Pastor Nathan Bickel on UOJ

Icahabod:  Regarding your excellent recent posting:

“UOJ Questions Answered: Enthusiasm Breeds Enthusiasm: Church Growth and Pentecostal:”

http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2012/07/uoj-questions-answered-enthusiasm.html

Dr. Jackson -

Thank you for posting in this one article; Warren's comment and question, - and, especially, your excellent answer.

In this one article, you have presented the clear difference between the error of “universal objective justification” teaching, and that of Scripture.

Those of your opponents who call themselves [true] Christian Lutherans cannot successfully dispute you, on the basis of Scripture, the Book of Concord or Luther. Instead, I believe, they lash out at you behind the scenes, incorrectly accusing you of breaking the 8th Commandment, - when in reality, they should be welcoming your public rebuke. If they cannot bear your website pics, humor and style, it is their loss. That attitude only demonstrates [then] a lack of creativity on their part and a lack of loving tolerance, as every Christian has his own personality and gifts, - and, his own communication style.

Those who would dispute you, (but, apparently don't publicly do so, online - at least on Ichabod), are publicly teaching and preaching their damnable universal objective justification and then become upset when they are publicly called to account for their error. If you and they were living in times past, I have no doubt that you would have joined the likes of Jon Huss, burning at the stake. [Thank the good Lord for our American right of free speech, as put forth in the 1^st Amendment of the Bill of Rights! That, by the grace of God, helps to counteract the monopoly of error]

Furthermore, I think you stand in good tradition. Didn't Stephen proclaim the following about those who are were hard core and those who eschewed the truth?

Acts 7:51 - "Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye." - KJV

Yet, even when you have come online with your public rebukes, those warnings and presentations of rich Christian and Lutheran tradition, go unheeded. Instead you are accused of not talking to those [dissenters] in private about your weighty concerns. The same people, who fume about your public pronouncements against their false teaching of universal objective justification, etc. - continue to publicly teach and preach their false doctrine. Yet, they would like to impose upon you a double standard to suit themselves, - and hide their proliferation of false teaching. [Essentially, they would like you to clam up and only communicate with them in secret while they happily continue their public error, unopposed. Can you imagine Luther meeting in private with the Pope?]

Ichabod – I understand what you are uncovering and exposing. I can identify that which you point out. I have experienced [heard / seen] this false teaching of universalism in my own congregation and have even documented some of it, in some Ichabod postings you have published. Here’s just one:

http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2012/07/pastor-nathan-bickel-on-uoj-in-wels.html

Finally, I think that the reason that those in Lutheran high places cannot receive Ichabod's rebukes is that they have closed themselves off from rebuke, by their very own [incorrect] teaching. Recently in our WELS Bethel Bay County, Michigan congregation there was the Romans 12 Bible study about the gifts. The official WELS Bible study only categorized the gift of exhortation to mean encouragement. It did not include that the very same gift could also, include exhortation in form of rebuke, - such as Paul telling Peter to his face about his error [Galatians 2:11] and the thief on the cross entreating the other thief, demonstrating his faith by his (rebuking) exhortation. [Luke 23:39-43]

Ichabod - Continue to highlight what you've been highlighting. I see your endeavors as the grace of God, giving every opportunity to those in error. Whether you are received or not, makes little difference. Keep on speaking in the tradition of Luther, opposing Scriptural error!

Nathan M. Bickel - pastor emeritus – Bay City, MI

http://www.thechristianmessage.org/

http://moralmatters.org/

 

This could be taken for being anti-Confessional, if pixelated (isolated).
The next quotation below shows what he is saying.
This particular saying is a remedy against those who say they subscribe,
but do not teach according to the Confessions.

 

Upset About ELCA 2012 National Youth Gathering - ELCA Today. Betcha Thrivent Was There with Its Blessing.

Upset About ELCA 2012 National Youth Gathering - ELCA Today:


An adult chaperone who went to the 2012 ELCA nation youth gathering sent this letter to her church council after returning from the event that was held last week.  (note that I disagree with the person's assessment of the message given by Rev. Bolz-Weber - read my thoughts here) This letter appeared on the American Lutheran Publicity Bureau (ALPB) forum (see here - post #73 - refreshing page may be need).

Dear Church Council and Pastors,

I want to share my thoughts with you as a parent and chaperone on the recent trip to New Orleans.

First of all, I have to say that I love our kids! I spent a week with wonderful children, full of energy and enthusiasm and hunger for giving of themselves. Out of the whole experience the overwhelming majority of them lifted up the service project as their favorite part of the trip.





On Thursday, we worshiped with our Synod in the morning and then spent the afternoon learning about discipleship and doing a scavenger hunt to find places or items that would represent the 7 faith practices: Prayer, Worship, Evangelism, Study, Giving, Encouraging, and Serving. These were positive experiences where the Bible was lifted up.





Most of the kids' favorite speaker at the dome was Nadia. I agree with them. Her message was theologically very solid. Aside from a slam to the parents who were concerned prior to the youth gathering, she was entertaining and had a great message.



 [GJ - Seriously? So you wonder why ELCA is messed up? You are funding it.]

Unfortunately, I have very little more that is positive to say about the gathering. I am alarmed at the direction in which the national church is moving.

a. The Bibles that the kids received have microscopically small font. They are portable but not usable.

b. There was no Biblical foundation for devotions. Zero. No verse to be found. Highs and lows, excerpts from speakers at the dome and prayer were they only aspects of "Final 15".

c. At every level, at the mass events in the dome, there was a reference to homosexuality. Every speaker, every skit. Frequently this was tied to anti-bullying.

d.. There were frequent anti-American references and more than one pro-Occupy Wall Street reference. Other political themes had to do with immigration-reform, anti-war, social justice.

e.. Half of the songs were secular.


f. Gandhi's quote, "Be the change you want to see in the world" was more emphasized than any Bible verse - even the theme verse from Ephesians took 2nd place to Gandhi. Seriously. 4 varieties of the quote were available to purchase as t-shirts.

g. On the service day the video about justice told our kids that justice means "doing what is in your heart that you know is right." Secular Humanism another frequent theme of the gathering.

I found myself dreading the dome experience. What kind of emotional manipulation with horrible theology would we be exposing our kids to tonight? There was a very clear open agenda that the national synod is using to indoctrinate the youth. I just wish it was using a Biblical foundation and not a political and social one.

I don't want my year old to miss out on the fun of a large youth group experience, but my husband and I will not be sending her to the Gathering in Detroit in 2015. Nor will I ever attend another ELCA gathering.

Please let me know if you would like to see any of my notes from the gathering, or if you would like to talk to me and the other adult leaders. I am not the only one that was horrified.

Sincerely,

(name withheld)


'via Blog this'

---

California wrote:

The posting of the letter to the ELCA congregation from one of the adult chaperons who attended the ELCA National Youth Gathering is typical of parental objections expressed and ignored when decades ago LCMS National Youth Gathering feature Pete Seeger (communist folk singer) as a performer at the event.   Before being "departed" from WELS in 1977, I had voluntarily left an LCMS congregation in 1964, when the political philosophy of the left was influencing youth in the churches in south SF Bay area. 

Some parents were wondering why their teens were returning from youth retreats led by a pastor who oversaw the retreats in the neighboring Santa Cruz Mountains, with ideas not too different from the UC Berkeley radicals of those 1960's times. 

Another  LCMS pastor was running up and down the SF Peninsula giving presentations about anti-communism at any LCMS gatherings who would invite him.  His message was not anti communism, but warning about anti-communists.  He was listed in a report from the California Committee on Unamerican Activities as a supporter of the communist front organization, "Committee to Insure Justice for Morton Sobell".  That can be documented.  I have a hard copy of the report.   Nobody seemed to take such activity seriously.  

Eventually that pastor was placed as pastor for the LCMS UC Berkeley Campus chapel which served students .   When the time came when I could no longer in good conscience invite anyone to attend church or participate in church activities for fear of what leftist political propaganda they would be exposed to in the name of religion, I left the LCMS to go to the new WELS mission congregation in the area where there were some good years until other issues  surfaced in WELS which resulted in involuntary departure after 12 years.   

ELCA isn't the first offender to politically brainwash youth.  LCMS was right there beside them way back half a century ago.

Crystal Bridges - An Allegory for Biblical, Doctrinal Studies

Thomas Cole - The Course of Empire - Destruction

I volunteered with Chris to help out at Crystal Bridges. We had already visited there several times with friends.

This week we attended a lecture on art. Next I took a guided tour, one masterpiece per room, of the museum. Not knowing where the Thomas Cole Course of Empire paintings were, I found another enormous gallery for the traveling exhibit. When a museum is the ultimate collection of American art, the paintings come to the museum.

Visiting the museum is not at all like studying the paintings and the various eras of art. I saw Kindred Spirits quite a few times - and it gave me goose bumps again on the tour yesterday. The guide gave us the history behind the painting and connected it to the artists and patrons of the era.

This was Cole's last painting before he died at the age of 47.

The paintings themselves are so much more vivid that any graphic can indicate. In The Good Shepherd, the flock of sheep is clearly visible, down by the water and green pasture. The barren area is the foreground is also much clearer.

To understand and appreciate art, more is needed than a walk-through and a knowledge of the captions beside the masterworks.

Biblical, doctrinal studies are not different. Many clergy want no more than to gather the credentials they need at seminary and repeat them forever, always careful to please the synod and copy the current fads.

No one becomes a Doctrinal Pussycat by bucking apostasy or opposing false teachers. I remember Steve Spencer bragging that Jon Buchholz was shutting down Jeff Gunn's CrossWalk by cutting off the extra funds, etc. TWO committees were investigating and studying the issues, and that went on for four (4) years at least. The results were:

1. Jeff Gunn was appointed to the board of Wisconsin Lutheran College, one of three from CrossWalk.
2. Jeff Gunn was featured as a speaker at the Jeske youth conference, which was promoted by Doctrinal Pussycat Jon Buchholz.
3. Jeff Gunn and his Babtist congregation were welcomed into WELS, all criticism in the final (modified) report stifled.

In art and Biblical, doctrinal studies, anyone can become an expert. This fact is more true of the Christian faith than artistic endeavors. The Holy Spirit teaches us when we study the Word of God, as long as we make the Word primary, without filtering it through synodical slogans and warnings.


For a DP, the Bible is a way to make money and go on world trips at the expense of others. For the political pastors, in the majority, it is a way to make career advances and protect one's security. For many laity, it is a chance to be used as a synod minder and enjoy those fake-prestige positions on synodical committees. The laity know or soon find out that questioning one thing will mean immediate expulsion.

Thomas Cole, The Cross at the End of the Journey,
Pilgrim's Progress

AC V - Quoting the Apology of the Augsburg Confession. Of Repentance.

AC V has left a new comment on your post "UOJ Questions Answered: Enthusiasm Breeds Enthusia...":

To clarify:

"The very voice of the Gospel is this, that by faith we obtain the remission of sins. [This word is not our word, but the voice and word of Jesus Christ, our Savior.]"

- The Defense of the Augsburg Confession, Art. XII:2, Of Repentance.

UOJ Questions Answered: Enthusiasm Breeds Enthusiasm: Church Growth and Pentecostal

I don't want to further burden you, which is why I asked for you to point me to something already available online so that you wouldn't have to "repeat yourself" just for me. I was trained in UOJ at CTSFW and have been taught that, as long as one avoids such nonsense as "the damned in hell are saints," UOJ gives comfort in providing an "objective" focus for one's faith in Christ on the "finished work" of our redemption, rather than to focus "subjectively" upon our own personal faith in Christ. --Warren

Dear Dr. Jackson: Here is how I have understood UOJ: Eph. 2:8 says "For by grace are ye saved, through faith..." and therefore the grace of God (UOJ) precedes the gift of faith which receives Subjective Justification, "grace" referring to UOJ rather than to the gift of saving faith through the Means of Grace. I have understood a parallel between the Justification controversy and the Election controversy, in that Election is determined by grace and not "in view of faith," and Justification is also because of grace, with faith being the gift of God which receives justification, and not a good work meriting justification. --Warren

I can understand the point that OJ can be used to minimize the necessity for saving faith, but is there a danger that faith can become a "good work" if OJ is denied, by stressing something "in the believer" rather than divine monergism?  Does OJ take on the appearance of the Reformed "Preservation of the Saints" and "one saved, always saved" as the basis for the believer's assurance of salvation by stressing something "outside of the believer"?

For that matter, what is the PRACTICAL difference between OJ and speaking of Christ having "atoned for the sins of the world" or "reconciled the world to God"? 

Thank you for your understanding of these matters!  --Warren

***

GJ - I have been repeating material from Luther, Chemnitz, and the Book of Concord for some time, so I am happy to have basic questions raised. 

Intellectually-lazy MDivs like Rolf Preus, Jack Cascione, Jay Webber, and Jon Buchholz have perpetuated the notion that there is a nice, tame, Lutheran version of UOJ - far better than J. P. Meyer and the Kokomo Statements. But all versions are the same, no matter what name they claim - General, Objective, Universal, or Universal Objective.

The foundational error of UOJ is confusing the atonement with justification by faith, so the advocates find all kinds of ways to cloak their error.

They pounce on atonement passages, whether in the Bible or Luther or the Confessions and declare, "Aha - we have proven UOJ from the fact that the sins of the entire world are forgiven."

The atonement and justification are distinct and different. Merging their meaning explains why the UOJ Enthusiasts say such things as "the sins of Sodom were forgiven" and "I was saved 2000 years ago." Both statements are pathetic testimony to the poor state of Lutheran education.

The universal scope of the atonement is not disputed, because Christ indeed paid for the sins of the world. He redeemed the world, and that is the Gospel message, the reconciliation.

Justification by faith is quite simple. The atonement is the Gospel, so the Holy Spirit distributes this treasure through the Word and Sacraments. Those who receive this treasure in faith are declared forgiven of their sins and saved. Apart from faith, there is no forgiveness.

The atonement is universal, but justification is individual. The truth of the atonement does not depend on a single person believing it to be true, as Luther often said. However, no one in the Bible or the Confessions is forgiven apart from faith in this atonement.

The UOJ Stormtroopers are lying when they attack justification by faith, because orthodox Lutherans do not teach faith in their own faith, or faith as a virtue, but faith in the atoning death of Christ.

But what does UOJ claim?  

Their shriveled little fake Gospel teaches faith in the dogma of universal absolution, a cancer so dangerous that it has killed most of Lutheran doctrine today. 

False Doctrine Is a Devouring Cancer

I am a cancer survivor. Fortunately (tragically for UOJ), it was a basal cell carcinoma growing on my forehead. I was shocked to read a diagnosis of my condition in my insurance textbook. I hoped it would go away on its own. (First stage - denial!) No one knew it because it was so inconsequential looking. I told Mrs. I. and showed her the proof. I could press the area with tissue and get a tiny show of blood, just a little pink, any day and any time. There are three treatments - surgery, chemo, and radiation. A snip at the doctor's showed I was right, and a specialist cut it out. Mrs. I almost fainted when reading the report. The little BCC was already showing signs of ambition, digging in, and taking over. 

NKJ 2 Timothy 2:15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 16 But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. 17 And their message will spread like cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort, 18 who have strayed concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection is already past; and they overthrow the faith of some. 19 Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: "The Lord knows those who are His," and, "Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity."

UOJ Is Wrong Because

This universal absolution of Hottentots, polytheists, atheists, and cannibals is wrong. UOJ contradicts the Bible and Confessions by:

• Separating the Holy Spirit from the Word, mocking the Spirit.
• Denigrating the efficacy of the Word, hence the Consecration of the elements by the Word.
• Denying the true Gospel and substituting a system of man-made law.
• Obscuring and rejecting the Means of Grace.
• Teaching decision theology - you must make a decision for UOJ.
• Paving the way for Church Growth, Pentecostalism, Romanism, and many other symptoms of not trusting the Word. 

Robert Preus clearly repudiated UOJ, after clearly advocating it. Both of his positions can be proven, but the UOJ minions have decided to go silent on his final work, Justification and Rome, where their Helen of Troy is tossed under the bus in no uncertain terms.

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Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "UOJ Questions Answered: Enthusiasm Breeds Enthusia...":

UOJists teach that faith doesn't do anything but receive what was already divinely declared to be true before they believed. They find comfort in this confession because they believe faith is a work of man and therefore because it is only a withered and outstretched beggars hand they avoid synergism - their faith, their work, contributing to their forgiveness and salvation. By this UOJ confession on faith they expose themselves as non-Christians because they've rejected the Holy Spirit's faith which is not from man but solely from God, graciously worked through the Means of Grace, Word and Sacrament. By the Holy Spirit's faith a man dies to sin, is born again in Christ, no longer under the Law but under Grace, receives the adoption of Sons, is forgiven, saved eternally and all this is instantaneous. UOJists recoil at the changes that faith in Christ bring about divinely and graciously because they already declared those who continue in their rejection of Christ, who are under the Law and dead in sins, to be under God's grace, mercy and forgiveness and not under God's wrath and condemnation as Scripture clearly teaches and the faithful Lutheran Confessions confirm.

UOJists have 0, none, zilch, nada, nothing within their new false gospel that is true and defensible by Scripture. They have separated themselves from Christ, forgiveness and salvation. By God's grace and mercy individuals within the Lutheran Synods hold to or will hold to the one true Gospel and faith in Christ.

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AC V has left a new comment on your post "UOJ Questions Answered: Enthusiasm Breeds Enthusia...":

Brett, to wit:

"For, as Dr. Luther writes in the Preface to St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans: Thus faith is a divine work in us, that changes us and regenerates us of God, and puts to death the old Adam, makes us entirely different men in heart, spirit, mind, and all powers, and brings with it [confers] the Holy Ghost. Oh, it is a living, busy, active, powerful thing that we have in faith, so that it is impossible for it not to do good without ceasing."

- Formula of Concord Solid Declaration, IV:10, Good Works.

AC V - Why Go To Church?

AC V has left a new comment on your post "From the Apple-Dumbling Gang:Yale Is Roman Catholi...":

Brett,

In Emmanuel's newsletter, notice the man-centered article entitled "Why Go to Church" (p.3ff). The closest we get to hearing the real purpose of why we "go to church" is on p.5:

"1) Jesus promises to be there in church with us, bringing his blessings with his presence."

That statement begs the question: "What are the blessings that Jesus brings us?" The article answers by saying things like "God has told his Christians to grow in grace and knowledge of him, and to keep the faith. This is done through the Word of God, especially as it is publicly preached by a true and faithful pastor, who expounds texts from the Bible to God's people and applies the Scriptures to their lives" (p.4).

But what is lacking (because of a UOJ mindset) is an answer like that of Luther in his explanation of why we go to church:

"We further believe that in this Christian Church we have forgiveness of sin, which is wrought through the holy Sacraments and Absolution, moreover, through all manner of consolatory promises of the entire Gospel. Therefore, whatever is to be preached concerning the Sacraments belongs here, and, in short, the whole Gospel and all the offices of Christianity, which also must be preached and taught without ceasing. For although the grace of God is secured through Christ, and sanctification is wrought by the Holy Ghost through the Word of God in the unity of the Christian Church, yet on account of our flesh which we bear about with us we are never without sin. Everything, therefore, in the Christian Church is ordered to the end that we shall daily obtain there nothing but the forgiveness of sin through the Word and signs, to comfort and encourage our consciences as long as we live here. Thus, although we have sins, the [grace of the] Holy Ghost does not allow them to injure us, because we are in the Christian Church, where there is nothing but [continuous, uninterrupted] forgiveness of sin, both in that God forgives us, and in that we forgive, bear with, and help each other. But outside of this Christian Church, where the Gospel is not, there is no forgiveness, as also there can be no holiness [sanctification] (Large Catechism, Apostles Creed, Art. III:55-56).

In Emmanuel's article "Why Go to Church" there is no mention of "to receive forgiveness of sins" because according to UOJ, you've already got it!

Here's a good explanation of why we "go to church":

http://www.ctsfw.edu/Document.Doc?id=275

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Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "AC V - Why Go To Church?":

I agree AC V. Tour any (W)ELS church website that posts their sermons. There is only a tiny number of them which mention the faith of the Holy Spirit and fewer yet who identify it as the righteousness of Christ for the forgiveness of sins and the adoption of sons.

The Lutheran synods have pulled a fast one on the laity. They've separated faith from forgiveness. UOJ declares the whole unbelieving world forgiven - children of God (even while they are the children of the devil). UOJ's faith in forgiveness already declared is salvation since they've adopted the Methodistic synergism of "you just have to believe you've already been forgiven" to benefit (be saved) from the divine declaration.

Little wonder they can continue to finance the bloody murder of innocent babies through their Thrivent funds.

Misdirection of the Mind

alf-hislop (http://alf-hislop.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "Ninevah the Great Has Fallen - But WELS Will Suppo...":

The preoccupation with the NIV11 illustrates a classic WELS mind set: cultivate the impression that you deeply care and serve our Lord while distracting observers from seeing that really little or nothing of good is being accomplished. While some people call such behavior shamming, most members either do not see through it, or if they do, remain too polite to criticize it.

Time wasting goes hand in hand with expensive boondoggles like the CORE. The waste will continue until members say, “Enough is enough, get busy following the examples of Christ’s disciples.”

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rlschultz has left a new comment on your post "Misdirection of the Mind":

Wasting time seems to be the claim to fame for some WELS congregations. It goes hand in hand with the false impression that the leaders really care. The agenda is already in place. A good example of this would be when a congregation is "considering" an expansion. There are endless forums and meetings that are optional for the members, but consume huge amounts of time and are nothing more than a sham democracy. Like the present NNIV "study", it also serves the purpose of drawing out the vocal opposition so that they can have their backs rubbed and be dealt with more harshly later on.

***

GJ -

Many remember the busy-work invented to close Northwestern College and merge it into Dr. Martin Luther College. I remember a survey that went out - showing that people were against the amalgamation. But nothing stopped the constant promotion. And there was only one idea to be discussed in the sunshine of democratic process - the amalgamation at New Ulm. The word "merger" was not allowed. It had to be "amalgamation" or the speaker was sharply rebuked.

NWC alumni (all pastors) were told they could not discuss or vote on the amalgamation.

The best example was the Michigan District meeting, which I attended with LI. We brought an ice chest full of Coke for the anti-amalgamation troops. The chairman of the discussion was pro-amalgamation and the delegates were allowed to vote on approving the merger - four resolutions, all defeated. Does that remind anyone of the NNIV resolutions - do you want your NNIV now or next year?

DP Robert Mueller went to WELS convention and spoke in favor of the amalgamation. Those who opposed it were not allowed to speak - not even the presidents of Northwestern College and Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary.

The delegates voted down the merger but it was reported falsely as a narrow win for merger. So much for voting.

Next the districts had to ratify the decision. SP Gurgle told Michigan that they had no choice. The contracts had been signed and they could not stop it.

Some claim that $30 million was blown on the whole plan, which consisted of merging the two schools  at New Ulm, closing Prairie and merging it at Watertown, and spending money on various buildings. Gurgle promised Michigan, "If it goes over $8 million, we will pull the plug."

The same juggernaut was originally launched to buy Prairie, a failed Roman Catholic school in a non-Lutheran area. WELS called for an emergency session and bought the school like it was the IPO of Facebook. They spent millions on Prairie and turned it into a prison.

Lawrenz to Witte: "Be thou continually promoting
the WELS Costa Nostra,
Church and Change."

I offered my idea at the time - why not move everything to one campus, Mequon, and sell off the other properties: New Ulm, Watertown, Prairie. John Lawrenz, one of the leaders of Church and Change, said, "Mequon is sacred ground. No one has even considered it." John was in charge of the committee studying the proposals, but it was clear that only one idea was worth discussing.

Lawrenz, as the president of MLS, announced, "We are willing to accept any role the synod gives us." That was during a big rush to close MLS. WELS rewarded John with various promotions and world trips.

Pope Pius IX worked his magic the same way. Anyone who opposed his infallibility was punished severely, even after recanting. All those who promoted papal infallibility were rewarded, even sainted.

Maxfield Parrish - Birthday Today

Bearing Lanterns

We saw this painting at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. We attended a lecture about early American art.

The art historian said Crystal Bridges has become a destination. One woman flew in from LA. She told him, "Everyone I know has been here, so I had to visit too."

Norma Boeckler wrote that she really enjoys her Parrish book.

He was born today, in 1870.

Justification by Faith - Luther Always Taught It - As Everyone Knows - Except the Leaders of WELS

From the Apple-Dumbling Gang:Yale Is Roman Catholic

I posed with Ben to celebrate our purchase of Yale with Masonic Lodge funds.

But from what we have seen on his blog, and in spite of the degrees he boasts of from such illustrious liberal and Roman Catholic institutions as Yale and Notre Dame, we doubt he has the capacity to do that.

***

GJ - Poor Glenda misses the point, but satire is not for academic under-achievers. Tim used used his unaccredited MDiv to prove that he was right and the member of his congregation was wrong. Most would call that logical fallacy pathetic.

And - He. Studied. Greek.

If those were valid arguments, my four-of-a-kind beats a single deuce - three master's degrees and a PhD.

He also defeated himself with a tortured sentence where Yale becomes a liberal and Roman Catholic institution.

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Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "From the Apple-Dumbling Gang:Yale Is Roman Catholi...":

(W)ELS - Becoming more confessional

We'll be seeing more of this written in Synod communications. It's intent is to dictate an understanding primarily because it can be believed in no other way. Certainly not by studying (W)ELS practice or by comparing their doctrines to Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions. (W)ELS has separated themselves from Christ through believing and teaching the false gospel of Universal Objective Justification. They have established their own way to righteousness before God and have rejected the faith of the Holy Spirit. Orthodox Lutheran confessor Hunnius condemned the UOJ teaching of Samuel Huber as satanic and opposed to Christ just as faithful Lutheran's do today.

(W)ELS minder and hireling Pastor Jon Buchholz recently included such a mindwash in his June monthly news bulletin for Emmanuel.
 
http://www.elctempe.org/home/180001623/180001623/images/2012-06%20June.pdf  

Martin Franzmann, UOJ. Another UOJ Watertown Professor

Martin Franzmann, 1907-1976,
taught for WELS and then for Missouri.
He is most famous for his hymns.

Although I sent off four boxes of Lutheran books, I also ordered a few items from Amazon and Alibris. If I can get a well known volume for for a few dollars, I order it.

I had a scan of Franzmann's commentary on Romans, but I saw the book on Alibris and bought it. The book is not a commentary at all and is certainly not scholarly. There are no references and no index. There is a list of some books on Romans with a brief description. I would call it a homiletical book.

One sentence gives away the theme of the SynConference:

In raising him from the dead, God was "justifying the ungodly" for whom He died; God was saying to a doomed mankind, "You are righteous, you shall live." There is in our faith, therefore, the same realistic recognition of the death of man that was in Abraham's faith, and the same expectation of the creative miracle of God's grace which raises the dead and calls into being righteous men.

Martin H. Franzmann, Romans, A Commentary, CPH, 1968, p. 86.

That was his statement about the ending of Romans 4. Franzmann's obscure words are the opposite of what Paul wrote.


KJV Romans 4:24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; 25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

God was telling all of mankind "You are righteous"? Of course, Franzmann is not that explicit. The UOJ writers are seldom that clear. But the thoroughly brained-washed know that is what those words mean. They agree with the Pietist Rambach, who argued that the resurrection of Christ absolved all of mankind - especially the unbelievers. Jay Webber and Jon Buchholz support the Halle Pietism version of  universal forgiveness and salvation. You just have to believe their dogma is true: justification by faith in UOJ. 

Franzmann was a leader of the conservatives, and he was just as UOJ as Richard Jungkuntz, the leader of the Seminex coalition.

The UOJ position is not in harmony with the efficacy of the Word and certainly opposes the Means of Grace. Can the blue text be brought into agreement with Romans 10? Isaiah 55? Not at all.

Richard Jungkuntz also started out WELS, also at Watertown,
and also joined the Board of Doctrine, LCMS,
after teaching at Concordia, Springfield, Illinois.
As chairman of the Seminex board, he headed the first
gay Lutheran seminary, by partnering with the Metropolitan Community Church.
Deppe was the Seminex professor who went with the faculty to teach at LSTC, ELCA,
and later joined the MCC, where he belonged.

ELCA News Briefs - Exposing the ELCA

Abolish ecumenism!
Replace it with "Spoiling the Egyptians...and Rome"!

ELCA News Briefs - Exposing the ELCA:



ELCA News Briefs
07/24/20120 Comments

ELCA magazine, The Lutheran, published an article titled, “Interreligious explorations.”  The article advised its readers to “Consider visiting different religious services from time to time as a way to keep learning more about other traditions.”

Any religion other than Christianity is the worship of false gods and demons.  Why in the world would a Christian magazine recommend this?  (see here)

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Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Mark Hanson, is now on twitter.  He announced this at last week’s ELCA Youth Gathering.  If you so desire, you can follow him by going here.

Wouldn’t it be interesting if Bishop Hanson advised everyone on how to follow Exposing the ELCA on twitter in his next press release?

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If anyone has concerns about what they heard while watching or attending the ELCA's 2012 National Youth Gathering and would care to write a blog about what troubled them, I would be happy to look it over and possibly post it.

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Augustana College, one of the 26 ELCA colleges in the United States has these statements on their Religion, Philosophy, Classics webpage:

“Have you ever wondered: Does life have purpose? Does God exist?” and “While our department teaches from within the Christian tradition, we’re never afraid to question dogma and learn from others.”(see here)

Is this noteworthy?  Some would say “no,” some would say “yes.” Either way, it is something to think about.


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Ninevah the Great Has Fallen - But WELS Will Support It

WELS NNIV Obsessive Preoccupation is Window Dressing 'Black Cat' Over-Kill

Ichabod - Regarding your recent posting:

"The Owner of the NIV Living Open Dynamic Translation Resigns:"

http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-owner-of-niv-living-open-dynamic.html

I find your comments beneath the one pic; very appropriate:

You stated:

>>>>>>> SP Schroeder's promotion of the NNIV continues, in spite of no interest in WELS. A group of younger pastors will "study" it for the next month. <<<<<<<<

I am a member of a WELS congregation [Bethel - Bay Co. MI] whose young pastor is one of these 100 younger WELS pastors who are assigned portions of the Scripture to "study."

I quote from the Bethel pastor's July 22nd quarterly "Congregational Report," handed out (last week - July 15^th) - one week before the quarterly rubber stamping voter's meeting of today:

>>>>>>>> "Translation Evaluation Committee (TEC): I have begun my assigned portion of translation evaluation for the TEC (Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians). I plan to utilize some sabbatical time in August graciously offered by the church council to complete this assignment by August 31st. Please welcome any guest preachers that may be asked to serve our congregation during that time." - <<<<<<<<<<  [Pastor Mark Luetzow]

Also, from what I understand, it was announced this Sunday (at church) that Bethel's worship service bulletins will be utilizing the 3 translations [NNIV, ESV and HCSB] - integrating them into the worship service Scripture readings for the next several Sundays.

I furthermore understand that the aforementioned translations of Scripture readings, printed in the Sunday bulletins, will not be designated as coming from a particular translation. [It sounds to me that some sort of “popularity contest” is being arranged, here]

Lord only knows what the other (TEC”S) 99 younger pastors are doing with "their" congregations. What type of rides are they taking their congregations, on? Are they tinkering around with 3 translations, attempting to stick their pastoral fingers out in their particular congregational popularity winds, all to report back to the Translation Evaluation Committee for a concerted “feedback” appraisal to synodical headquarters? [We already know where the TEC stands, as it previously stated that the new NIV 11 would be suitable for WELS usage]

Ichabod - I hate to repeat myself again about what I think of the new NIV11 and how I believe WELS leadership and the Translation Evaluation Committee (with the help of 100 younger pastors) are paving the way for a final decision to adopt this new NIV 11 Bible for its official synodical publication use.  And, so, if anyone is interested in some of my prior remarks over this issue, all they have to do is type in the Ichabod search box at the top left of the home page, --  the following: 

Pastor emeritus Nathan Bickel on new NIV 

http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/search?q=Pastor+emeritus+Nathan+Bickel+on+new+NIV+

Furthermore, it is my observing opinion that WELS from the bureaucratic top, is preparing the "congregational soils" in anticipation of securing [influencing] enough future votes for the next synodical convention for the eventual adoption of the new NIV 11. Those in opposition of this change-over, to the highly flawed gender neutral Bible translation and its universalism bent, are being, and will be, ignored [shunned].

I remember in the recent past, at about the turn of the year, emailing WELS synodical president Schroeder, about my concerns - and that he do what he could to help kill this craze for the infatuation with the highly flawed NIV 11. His “leadership” response back to me, (basically) was that the choice of a new official synodical translation, was out of his hands and that it was in the hands of the convention, since they decided to explore the issue.

I will also add that I shared the same concerns with WELS Rev. Jonathan Schroeder (nephew of SP Mark Schroeder) and also our own Bethel congregation’s pastor; and have not received an email reply back from them over that email.  [Perhaps, Jonathan Schroeder and Bay County Michigan's Bethel's pastor went to seminary together and / or know each other, and are possibly mesmerized by the Translation Evaluation Committee, which to my understanding, (the members of that committee) are popular with Bethel’s pastor].

Finally, I stated as I stated before, using Edgar Allen Poe's, short story work, - "The Black Cat," as a point of reference:

All this pre-occupation and obsessive time spent focusing the new NIV11 with two "stalking horse" [other] translations are all “window dressing” and "over-kill." Sadly to say, I think that the new NIV 11 will be WELS future official publication translation despite how many of the WELS membership are offended and alienated – and, who end up leaving over it.

One other thing:  I can foresee the convention adopting the new NIV 11 - and, as a "compromising" (meaningless) gesture, (for having jammed it down everyone’s throats), urging individual congregations to make their [own] choice. And, if certain congregations do so by adopting all their (own) materials according to a suitable non gender Bible translation, - those congregations will be placed upon the WELS bureaucratic black list.

Nathan M. Bickel - emeritus pastor

www.thechristianmessage.org

www.moralmatters.org

    

Promoting Mark Jeske

Time for Tubby Bye-Bye!
Time for Tubby Bye-Bye!
Time for Tubby Bye-Bye!

Ichabod -

Today I received an email from my Bay County, Michigan pastor, Mark Luetzow. This email was sent Bcc - so, I assume [think] that it was also sent to our congregation's total membership - at least those who have their email addresses on the church directory here at Bethel Lutheran.

In this short 6:05 minute message, out of state and Thrivent Board member, WELS Pastor Mark Jeske, of St. Marcus Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, stated the following, regarding the recent Aurora, Colorado shooting massacre:

"......and this is a solid reminder that there is no point in putting off our thinking of our Savior, till another day; or that we're all guaranteed to have plenty of time to take care of our spiritual responsibilities......

......through the forgiveness of sins in Jesus, we become immortal.And, we will rise from the dead, just like him."

Aforementioned taken from:

Mark Jeske's "Time of Grace" - "Colorado theater shooting: reflection and prayer"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTznBNZ3Mi0&feature=youtu.be

I wonder how many other WELS pastors circulate Mark Jeske's "Time of Grace" utube videos? This is the first time that I've seen and heard this "Time of Grace." And, if many of them are like this, I would have to conclude that Rev. Mark Jeske is one of those Christian pastors who regularly preach the twisted teaching of "universal objective justification" as I've also been hearing from our own church, here at Bethel Lutheran:

http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2012/07/pastor-nathan-bickel-on-uoj-in-wels.html

I find it sad and pathetic that a Christian pastor - especially a Lutheran pastor would preach his devotion to a mixed online audience and not differentiate between Christian and non Christian; regenerate and unregenerate; believer and unbeliever - and, in the context, not to preach repentance and faith [justification by faith alone as Luther taught it]. It was if Rev. Jeske was speaking to a Christian congregation when, in reality, he is speaking to a mixed audience of Christians and the unregenerate. To speak of Christ, the Savior as "'our Savior" to a mixed audience - some, or many of whom are heathen, is neither proper or scripturally, wise. [God is not your Father, unless you are one of His children].

Then, Rev. Jeske makes the statement - "......through the forgiveness of sins in Jesus, we become immortal. And, we will rise from the dead, just like him."  That is not Scriptural! It is by God's grace, through faith [in Christ] that a person becomes one of God's children and becomes a member of the Lord's heavenly throng. [Ephesians 2:8;9]

What is the Gospel? How is it perverted?

http://www.thechristianmessage.org/2012/05/what-is-gospel-how-is-it-perverted.html

Finally, the more I hear from WELS pastors, the more I hear a corrupted message - that "universal objective justification" teaching which takes the Scriptural place of grace through faith generated by God the Holy Spirit - that "justification by faith alone" teaching as Luther taught it. It's as if all, these universalism preachers can understand, is John 3:16 and not the whole chapter in context.

Pastor emeritus Nathan M. Bickel

www.thechristianmessage.org

www.moralmatters.org

Author! Author!

Paul McCain said his essay was so much in demand that he had a Word document for people to download.

I downloaded it.

The listed author is "David Strand." Last modified by Paul T. McCain.

Propeller-heads know that the properties of a file are revelatory, though not infallible. Sometimes a template is authored by a staffer then used by many others.

Maybe David Strand, in communications, copied the post into Word and sent it to McCain as a favor. The document was authored "today" but the post was published yesterday.

---

From Rogue Lutheran:

David Strand, husband of Sherri Strand, (LCMS attorney in their high profile cases) and McCain's ghost writer?

The dot connector item:

Christian News: LCMS Deceives Supreme Court About Its Doctrine
christiannewsmo.blogspot.com/.../lcms-deceives-supreme-court-abou...Nov 11, 2011

– Christian News, November 14, 2011 ... The article by David Strand in the LCMS Reporter, and obviously approved by his wife Sherri Strand, ...

---

Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Author! Author!":

McCain, "While we can not ultimately, to our own satisfaction, explain precisely why the world is a place where horrible things happen,"

At the same time that Paul McCain attempts to explain this horrific incident based on his anti-christian confession he blunders over the clear Biblical teaching of sin. His bloated ego is an impediment to understanding and articulating clear Biblical doctrine.

Former Inver Grove Heights pastor sentenced to year in jail in scheme to defraud his synod - TwinCities.com. Who Was Jailed for the Missing $8 Million? No one.

"Didn't I say not to reveal all the money I spent on Girl Scout Cookies?
Do you know how much trouble your Brownies got me into?"

Former Inver Grove Heights pastor sentenced to year in jail in scheme to defraud his synod - TwinCities.com:


Former Inver Grove Heights pastor sentenced to year in jail in scheme to defraud his synod
By Christopher Magan
cmagan@pioneerpress.com

A Dakota County District Court judge found some middle ground between the drastically different portrayals by defense and prosecuting attorneys of Leon E. Piepenbrink, who admitted to embezzling money from a Wisconsin synod.

The defense presented the story of a man who took money to help the needy, admitted to his crime and should avoid jail because he already lost everything because of it.

In contrast, prosecutors said the former pastor developed an elaborate scheme to defraud his church for years and lied and forged documents to keep his thefts hidden.

In the end, Judge David L. Knutson accepted some of each portrayal and sentenced Piepenbrink Tuesday, July 24, to a year in the county jail and 20 years probation for taking as much as $300,000 from the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod.

"I do find you have expressed remorse and accepted responsibility for your actions," Knutson said. "I don't find you at risk to reoffend. There is no justification for this, absolutely none, whatsoever."

The 52-year-old Piepenbrink, of St. Paul, had pleaded guilty to seven charges of theft by swindle in April.

Piepenbrink, who worked with the Hmong community from an office at Shepherd of the Hills Church in Inver Grove Heights, was fired in August 2010 when allegations arose. The thefts took place from 2007 to 2010.

Piepenbrink's attorney, Kenneth Udoibok, said Tuesday he was surprised at the length of the jail term. "What he did was wrong," Udoibok said.

"I'm comforted in knowing everything he took wasn't to enrich himself, but to help needy people."
Prosecutor Scott Hersey had asked the judge to follow the conclusion of a presentencing investigation and incarcerate Piepenbrink for 27 months. He called Piepenbrink's claim that he took money to help the needy "highly suspicious" and characterized the crimes as a violation of trust.

"Every time he took money he had a chance to stop," Hersey said. "I imagine it took quite a number of collection plates to come up with $300,000."

Piepenbrink was also ordered to pay restitution and how much he took is still in question. Udoibok is expected to request a restitution hearing in the coming days. Prosecutors say he took $301,581 between May 2007 and July 2010, but Piepenbrink claims the amount is much less, about $90,000.

It's also unclear where the money went. Piepenbrink says he gave it to needy families and a pastor from Laos he recruited to come to the U.S. for training. Piepenbrink was working to set up a ministry in Laos.

The synod is a fellowship of about 1,279 churches and 389,545 members in 48 states, the group reported.

Before sentencing, Piepenbrink said he wanted to prove his remorse through his day-to-day actions."

"It is not an understatement to say I lost the trust and respect of practically everyone I know," Piepenbrink told the judge. "I have to accept that and deal with it the rest of my life."

Christopher Magan can be reached at 651-228-5557. Follow him at twitter.com/cmaganPiPress.


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Got a top lawyer, got less than a year in the klink, got work release!
He is still on the WELS.net website.

Philadelphia Church Official Sentenced to 3 to 6 Years in PrisonPhiladelphia Church Official Sentenced to 3 to 6 Years in Prison - NYTimes.com.How Many Lutheran District Presidents Should Join Him for the Same Crimes?

Philadelphia Church Official Sentenced to 3 to 6 Years in PrisonPhiladelphia Church Official Sentenced to 3 to 6 Years in Prison - NYTimes.com:


Philadelphia Church Official Sentenced to at Least 3 Years in Prison
By JON HURDLE and ERIK ECKHOLM


PHILADELPHIA — Msgr. William J. Lynn, the first Roman Catholic official in the United States to be convicted of covering up sexual abuses by priests under his supervision, was sentenced to three to six years in prison on Tuesday.

Matt Rourke/Associated Press
Monsignor William J. Lynn.

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“You knew full well what was right, Monsignor Lynn, but you chose wrong,” said Common Pleas Judge M. Teresa Sarmina as she imposed the sentence, which was just short of the maximum of three and a half to seven years.

Monsignor Lynn, 61, a former Cardinal’s aide, was found guilty on June 22 of one count of endangering a child, after a three-month trial that revealed efforts over decades by the Philadelphia archdiocese to play down accusations of child sexual abuse and avoid scandal.

Monsignor Lynn served as secretary for clergy for the 1.5 million-member archdiocese from 1992 to 2004, recommending priest assignments and investigating abuse complaints. During the trial, prosecutors presented evidence that he had shielded predatory priests, sometimes transferring them to unwary new parishes, and lied to the public to avoid bad publicity and lawsuits.

The conviction of Monsignor Lynn, now punctuated by a prison sentence, has reverberated among Catholic officials around the country, church experts said.

“I think this is going to send a very strong signal to every bishop and everybody who worked for a bishop that if they don’t do the right thing they may go to jail,” said Rev. Thomas J. Reese, a senior fellow of the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University. “They can’t just say the bishop made me do it, that’s not going to be an excuse that holds up in court.”

In a three-minute statement before he heard his sentence, Monsignor Lynn, dressed in a black clerical shirt and white collar, said: “I have been a priest for 36 years, and I have done the best I can. I have always tried to help people.”

He said that he respected the verdict of the jury, and he apologized to the abuse victim in the case at the center of his conviction. He turned toward relatives of the victim in the courtroom and said, “I hope some day that you will accept my apology.”

But he did not comment on the broader accusations that he put children at risk by repeatedly protecting “monsters in clerical garb,” as Judge Sarmina described it at the sentencing.

The sentence was a victory for the Philadelphia district attorney who said, in at impromptu news conference outside the courtroom, “Many people say that the maximum still would not have been enough.”

But Monsignor Lynn’s lead defense lawyer, Thomas Bergstrom, called the sentence “unbalanced.”

Last week, the defense team asked the judge to spare Monsignor Lynn from prison and instead sentence him to probation and work-release or house arrest. They argued in a memorandum that a long prison sentence would be “merely cruel and unusual,” and “would serve no purpose at all.”

But prosecutors urged the judge to impose the maximum penalty. They told the court last week that the gravity of Monsignor Lynn’s crime — giving known sexual predators continued access to children, causing lifelong anguish and damages to some — was “off the charts.” They wrote that Monsignor Lynn had refused to accept responsibility and had an “apparent lack of remorse for anyone but himself.”

Monsignor Lynn’s lawyers have promised to appeal the conviction, saying that the child endangerment law at the time of the events in question did not apply to supervisors, and that the judge erred in allowing testimony about Monsignor Lynn’s handling of priests who were accused of sexual abuse outside the statute of limitations.

Ann Casey, who attended the sentencing and said she had been a friend of Monsignor Lynn for 36 years, said she believed that he was a scapegoat and a victim of his intense faith in the leaders of the archdiocese. “It was his vow of obedience to the church that landed him this morning in jail,” she said.

During the trial, Monsignor Lynn’s lawyers argued that he had tried to protect children, but that his powers were limited and that he had followed the instructions of the cardinal at the time, Anthony J. Bevilacqua. But prosecutors argued that Monsignor Lynn played a central role in deciding how to handle complaints against priests and that “following orders” was no defense.

Monsignor Lynn’s conviction was for lax oversight of one former priest who had a known history of abuse, but was allowed to continue in ministry. The former priest, Edward V. Avery, now 69, spent six months in a church psychiatric center in 1993 after an abuse episode, and doctors said he should be kept away from children. But Monsignor Lynn, though aware of this history, sent him to live in a parish rectory and did not warn parish officials.

In 1999, Mr. Avery undressed with a 10-year-old altar boy, told him that God loved him and had him engage in oral sex. Mr. Avery pleaded guilty to the assault just before Monsignor Lynn’s trial began and was sentenced to two and a half to five years in prison.

Monsignor Lynn was acquitted of a conspiracy charge and of a child endangerment charge involving another priest.

But the prosecutors, in their sentencing recommendation last week, said that Monsignor Lynn’s handling of Father Avery “was no aberration,” but rather “part of a continuous, systematic practice of retaining abusive priests in ministry, with continued access to minors, while taking pains to avoid scandal or liability for the archdiocese.”


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