. A Minority Report, condemning the transgender and same-sex innovations, was read from the floor of the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies. By the time the report had reached the Deputies, on the last day of the Convention, 14 bishops had signed on to it.

The report, "Indianapolis Statement," which stands for all the things that the Episcopal Church is busy legislating against, such as Scripture, the teaching of the Prayer Book and apostolic tradition, amounts to a dissent, and a brave one at that. But where will it lead?

This was made abundantly clear; the signers of the Indianapolis Statement announced their goal to both Houses, stating that their intent was to "keep conservatives in the Episcopal Church and liberals in the Anglican Communion." Well you can't get much more inoffensive than that; hardly the stuff on which to rally North American Anglicanism for the historic faith of the Gospel. Good luck, traditional bishops, with keeping your liberal enemies "at the table," but don't be surprised when your irenic colleagues use the not inconsiderable sum of $12 million, earmarked in the church's budget for legal costs, to sue you for disloyalty.

Returning to the business of the Convention; much was made of the church's need to turn the denomination's 50,000 member shrinkage per annum around. As the church's Chief Operating Officer, bishop Stacey Sauls, reminded prelates in the House of Bishops, the days of doing "business as usual" are over. To that end, the Episcopal Church passed a "missional" budget dedicating 42% of its triennial income of over $111 million to administration and governance, $1million is set aside for church planting. Mission and growth? You do the math.

But maybe, just maybe, the emptying churches in Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori's declining dominion will start to fill with the massive North American transsexual demographic, as the Episcopal Church draws its circle ever wider to include people who opt for gender reassignment surgery. Who knows, perhaps the heady lure of provisional same-sex blessings will add some much needed ballast to the Episcopal Church's bottom line.

Don't hold your breath. The same failed anti-gospel policies of pansexualism and gender politics that have proved so spectacularly successful in driving normal Christians out of the church, that have resulted in millions of dollars spent on litigation, and brought schism to the Anglican Communion, to say nothing of the wreckage of decades of ecumenical endeavor in the wider church - these same policies were all in play at this year's General Convention.

The Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church claims to have "re-imagined" the church, and in a final press briefing she warns us, "Watch out, world. We're coming."

The world knows what to expect, yet another three years of church killing, liberal snake oil masquerading as Christianity. Don't be surprised if anyone except the deliberately blind are fooled.

END




'via Blog this'

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Episcopal Church General Convention 2012: Maybe We're Just Nuts

By Ladson F. Mills III
Special to Virtueonline
www.virtueonline.org
July 19, 2012

Dr. Samuel Johnson the famous British writer observed that people do not need to be taught as much as they need to be reminded. Perhaps this is the reason that whatever comes out of The General Convention of The Episcopal Church (even the good things) seems irritating. It is reminiscent of humor writer Dave Barry's observation of the way some preachers decry hell from pulpits on Sundays. It leaves one with the impression their parishioners spent Saturday at the local travel agency booking a trip. When not reaffirming the obvious we are celebrating the inane.

What are the results from the fifteen million dollars plus spent on this year's convention? Same sex trial liturgies approved, to the surprise of no one, and barriers are now removed for employing and ordaining the transgendered. No wonder the reaction from the world is a laugh when it is not a yawn. After thirty years as a parish priest I cannot claim to have seen it all but transgender issue in the parish is one I escaped. Perhaps it is easier to proclaim this a victory rather than deal with the deterioration of our denomination.

Saturday Morning Meeting with Mark Zuckerberg and Clay Matthews

Today I attended the Walmart Saturday Morning Meeting for executives. Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, was the featured guest. The parking lot was jammed. The visitors poured out the doors. The auditorium and cafeteria were packed.

Facebook has around one billion users and one thousand engineers. The CEO of Walmart featured two saying of Facebook culture that he really liked.

1. Done is better than perfect. Facebook encourages quick changes and taking risks. The problem with perfection is falling behind and being defensive. They have summer interns who make all of Facebook stop working. Although that is a catastrophe, they use those shut-downs to learn why it happened that a newbie could break the whole business with a little code.

2. What would you do if you were not afraid? This is a good saying for everyone dealing with technology. We do not like feeling dumb. We do not want to break things or get into trouble. We naturally want to play it safe. The people who are pioneers do just the opposite and make enormous mistakes. Walmart laughs about horrible purchase decisions because they learn from them.

Clay Matthews of the Green Bay Packers also spoke today. An interesting insight is that he was not so good in his early years, when his own father was the defensive coach, so he did not play. He worked on his deficits and became a leading college and pro player.

He was funny and articulate. 

The Awfulness of Kuske's Talmudic Catechism

Every time someone asked me, "Which catechism do you use?" I said - "Luther's." That always prompted an exchange where the edition was narrowed down. I bought inexpensive editions of the Small Catechism by itself and used those.

I like the layout of the Gausewitz, because the Biblical passages are in the back. However, every edition gives the printers a chance to muck up the original work. Like the Bible, the original gets lost in the political agenda of the fiends who decide to improve upon it.

I have a master's degree in education, and I teach graduate courses in education. In the last decade I have taught thousands of students and used many textbooks. Kuske's book, which is far more Kuske (and the worst of WELS) is one of the worst ever. The blue book reminds me of the Talmud, whose pages are explained below.

Luther's Small Catechism is a masterpiece, but the work is lost in the clutter of Kuske. The book begins with a tepid and misleading description of the Reformation. Oh, how carefully the author avoids justification by faith, which is now an evil phrase in WELS and suspect in much of Missouri. UOJ is introduced, in subtle form, on page 22 of the 1982 edition.

Next the author launches into a large section on knowledge of God and the Bible. This is done with questions and answers, numbered, and NIV quotations. Blue print and clip art makes it even worse.

How effective has this been? WELS is the most anti-Biblical, anti-Confessional sect among the Lutherans today. They are worse than ELCA because they are dishonest about what they really teach and practice.

Digging. Digging. I finally found the beginning of Luther's Small Catechism - page 53 of Kuske's epic tome.

He stands on Luther with both feet to introduce Universal Objective Justification, which is completely opposed to the Biblical doctrine taught by the Reformer. The method reminds me of Karl Barth and Charlotte Kirschbaum, whose adulterous relationship fueled the dogma of Fuller Seminary - using Christian doctrine to replace faith in Christ with Marxist slogans. Oh yes, Father Barth sent his honey-bun to the big Communist shindig. She was the brains of the team anyway and a lot better looking.

The real dogma of WELS is - Our radicals can do no wrong. They have embossed that on every mind washed and re-washed at Mequon and New Ulm. Outside the UOJ/Church Growth fraternity, everyone is fair game. That fraternity runs the show and runs off with the offering money. For examples - see Glende's St. Peter Freedom and Downtown Bar Church.

Or - Rick Johnson in Corona, California.

Or - Randy Hunter.

Or - Jeff Gunn, whose imitations of Rick Warren converted Jon Buchholz from persecutor to apostle, a change more dramatic than Paul's on the road to Damascus. Scales fell from the DP's eyes and he saw for the first time that WELS needs leaders like Jeff Gunn. Soon we will hear Jon singing the new CCM classic, "Jesus Is My Rice," words by Gunn, tune by Sesame Street Productions.

Or - the Godfather Hisself - Kudu Don Patterson, Great White Hunter. They are so po' they need a free vicar each year. But they are so rich they can build a new church next to Doebler's Rock and Rock effort in Round Rock. But they are so rich they can give $40,000 to the WELS/LCMS fund-raising business started by Ron Roth.

Don't worry - when those money-burning efforts flop, the news will be buried in a blizzard of happy news items. 

When you hunt Kudu Deer in Africa,
you rub shoulders with Donald Trump.

Schmid - Justification by Faith

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schmid/theology.vi.iii.iv.html

[1] QUEN. (IV, 286): “The immediate effect of faith is the remission of sins, adoption, justification, union with Christ, access to God, and peace of conscience. Among these effects of faith, justification is the principal, to which all the rest can be referred.”

[2] QUEN. (III, 526): “Justification is the external, judicial, gracious act of the most Holy Trinity, by which a sinful man, whose sins are forgiven, on account of the merit of Christ apprehended by faith, is accounted just, to the praise of God’s glorious grace and justice and to the salvation of the justified.”

[3] BR. (574): “For with and through faith man is at once justified; so that the act by which faith is conferred upon man, and the act by which man is justified, are simultaneous, although faith is by nature first in order and justification subsequent to it.”

[4] BR. (574): “Justification has a forensic sense, and denotes that act by which God, the judge, pronounces righteous the sinner responsible for guilt and liable to punishment, but who believes in Jesus.”

CHMN. (Loc. c. Th., II, 250): “Paul everywhere describes justification as a judicial process, because the conscience of the sinner accused by the divine Law before the tribunal of God, convicted and lying under the sentence of eternal condemnation, but fleeing to the throne of grace, is restored, acquitted, delivered from the sentence of condemnation, is received into eternal life, on account of the obedience and intercession of the Son of God, the Mediator, which is apprehended and applied by faith.” According to this, justification signifies to pronounce righteous. FORM. CONC. (Sol. Dec., III, 17): “The word justification signifies in this matter to pronounce righteous, to absolve from sins and the eternal punishment of sins on account of Christ’s righteousness, which is imputed to faith by God.” BR. (575): “Although the Latin word justificare is compounded of the adjective justus and the verb facere, it does not denote in general usage, and especially in the Scriptures when sinful man is said to be justified before God, the infusion of an habitual righteousness, but, according to the import of the Hebrew word הִצְדִּיק (2 Sam. 15:4; Deut. 25:1), and the word427δικαιουν in the Septuagint and Paul (Rom. 3 and 4), the Latin justificare is also transferred from an outward to a spiritual court, at which men are placed as before a divine tribunal, and are acquitted after the case has been heard and sentence has been pronounced.” According to the Catholic doctrine, “justify” is equivalent in import to making righteous; making a righteous person out of a wicked one. In opposition to this, AP. CONF. (III, 131): “Justification signifies not to make a wicked person righteous, but in a forensic sense to pronounce righteous.” QUEN. (III, 515): “These words δικαιουν and הִצְדִּיק, nowhere and never in the whole Scriptures, even when not used in reference to the justification of the sinner before God, signify justification by the infusion of new qualities; but whenever they are used of God justifying the wicked before His tribunal they have a forensic signification.” GRH. (VII, 4 sq.) thus gives the Scripture proof in detail: “The forensic signification (of the word δικαιουν) is proved, (1) because it denotes a judicial act, not only without reference to the doctrine of gratuitous justification before God (Is. 5:23; Deut. 25:1; 2 Sam. 15:4; Ps. 82:3; Is. 43:9), but also in the very article of justification (Ps. 143:2; Job 9:2, 3; Luke 18:14); (2) because it is opposed to condemnation (Deut. 25:1; 1 Kings 8:32; Prov. 17:15; Matt. 12:37; Rom. 5:16; 8:33, 34); (3) because itscorrelatives are judicial. For a judgment is mentioned, Ps. 143:2; a judge, John 5:27; a tribunal, Rom. 14:10; a criminal, Rom. 3:19; a plaintiff, John 5:45; a witness, Rom. 2:15; an indictment, Col. 2:14; an obligation, Matt. 18:24; an advocate, 1 John 2:1; an acquittal, Ps. 32:1. The Law accuses the sinner before the judgment-seat of God, that he may be subject to the judgment of God. Rom. 3:19. Conscience concurs with this accusation of the Law, Rom. 2:15. Since, in consequence of sin, the whole nature of man and all his works are miserably contaminated, he discovers nothing to oppose to the judgment of God; the Law therefore hurls the thunder of its curse and condemnation upon man convicted of sin, but the Gospel presents Christ the Mediator, who by His most perfect obedience has atoned for our sins. To Him the sinner, terrified and condemned by the Law, flees by true faith, opposes this righteousness of Christ to the sentence of God and the condemnation of the Law, and in view of, and by the imputation of this, he is justified, that is, freed from the sentence of condemnation and pronounced righteous; (4) because the equivalent phrases are judicial. To be justified is to be not called into judgment, Ps. 143:2; to be not condemned, John 3:18; not to come into condemnation, John 5:24; not to be judged, John 3:18. The publican went down to his house justified, 428that is, acquitted of his sins, Luke 18:14. Paul explains justification by ‘imputing for righteousness,’ Rom. 4:3, 5; by ‘covering iniquities’; by ‘not imputing sin,’ 5:7; by ‘remitting sins,’ Rom. 3:25; by ‘forgiving trespasses,’ Col. 2:13. Here belong the phrases: ‘to be reconciled to God,’ Rom. 5:10; ‘to be made righteous,’ 5:19; ‘to partake of the blessing,’ Eph. 1:3; ‘to receive remission of sins,’ Acts 10:43; ‘to be saved,’ Acts 4:12. Comp. the parable,Matt. 18:27.”

[5] BR. (577): “Justification does not mean a real and internal change of man.” HOLL. (928): “Justification is a judicial, and that, too, a gracious act, by which God, reconciled by the satisfaction of Christ, acquits the sinner who believes in Christ of the offenses with which he is charged, and accounts and pronounces him righteous. Since this action takes place apart from man, in God, it cannot intrinsically change man. For, as a debtor for whom another pays his debt, so that he is considered released from the debt, undergoes not an intrinsic but an extrinsic change in regard to his condition, so the sinner who is reputed and pronounced free from his sins, on account of the satisfaction of Christ applied by true faith, is changed, not intrinsically, but extrinsically, with respect to his better condition. The point from which this external change takes place (terminus a quo) is the state of being responsible for guilt and liable to punishment; because thereby the sinner remains in a state of sin and wrath (Rom. 4:7; Eph. 1:7; 2 Cor. 5:19). The point to which it conducts (teminus ad quem) is the state of grace and righteousness; because God, remitting the offenses of the sinner who believes in Christ, receives him into favor, and imputes to him the righteousness of Christ (Rom. 4:5, 6;Gal. 3:6; 2 Cor. 5:21; Phil. 3:9; Rom. 5:19).” To the last, BR. (579) remarks in addition: “Some refer to this place the privileges of the sons of God, and the inheritance of eternal life, which is conferred or adjudged to us in God’s account. Some add the dignity of the reward of righteousness which we obtain in this act of justification. But others, and probably the majority, distinguish the act by which the sonship, or the inheritance, or the privilege of reward is conferred on the faithful from justification, and consider them as its consequences . . . . The Scriptures also frequently distinguish between these two things, viz., freedom from the condemnation of sin, with power to become the sons of God, and the heavenly inheritance, of which the latter implies the former, and is furnished to the justified by a subsequent and new gift, viz., that when the judgment is finished, the sonship or adoption referred to in Rom. 8:15, 23; Gal. 4:5; Eph. 1:5 will take place.”

429

[6] QUEN. (III, 524): “Our justification before God consists in the remission and non-imputation of sins and the imputation of righteousness of Christ.” The FORM. CONC. sometimes presents both these expressions conjointly, and sometimes it describes the sentence of justification as having reference only to the remission of sins. It says (Epit., III, 4): “We believe that our righteousness before God consists in this, that the Lord forgives us our sins through mere grace . . . . For He gives and imputes to us the righteousness of the obedience of Christ; on account of this righteousness we are received into favor by God, and are accounted just.” And it says (Sol. Dec., III, 9): “Concerning the righteousness of faith, we confess that the sinner is justified before God, i.e., is absolved from all his sins and from the sentence of most righteous condemnation, and adopted into the number of the children of God and regarded as an heir of eternal life.” . . . The same course is adopted by other Dogmaticians. No difference is thereby intended in the matter itself. BR. mentions, as the form of justification, only the forgiveness of sins, because he presupposes the imputation of the righteousness of Christ as that upon which the forgiveness if based. He says (588): “It is certain that, when we call the form of justification the forgiveness or non-imputation of sins, the imputation of the righteousness of Christ is not excluded, . . . nor the imputation of this faith itself for righteousness. That is, we mean to say, that the imputation of the righteousness of Christ, and of faith itself, is only logically prior to that forensic act of justification by which men are absolved from the guilt of sins; for to the question, Why does God justify man? the a priori explanation is given, Because God imputes to man the righteousness or merit of Christ apprehended by faith, or so judges it to belong to man that he is on this account absolved from the guilt of his sins.” Other Dogmaticians express themselves differently in regard to the relation existing between the forgiveness of sins and the imputation of the righteousness of Christ.

QUEN. (ib.): “These parts (so to speak) are not different or distinct essentially (τω ειναι), but merely logically (τω λογω); for the imputation of Christ’s righteousness is essentially nothing else than the remission of sins, and the remission of sins is nothing else than the imputation of Christ’s righteousness, so that either word separately taken expresses the whole nature of justification. Whence the apostle Paul, Rom. 4, interchanges the forgiveness of sins and the imputation of righteousness in his description of justification, which he sometimes defines as the forgiveness of sins, and sometimes as the imputation of righteousness. For, as it can properly be said 430that at one and the same time, and by one and the same action, the expulsion of darkness from the atmosphere is the introduction of light, so one and the same wicked man, at one and the same time, and by the very same act of justification, is both freed from guilt and pronounced righteous.” HOLL. (915): “Remission of sins and the imputation of Christ’s righteousness are inseparable and closely-united acts; but distinct, indeed, in form, as the first is privative, and the other positive, and as the one results immediately from the passive obedience of Christ, the other from His active obedience. We do not deny, meanwhile, that the one may properly be inferred from the other, for there is no sinner, whose sins are pardoned, but has the righteousness of Christ imputed, and the reverse.”

From Pastor Nathan Bickel - The Righteous

The Righteous

Please note: 

The entire brief article [below] can be viewed on “The Christian Message” website with the highlighted Scripture links for quick viewing reference:

http://www.thechristianmessage.org/2012/07/righteous-the-christian-message-summer.html

"When He shall come with trumpet sound, oh, may I then in Him be found; clothed in His righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne. On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand; all other ground is sinking sand."

[TLH - CPH; c. 1941 - "My Hope is Built on Nothing Less"]

The "righteous" are those who are "clothed" with the “spiritual garments” (holy “clothes”) of Christ – His person and perfection. They will be afforded a place in God's kingdom (heaven). Matthew 22:1-14 is a parable of Jesus, which helps in our understanding of this “covering” of Christ’s righteousness. Also, we have Scripture’s further description - Philippians 3:8;9:

"Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith" - Philippians 3:8; - KJV

The righteous are children of God. They, by faith, have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and are God's children [Galatians 3:22-29] as opposed to those who are God's "children of wrath," and "children of disobedience." Ephesians 2:3 ; Ephesians 5:6

Psalm 1:1-6 - You are either righteous or wicked. There are no gray areas with the Triune God.

Question: How do you obtain Christ’s righteousness to be righteous?

Sinful souls are made righteous by God, by His grace, through faith:

Please note: The bold lettering below, is for emphasis of God's grace (undeserved mercy and kindness) and, also for belief and faith.

Ephesians 2:1 - "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;" - KJV

Ephesians 2:4 - "But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us," - KJV

Ephesians 2:5 - "Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)" - KJV

Ephesians 2:8;9;10 - "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." - KJV

Titus 3:5;6;7 - "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; that being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life." - KJV

Romans 1:16 - "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." - KJV

Romans 1:17 - "For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, the just shall live by faith." - KJV

Rom 3:22;23;24;25;26 - "Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus." - KJV

Romans 4:3 - "For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness." - KJV

Romans 4:5 - "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." – KJV

Romans 4:6 - "Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works," - KJV

Romans 4:11 - "And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also:" - KJV

Romans 4:13 - "For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith." - KJV

Galatians 2:16 - "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified." - KJV

Please Reference: The Gospel of John 1:1-21 ; also: John 3:36

See also: Hebrews 11:6 - noting that it is faith which pleases God.

Finally, it must be noted that the whole salvation (rescue) process of a human soul from eternal damnation and alienation from God, [in hell] is initiated by the Triune God. It is His work entirely, from beginning until end. [Jeremiah 31:18;19 ; John 1:12;13 ; James 1:16] And, that act is accomplished through the means of the Word of God (the Gospel). See:  Romans 1:16 ; Romans 10:17 ; 1 Peter 1:23 

Note:  This same above article can be viewed on “The Christian Message” – www.thechristianmessage.org - http://www.thechristianmessage.org/2012/07/righteous-the-christian-message-summer.html

Also:  Type in the following related message titles in the search box or go to Topical Christian Messages -- by Subject link at the top right of the home page:

·                     The Grace of Repentance – thechristianmessage.org

·                      

·                     Cheap Grace is a Worthless Substitute for a Faith That Saves – thechristianmessage.org

·                      

·                     What is the Gospel? How is it perverted? – thechristianmessage.org

·                      

Finally, again - The entire [above] article can be viewed on “The Christian Message” website with the highlighted Scripture links for quick viewing reference:

http://www.thechristianmessage.org/2012/07/righteous-the-christian-message-summer.html

Pastor emeritus Nathan Bickel

www.thechristianmessage.org

www.moralmatters.org

The Nightclub Had No PULSE, And the Revolution Failed.Now the $500,000+ Bar Will Be The CORE

Copying the 2009 post about The CORE reminded me how much Deputy Doug Engelbrecht ignored all the local opposition, from pastors and the laity. Read the comments near the bottom of that post.

According to the anonymous logic of Tim Glende and sycophants, anyone who opposes his Groeschel-Stanley factory is a false teacher and crazy, a slow-motion train wreck.

That must be how he views his WELS opponents in Fox Valley, because they are many - even though they have suffered from the same bad education provided by the Wisconsin Sect. But some of them may be old fuddy-duddies who actually opened some Lutheran books and did some studying. I know for a fact that They. Studied. Greek.

But how could they oppose the edu-tainment facilities at The CORE movie theater/bar when They. Studied. Greek. And they also had Eight. Years. Of. Study?

The Pulse bar lasted a few years before it became weak and thready.

Can you picture Ski as a DJ at The CORE?

Boilermaker with a Jaegermeister sidecar? Coming up!
And in sec - Andy Stanley's rendition of "Strangers in the Night."

Can they top this?
Of course, the Pulse went silent and the Revolution failed.

WELS can do no wrong.

WELS Member Staggered by the Price of the Failed Bar, New Home for The CORE.WELS Offerings Bought It - Amount Not Disclosed

WELS offering money provide a grant to buy this failed, closed bar.
Even more money was loaned by WELS to convert it to The CORE's edu-tainment center,
a few blocks from St. Paul, WELS, in Appleton.

 This fiasco was led by the Booze Brothers,
Glende and Ski.
If you do not like their sexual harassment of staff,
"See you in court." They sue.

I saw WELS latest “bar room” sacristy 4 blocks down from St. Paul’s in Appleton last weekend. This is what they bought for $500,000.00 in a downtown that is actually dying to the point they have to conduct farmer’s markets on Wisconsin Avenue (main street downtown Appleton) to attract people to go down there on a Saturday? Otherwise it’s a ghost town? If they paid that much for that building, I want to go in the real estate business and sell exclusively to the WELS. I understand this was purchased through the “Core” (as in “rotton as”) and not St. Pauls. So how does this Christian bar and grill “shill” for St. Pauls? Or are they two distinct and separate ministries. If so how does that work 4 blocks from one another?

[GJ - I want to be the guy who sold WELS a second office building for almost $3 million when the old one was unsold. Most people sell their homes before buying a second one, or they place a contingency offer so they are not stuck with two at once.

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GJ - The CORE pretends to be a separate congregation, but it is the evening service of St. Peter in Freedom, a congregation with a huge budget and staff.

Ron Ash was the chairman of Church and Change and the pastor of St. Peter in Freedom. Glende was the assistant pastor at first. Now there are four pastors, counting Ski, who is not listed on the staff on the website. Dishonesty is policy at St. Peter in Freedom.

Somehow The CORE is treated as a completely different entity when convenient, but the sheep-stealing operation has members join St. Peter since The CORE is not a parish at all.

These Church and Change projects are approved and supported by SP Schroeder and the WELS Love Shack staff. Jeff Gunn has one in Phoenix (joyously welcomed by Jon Buchholz). Patterson's guy in Indianapolis has another one. DP Patterson is doing the same in Austin-Round Rock, with the help of ex-SP Gurgle. There are more besides.

The Missouri Synod does the same thing on a grander scale. One of their largest congregations was listed as a member of Willow Creek's denomination and Missouri at the same time - St. John in Ellisville. The parish even featured a video of a pothead Jesus "celebrating" Holy Communion in the stupidest possible way. The pothead Jesus was played by the senior pastor. 

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Wendy has left a new comment on your post "WELS Member Staggered by the Price of the Failed B...":

Wow I knew that there is scandal in the wels synod but my goodness this is too much. The more I hear the more sick I feel. The Holy spirit has been showing me things for years not only in my personal associations with this cult but others as well. Judgement starts the pulpit God help them. I personally have had enough I'm out I can't help these people they see only what they want to see I have been treated horribly by this church not only as a employee but as a member its PC not politically correct POOR CONDUCT!!!!!!!!

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rlschultz has left a new comment on your post "WELS Member Staggered by the Price of the Failed B...":

This is why I tell everyone that Appleton is the armpit of the WELS. The lack of transparency is unsettling to those WELS members with a conscience. It is not surprising that the CORE purchased this for a princely sum. What is more surprising is that a bar actually went out of business in the state of Wisconsin. The WELS member is on to something when they point out that downtown Appleton is not what it used to be.

"we don't know where we're going".
This reminds me of the Synod Convention where it was announced that they wanted to start a Staff Ministry program at MLC. When asked what it was going to be, the answer was something like "well, we don't know just what it will be, but we need it".
The fact is that they knew all along what they wanted to do, they just were not disclosing it. 

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GJ - A first step would be demanding to know how this money was spent on The CORE. Their one-man fan club, Joel Lillo, has been unusually cranky lately, so I imagine the attention is getting to them.

Three Years Ago - Under the Leadership of Synod President Mark Schroeder

Vermiculatus Rex - The CORE's mascot.





Check out this link for videos posted by The CORE.


The CORE by the Numbers:

The CORE held its grand opening on April 19, 2009.

* $250,000 spent
* 200 average weekly attendance since the grand opening
* 15 members

The information for the above attendance numbers was gathered at St. Peter’s open forum on June 16, 2009 A.D., and the above numbers are current as of that date.

As of this week, The CORE has yet to serve the Lord’s Supper, and is waiting until special hand made communion-ware is manufactured. According to Pastor Glende, most new congregations do not serve the Lord’s Supper for several months. Once The CORE begins to serve communion, then they will have a better idea of how many of its attendees are members of other area WELS congregations.

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Quotations from the recently entertained:

This church just is totally alive, and you can feel that it’s blessed by God. And like the sign up here says … “To reach people no one else is reaching, we must do things no one else is doing.” And how Pastor Ski … will do anything short of sin to reach people.

--

The idea of getting real and talking about the issues that really matter. There are so many people that are struggling, and they don’t know where to go; and God is there, he wants to help us, he is just waiting for us to cry out to him.

--

It was so awesome when I walked in, and I heard the airport sound effects going. The whole atrium was set up to look like an airport, and we got to pick up our tickets. It was just so much fun.

The whole concept of “Baggage,” and being able to deliver that to Jesus is just fantastic.

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GJ - The facts and quotes listed above came from a member of the sponsoring congregation, St. Peter in Freedom, Wisconsin, part of the Fox Valley or A-town area. The retired pastor, Ron Ash, chairs Church and Change.

The material about The CORE makes me sick and extremely sad. I do not think I can joke about this fiasco anymore. Partly it is the money wasted, but even more it is the money lavished on creating a Groeschel franchise. For any of the WELS leaders to think this is a work of genius, an enormous amount of study with false teachers is absolutely essential.

The Shrinkers like to send anonymous comments like, "Why is this your business?" Of course, the Wisconsin sect feels free to comment disparagingly about all denominations, especially the ELS. Non-membership does not suggest a barrier to commentary. My despair comes from the decades of deliberate Lutheran abandonment of Biblical doctrine and worship. This abandonment has taken place in ELCA, Missouri, WELS, and somewhat in the wee little ELS. The Little Sect on the Prairie also has a Church and Change congregation, but I am sure their Board of Doctrine has jumped on that like a hobo on a hotdog.

Apathy and somnolence have created this problem. The watchmen on the towers of Zion have dosed off or taken bribes to play dumb.

The Word of God and the Confessions can set the course right again.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The CORE Numbers":

I wouldn't be so sure about ELS's Board of Doctrine jumping on their C & C congregation. That congregation even had a vicar last year.

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GJ - My typo! I meant the ELS Bored of Doctrine. You are right. They will do nothing. Besides, it is probably one of those experiments.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The CORE Numbers":

Dr. Jackson,

This news about the CORE (and the whole concept really) makes me feel ill as well. I was a member of St. Matthew in Appleton for over 20 years until I moved. I still have friends and family members there, though I have encouraged them to find a better church. That congregation has also been infested with Church Growth,and Ski was even allowed to preach there recently. That congregation was one large and vibrant. Since the CG crowd took over, the school has closed and the membership has probably dwindled to about half of what it once was. Meanwhile, the Shrinkers running the church have wasted a fortune on AV equipment and technology that has not done a single thing to expand the church's ministry.

If the synod had leaders had any spine, they would confront Ski now and force the CORE to close its so-called ministry. It should never have been allowed to happen in the first placel. One would think St. Paul, one block from the CORE, would be howling, but I've heard nothing.a Where is the DP? Where is the SP? Why are the other churches in the Fox Valley not fighting this thing? WELS leadership, churches, and members need to stand up now before it is too late, if it is not already.

$250,000 spent. How many teachers could that have kept in our schools or pastors in mission fields? When I read these things, I'm ashamed to be a member of the WELS.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The CORE Numbers":

"$250,000 spent. How many teachers could that have kept in our schools or pastors in mission fields? When I read these things, I'm ashamed to be a member of the WELS."

How much other money, millions possibly, has been hidden away for their special purposes? How much of the $8 million shortfall went missing the same way?

One thing for sure, the leaders are obstinate liars who care very little about WELS, WELS called workers, and you. While they revel in fantasized glory before God, they busy themselves destroying the church visible and invisible. They want it all gone for their Father Below.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The CORE Numbers":

Article VII of the Augsburg Confession had defined the Church as “the congregation of saints, in which the Gospel is rightly taught and the Sacraments are rightly administered.” It states that the Gospel taught rightly and the Sacraments administered according to the Gospel are the marks of the Church. Wherever these go one, there we know that the Church is present.
It's obvious that "The CORE" is not in fellowship with the rest of the synod and the leaders such as the District and even Synod Presidents should start taking immediate disciplinary action to remove them from the WELS roster. Anything less than that is unacceptable.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The CORE Numbers":

Regarding St. Paul's reaction to the CORE:

I'm a member of another WELS church (Riverview) close to the CORE and have friends who are members at St. Paul. Their pastors did howl about the CORE to their DP, SP, and circuit pastor. They even called the DP in for a special meeting to try to get some answers out of him.

My friends are not sure how far the pastors got in their objections. But they assume the complaining was mostly ignored, judging by the fact that absolutely nothing has been done to temper the CORE's enthusiasm (pun intended).

Thankfully, St. Paul has refused to compromise its traditional worship and strong teaching since the CORE moved in.

I have also heard from these friends that St. Paul is actually growing in membership and school enrollment, while the CORE's weekly attendance is already in decline as the novelty wears off for all of its WELS attendees.








Ski's DP Engelbrecht has CORE values. What does the Conference of Pussycats say?
They approved Rock N Roll Lutheran Church in Round Rock, Texas, and Randy Hunter's Latte Lutheran Church in Wisconsin. [GJ Update - The Latte Church closed, couches and lady pastor and all, but Randy Hunter is a featured WELS speaker.]
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Why not pose with me for a FB photo?

http://www.postcrescent.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=blogs04&plckController=Blog&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&U=9a8980f0-f726-439c-8c4e-1dc0f788941e&plckPostId=Blog%3a9a8980f0-f726-439c-8c4e-1dc0f788941ePost%3a3cf6aac3-07b0-4680-896f-c0c7cba770ba&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest


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 beer and snacks flesh and blood, people and relationships.”

WELS members - you gave them a grant and a loan to buy this bar.
Ask Keith Free and Mark Schroeder about their use and abuse of your offering money.
Another WELS congregation is several blocks away,
and they already had a downtown ministry.

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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Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Stinky Old Bar Sold for $500-850,000! Savoy, Illin...":

Multiple choice question:

Which "church" is Lutheran?

- Living Faith
- Mission Church
- The Core
- Christ's Church of the Valley

Answer:... wait for it....wait for it....