Readers Respond to Pastor Rydecki's Suspension for Teaching Justification by Faith

Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Intrepid Lutherans - Pastor Paul Rydecki Suspended...":

Martin Luther talked about these last days and the persecution of Christ's Church by those who war against the Triune God in his excellent Commentary on Galatians.

12. As before said, they regard faith of slight importance; for they do not understand that it is our sole justifier. To accept as true the record of Christ--this they call faith. The devils have the same sort of faith, but it does not make them godly. Such belief is not Christian faith; no, it is rather deception.

15. ...You see how they make faith of no value to themselves, and so must regard as heresy all doctrine based upon it. Thus they do away with the whole Gospel. These are they who deny the Christian faith and exterminate it from the world. Paul prophesied concerning them when he said (1 Tim 4, 1): "In later times some shall fall away from the faith." The voice of faith is now silenced all over the world. Indeed, faith is condemned and banished as the worst heresy, and all who teach and endorse it are condemned with it. The Pope, the bishops, charitable institutions, cloisters, high schools, unanimously opposed it for nearly four hundred years, and simply drove the world violently into hell. Their conduct is the real persecution by Antichrist, in the last times. 22. Now, the Cain-like saints have not, as they themselves confess, the Christian faith which would assure them of being the children of God.

http://www.trinitylutheranms.org/MartinLuther/MLSermons/Galatians4_1_7.html

DP Pastor Jon Buchholz and those who teach, promote and defend the false gospel of Objective Justification while anathematizing one Justification solely By Faith Alone are spoken of in Matthew 24:
4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.

5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
Isa 19:2 Mark 13:8 Luke 21:10

8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.

10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.

11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.

12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.


May the everlasting grace, peace and mercy of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ strengthen and preserve Pastor Rydecki and his family and the individuals who by God's will risk their lives for Christ's chief and central doctrine.

In Christ,
Brett Meyer

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rlschultz has left a new comment on your post "Walther Is the Template for SynCons: Pietist, Enab...":

God's Word brings the cross, but also comfort. The comfort makes the cross more bearable. The Lutheran Hymnal has many fine hymns in that section. Luther was willing to face death rather than recant JBFA. Being a politician means that you are willing to trust in your own conniving and backstabbing to get ahead. It may also mean that your heart has been hardened to the point where you have no conscience.

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Pastor emeritus Nathan Bickel has left a new comment on your post "Intrepid Lutherans - Pastor Paul Rydecki Suspended...":

Pastor Paul Rydecki has behaved and presented himself admirably. He has spoken with Scriptural clarity.

On the other hand, his betrayer is the confused. Those who confuse the grace of God upon the sinner and God the Holy Spirit’s activity of bringing the sinner to saving faith, would, and do eliminate the Holy Spirit, personal faith and belief. That, confusion DP Buchholz illustrates in his sweeping edict action against one of [now former] WELS most gifted pastors. Shame on Buchholz! He and other head cheese ecclesiastical higher-ups are the WELS blind leaders who molest Sola Gratia, Sola Fide, Sola Christus and Sola Scriptura!

It is very clear that certain WELS leaders are digging their own graves of unbelief. Those in this leadership, along with DP Buchholz, have acted foolishly against Pastor Rydecki. They are not worthy to be called Lutheran Christians. They have demonstrated by this one cowardly action that they deny the central teaching of Scripture and have eschewed the Lutheran Confessions. Luther would have nothing but invectives for them.

Ichabod:

Can't you secure another pic of Buchholz? You should replace that pic with one which shows him side by side with Judas Iscariot.

Pastor emeritus Nathan M. Bickel
Bay City, Michigan
Bethel Lutheran – WELS – and, ashamed of it……

www.thechristianmessage.org

www.moralmatters.org

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raklatt (http://raklatt.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "Intrepid Lutherans - Pastor Paul Rydecki Suspended...":

WELS Officialdom has now lost all credibility. It is clear publicly that WELS does not teach the Gospel and therefore is neither Evangelical nor Lutheran. Laymen who realize that, arise. Support the faithful pastors. Where there is false teaching it is time to return to Lutheran Doctrine. Make it happen. And vote NO for the new NIV.

Intrepid Lutherans - Pastor Paul Rydecki Suspended for Teaching Justification by Faith

Suspended WELS Pastor Paul Rydecki, former Circuit Pastor, above.
WELS Circuit Pastor Steve Spencer, below.
The photo is from the Intrepid Lutherans conference.

The Intrepid Lutherans wrote -
http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2012/10/intrepid-lutherans-intrepid-to-last-rev.html

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2012

Suspended from the WELS - Why? - By Pastor Paul Rydecki

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Intrepid Lutherans:

(The views expressed below are the views of the writer and not necessarily the views of the other editors or subscribers to Intrepid Lutherans.)

On June 2^nd, I presented a paper at our Intrepid Lutherans conference entitled, “Do We Want to Be Dresden Lutherans?”  In other words, are we thoroughly committed to the doctrine and practice confessed in the Book of Concord, published in Dresden in 1580?  This was the concluding paragraph of that paper:

I would like to know who is and who isn’t committed to walking in the same direction with me, and with whom I should walk, arm in arm with the Dresden Lutherans, not by force or for convenience’ sake, but by conviction and for the sake of the truth. I want it to be the WELS with whom I walk along that road.  Do we want to be Dresden Lutherans?  As for me, I am WELS for now; Dresden Lutheran forever. So help me God.

It turns out that “WELS for now” was a foreshadowing of what was to come exactly four months later on October 2^nd.  As of that date, due mainly to one paragraph in the Dresden Lutherans paper, I am “WELS no longer.”

The dreaded Dresden paragraph:

If we want to be Dresden Lutherans, then we will teach justification by faith alone as the chief article of the Christian faith.  The justification of the poor sinner before God is presented explicitly and quite exhaustively in the Lutheran Confessions (and by other 16th Century Lutheran theologians) as including four key components, without any of which the poor sinner is not, in any effective sense, justified before God: 1) the grace of God, 2) the merit of Christ, 3) the means of grace, and 4) faith in Christ. The Confessions do not speak of an effective  sense in which all sinners have already been justified before God whether they believe in Christ or not, nor do I believe the Scriptures to teach such a thing, yet such is commonly heralded among Lutherans today as the “central teaching of the Bible.”   I contend that our Dresden forefathers did not miss anything or take anything for granted in this chief article of the Christian faith. They correctly taught the universal atonement or satisfaction made by Christ for the sins of the whole world, whether a person ever comes to believe it or not. Thus, forgiveness of sins, life and salvation were, indeed, won for all people by Christ on the cross, through His merit alone. But no one is forgiven, justified, made alive or saved apart from the means of grace and apart from faith in Christ, which is graciously worked by the Holy Spirit.  Dresden Lutherans would never think of qualifying Luther’s battle cry, “Faith alone justifies!”, with “Yes, but, only in a subjective sense, since we know that all people are already justified without faith!”

What did I say there to be labeled as a false teacher? Why was I suspended?

There is no short and sweet answer to that question.  Well, there is, but it’s inadequate and bound to cause confusion.  The short answer will satisfy arrogant men who have shipwrecked their faith and are left without a conscience or a clue. “He denies objective justification!”  But men and women of good will and Christian conviction will understand that the short answer is both insufficient and inaccurate.  The short answer is no answer at all.

I have not gone around “denying objective justification.”  Instead, realizing that the terms “objective and subjective justification” and “universal justification,” along with their relatives “general justification” and “general absolution” are terms neither found in the Scriptures or the Lutheran Confessions, I committed myself to a study of the Scriptures and the Confessions—as well as Luther, Chemnitz, Melanchthon, Leyser and Hunnius—in order to understand how the Holy Spirit has taught us to speak about the justification of the sinner, and how the Lutheran Reformers understood and confessed the Scriptural truth.  After specifically studying this issue for several years, I reached conclusions that are fully consistent with the Lutheran Confessions and with the Lutheran Fathers from the age of orthodoxy, but at odds with some of the doctrinal statements of the WELS.  Then I did the unthinkable:  I said it out loud.

Part of the problem hinges on definitions.  Since the term “objective justification” is a novelty in the Church and not defined by either of the norms of Lutheran doctrine (the Scriptures and the Book of Concord), various definitions and descriptions have arisen over the years with no arbiter to decide whose definition is “the” definition.  Here are some examples:

• At the time of the resurrection of Christ, God looked down in hell and declared Judas, the people destroyed in the flood, and all the ungodly, innocent, not guilty, and forgiven of all sin and gave unto them the status of saints. (Kokomo thesis #4, defended on and off by the WELS)
• Romans 3:23,24 and Romans 5:18,19 affirm that all are sinners and all are justified.  Through Adam all are condemned, and through Christ all are justified. The astonishing reality is that God has forgiven the sins of the whole world, whether people believe it or not. (WELS seminary professor Forrest Bivens)

• The Blessed Exchange (objective justification): That in the death of Jesus the sins of the whole world were charged to Christ’s account in order that His righteousness might be credited to the world. (Rev. Peter Bender, Lutheran Catechesis)
• Jesus died for all people and made atonement for the sins of all people.  (Common definition I’ve heard from numerous WELS and LCMS pastors and laymen.)

I agree with the last two definitions but disagree with the first two.  So, do I deny objective justification?  It’s an irrelevant question.  The real question is, do I teach the truth of Scripture regarding justification?

There are more variations of objective justification out there—more twists and turns and contortions than I care to address.  It seems to be a malleable concept that can adjust itself to a person’s sensibilities.  Some find it all over the Book of Concord.  Others admit that it’s nowhere to be found in the Book of Concord but arose only more recently as doctrine evolved in response to this or that error or controversy. 

But why is it necessary? Did the Holy Spirit miss something?  Did the Lutheran Reformers fail to define justification sufficiently for themselves and their posterity?  Was justification one of those doctrines that just got overlooked or taken for granted at the time of the Reformation?  Please.

I know the arguments of those who try to read their version of OJ/SJ/UJ back into the Scriptures and the Confessions—not much different than the Roman Catholics trying to read purgatory back into the Scriptures.  The only way to do it is by ignoring the context and fixating on a phrase here or a phrase there.  One thing is clear: synods have a deep-seated need to defend their own histories.

My (now former) district president boiled it all down to two litmus-test-type questions, approved and supported by Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary and the WELS Conference of Presidents:

1)      “Did God forgive the sins of the world when Jesus died on the cross?”

2)      “Has God justified all sinners for the sake of Christ?”

My consistent answer: 

• Jesus paid for the sins of the world and made satisfaction for the sins of the world and earned righteousness and forgiveness of sins for all people at the cross. 
• God only forgives and justifies sinners by imputing the righteousness of Christ to them. 
• He only imputes the righteousness of Christ to faith. 
• Faith is only created by the Holy Spirit through the Means of Grace. 
• Therefore, I do not speak of God having already forgiven the sins of the world at the cross, because the Holy Spirit did not apply the merits of Christ to the world at the cross, nor did the world believe in Christ at the time of the cross.  We are justified by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone—not without grace, not without Christ, and not without faith and the means of grace.

His answer:

I am deeply disappointed that you have turned away from the teaching you learned in your ministerial training and have instead denied the truth and fallen into error. After numerous conversations with you and repeated efforts to admonish and instruct you from God’s word, you have made it clear that you are not in agreement with the doctrine of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS).

Specifically, you have refused to acknowledge and confess that God forgave the sin of the world when Jesus died on the cross (John 1:29; John 19:30; 1 John 2:2; Romans 5:18; 2 Cor. 5:19; Apology IV, 103).

We expect you to acknowledge and confess the truth that God forgave the sin of the world when Jesus died on the cross, because this statement expresses the truth of God's Word and the historical teaching of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in simple, clear, and unambiguous terms.

You have stated openly that you reject the portion of the article on justification in our WELS confession This We Believe that says, “We believe that God has justified all sinners, that is, he has declared them righteous for the sake of Christ” (Article IV, 1). You have publicly acknowledged your disagreement with WELS doctrine and have made it clear that you do not walk together with the WELS in your teaching.

I am suspending you from membership in the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. The suspension is effective as of the date of this letter. The vice presidents of the Arizona-California District, Pastor Steven C. Degner and Pastor David R. Clark, concur with your suspension.

Pastor Jon D. Buchholz, President

Arizona-California District—WELS

That's the official reason for my suspension, and some will remain interested only in the "short answer" that isn't really an answer. “He denies objective justification!” 

So be it.  “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.” (Romans 8:31-33)

For the sake of the elect and those who are interested in the “long answer” and in studying the Scriptures and Confessions, I will be answering the district president’s proof passages and elaborating on all of this over the coming weeks and months (and probably years) with details of what has happened and with Scriptural and Confessional testimonies that demonstrate the absurdity of the WELS position.  Some of this may take place at Intrepid Lutherans; some of it may take place in a different forum, to be announced.

Most of the laity in the WELS have never heard this doctrine that all people have been justified before God without faith in Christ.   There are many faithful Lutheran pastors, teachers and congregations left in the WELS who believe and teach the simple truth of John 3:16-18.  Some of them have stood by me openly.  Others, in secret.  Some are waking up from their synodical slumber and starting to study the Scriptures and Confessions without the lens imposed by suits and seminaries.  

The WELS spin on my suspension will be that they did not suspend me for teaching justification by faith alone, but for denying objective justification.  It’s kind of like the Roman Catholic spin on justification:  “We teach that sinners are justified by faith alone—understanding that works of love are included in the definition of faith.”  So the WELS spin says, “We teach that sinners are justified by faith alone—understanding that all sinners were actually justified once for all without faith, and then receive the benefits of that one-time justification by believing they were already justified without believing.” ???

Regardless of the spin, the truth remains: I have been condemned as a false teacher for teaching that “to the article of justification belong and are necessary only the grace of God, the merit of Christ, and faith, which receives this in the promise of the Gospel, whereby the righteousness of Christ is imputed to us, whence we receive and have forgiveness of sins, reconciliation with God, sonship, and heirship of eternal life” (FC:SD:III:25).  I have been condemned for teaching that “men are freely justified for Christ’s sake, through faith, when they believe that they are received into favor, and that their sins are forgiven for Christ’s sake, who, by His death, has made satisfaction for our sins.  This faith God imputes for righteousness in His sight. Rom. 3 and 4.” (AC:IV)  Kyrie Eleison!


Christ's unworthy servant,

+ Rev. Paul A. Rydecki

'via Blog this'

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LPC has left a new comment on your post "Intrepid Lutherans - Pastor Paul Rydecki Suspended...":

What a fine and fitting post!

I thoroughly enjoyed the argument. He was right, what does it matter about terms OJ and SJ or UOJ or what not, the issue is this -- is his teaching Scriptural.

However, we would note that R. Preus before, perhaps, when he saw the light, did fight for the use of the UOJ/OJ/SJ term. He made it the litmus test.

At that state R. Preus was wrong.

The sad thing is that we might be able to say --- R. Preus moved on from his position (obviously he is gone now too), but those who swallowed his paper before he died, still are at it, carrying UOJ/OJ/SJ terminology as a mandatory issue that must be subscribed by a "Lutheran" and if not, one is a heretic. A man's teaching can and does outlast a man's life.

LPC

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Febreze has left a new comment on your post "Intrepid Lutherans - Pastor Paul Rydecki Suspended...":

"From your ministerial education" aka your brainwashing. Because we teach it, it is truth, no matter what the Catholic (Lutheran) Church has taught before.

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Relevant Links

LutherQuest (sic) Discussion -

http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2012/10/warming-up-tar-and-feathers-on.html

Martin Luther on the efficacy of the Word -

http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2012/05/blog-post.html

Robert Preus on Justification by Faith -

http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2011/05/robert-preus-justification-by-faith_7573.html

The Biblical View of Faith -

http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-biblical-view-of-faith-contradicts.html

Review of Rydecki Translation of Hunnius -

http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2012/09/book-review-of-theses-opposed-to.html

The Dresden Catechism -

http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2012/07/dresden-why-does-everything-happen-in.html

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Dimestore Liam has left a new comment on your post "Intrepid Lutherans - Pastor Paul Rydecki Suspended...":

Pastor Rydecki- Welcome to the ranks of those thrown out of the WELS! In 1992, the self-described "Brethren" of the WELS here in Michigan did essentially the same thing to Pastor John Gore (and got rid of me at the same time simply because I defended my pastor & mentor) that has now been done to you. I won't go into extensive detail here, but the excuse they used was similar in that they called us "crypto-Catholics" for believing what we had been taught from childhood as Lutheran doctrine. If you are interested in more detail, you can contact me at DimestoreLiam@live.com - God bless you & god luck!

Sandusky Victim: ‘I Am Troubled With Flashbacks Of His Naked Body’ « CBS Cleveland. Where Do Those Pictures and Videos Come From? The Ones That Hochmuth Distributed as WELS PR Director?

Jerry Sandusky will enjoy a busman's holiday for abusers.
He seems displeased by the prospect.

Sandusky Victim: ‘I Am Troubled With Flashbacks Of His Naked Body’ « CBS Cleveland:

"A defiant Sandusky gave a rambling statement in which he denied the allegations and talked about his life in prison and the pain of being away from his family.

“I’ve forgiven, I’ve been forgiven. I’ve comforted others, I’ve been comforted. I’ve been kissed by dogs, I’ve been bit by dogs,” he said. “I’ve conformed, I’ve also been different. I’ve been me. I’ve been loved, I’ve been hated.”"

'via Blog this'

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http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2012/06/more-wels-news-light-sentence-for-joel.html

Let's get this straight - just for the record.

SP Mark Schroeder's PR director and videographer was downloading man/boy Sandusky-style photos and videos, distributing them on the Net, and storing them at WELS headquarters.

Hochmuth received an immediate public absolution from Mark Schroeder and less than a year (with work release) for his many heinous crimes.

But WELS has condemned one of its pastors, with enormous haste, for teaching justification by faith alone, grounding his teaching on the Scriptures and the Confessions.

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Pastor emeritus Nathan Bickel has left a new comment on your post "Sandusky Victim: ‘I Am Troubled With Flashbacks Of...":

Ichabod -

I have no doubt that this nasty suspension action against one of its own pastors, by the WELS leadership, is indicative of these last times:

"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron...." - 1st Timothy 4:1-2

Nathan M. Bickel

www.thechristianmessage.org

www.moralmatters.org

Only Those Who Believe

Celebrity Endorsements Keep Coming

Page views are up by 25% or so. Yesterday - 2500.

I should have about 800 page views at this point in the morning. There are 1200 page views at 6 AM.

The top three posts for the week are doctrinal:

The Holy Spirit Teaches Man Better Than Books May 23, 2012	741
Intrepid Lutherans: Intrepid to the Last: Rev. Pau... Oct 6, 2012, 3 comments	209
Warming Up the Tar and Feathers on LutherQuest. No... Oct 7, 2012, 7 comments	88

Mequon graduates - you can click on the blue print, where the links are embedded.

The Man With Two Synod Headquarters

WELS Synod President Mark Schroeder.
Nothing says Confessional Lutheran like suspending a pastor in October ,
for teaching justification by faith.
Read the WELS COP's This We Disbelieve for an explanation.

bruce-church (http://bruce-church.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "Report to WELS - Two Headquarters. Two Felony Arre...":

From the WELS Bi-Weekly Update, 2 Oct 2012:

Synod Administration Building Update:

The Synodical Council continues to keep both the current Synod Administration Building in Wauwatosa, Wis., and the recently purchased building in Pewaukee, Wis., on the market for possible sale. There has been interest in both buildings, but no firm offers have been received to date. The Synodical Council will consider plans and strategies regarding these properties at its November meeting.

While the Synodical Council still believes that the Pewaukee building meets all of the current and long-range needs of the synod, it will consider all options when it comes to resolving this matter.

Serving in Christ,
President Mark Schroeder

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GJ - If the WELS District Presidents, like Jon Buchholz, spent as much time studying Luther as they did meddling with congregations, WELS would be Lutheran instead of Fulleresque.

It is impossible for a corrupt tree to bear good fruit.

Start with Walther and Judge Everything Accordingly - And You Will Be in Harmony with the SynCons

LPC has left a new comment on your post "LutherQuest (sic) Opposes Luther's Justification b...":

UOJ Stormtroopers love to run to Tom Hardt's essay that tries to make Walther clean from Huber's influence but one can detect from the essay that it was a damage control document. Hardt never quoted from Hunnius' work, for example the one that Pr. Rydecki translated.

Why do I bring Hunnius up against Hardt? It is because Hunnius wrote a lot against Huber - so says the Errors of Missouri authors.

LPC

Walther Is the Template for SynCons: Pietist, Enabler for an Adulterer, Double-Talker, Bully, Liar, Slanderer

http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2012/10/intrepid-lutherans-intrepid-to-last-rev.html

Walther's False Doctrine and Bad Character
Walther got his Easter absolution nonsense from Bishop Martin Stephan, an alumnus of Halle University, where Georg Christian Knapp was the last of the old Pietists. The school became rationalistic, and Knapp shared in that rationalism, questioning the biblical basis for the doctrine of the Holy Trinity.

Walther knowingly associated with an open adulterer and syphilitic liar, Stephan, who blamed his marital problems on his long-suffering wife. Walther and Stephan shared the same lawyers, so Walther had to know about the court testimony against Stephan, just before they departed for America, leaving Mrs. Stephan behind to fend for herself. Nevertheless, Walther swore lifelong obedience to his diseased bishop, a few months before plotting the mob action, grand larceny, and kidnapping of bishop-for-life Stephan.

How is this for leadership? Walther avoided confronting Stephan about adultery (and the syphilis outbreak among the young women) choosing instead to use a mob to get rid of the boss. No Law and No Gospel from Walther. The disciple preferred to be a criminal.

District Presidents Today Are Waltherian
Walther was a double-talker. For instance, he listed the reasons why a Christian should not take a brother to court, then excused his own lawsuit against two ministers in the same paragraph. All the modern DPs have shown a great eagerness to use the courts to steal land, to deny justice to abused children and women, to nullify written contracts. But they are horrified that any layman or pastor would use a lawyer after getting no response to personal visits, phone calls, emails, and certified letters to the DP.

DPs pose as orthodox Lutherans, but on what basis?
Like Walther, they are their own experts. What they say is the last word on anything.
Like Walther, they are bullies, shouting and threatening when they can get away with it.
Like Walther, they avoid dealing with situations when they can use others to do their dirty work.

Time to face this, readers. Walther's Easter absolution cannot be harmonized with the Scriptures, the Book of Concord, or the Galatians Commentary commended for study by the Book of Concord.

I have known three DPs reasonably well. They are cut from the same piece of burlap. They lie, make excuses, and always support what is wrong - in doctrine and practice.

Has Jon Buchholz suspended any Church and Changer? Has he disciplined Rick Johnson or Jeff Gunn? He studied Jeff Gunn's congregation for four years before welcoming the faux-Lutheran church into his faux-Lutheran district.

Where is Mark Schroeder? He was going to oppose the Church and Changers, too. I warned one WELS hopeful against Gurgle, who soon made Mischke look good. I warned him again against Schroeder, who has made Gurgle look good.

Faith Makes Us Bold - Luther
Lutherans are cowardly because they have no faith. They trust in the power and majesty of Holy Mother Synod, but not in the efficacy of the Word. Mama Synod gives love, fellowship, cash, and benefits. God's Word brings the cross. Boo.

One of my Moline friends, a non-Lutheran, took over one of my threads on justification by faith, expressing no interest in any confessions, just the Word. Any doctrinal issue can be settled by the Word alone, but a Lutheran friend kept defending something unknown to the Moliner - the Book of Concord.

The same is true of the DPs. They have the same love and knowledge of the Book of Concord as my Moline  classmate - zero. Worse, as Pietists, they have a loathing of the Confessions. They know even less about the Word of God, because they begin with their synodical eyeglasses on.

That is why all the Lutheran fuss in the last 50 years has concentrated on who will get the big job. Everyone gets to write and email and blog and organize and discuss and vote and start all over again. The clergy are very sharp about politics but very dull about Biblical doctrine.

In all-LCA (Augustana Synod) Moline in the 1960s, no Lutheran congregation would have attempted a pathetic rock service, a minister wearing his change-the-crankcase-oil outfit while preaching a sermonette stolen from a Methodist. Where is the opposition? Toothless, gutless, numb with anxiety about who will feed and clothe them (Matthew 6 for Mequon graduates).

Faith makes us bold because it puts our trust in the majesty and power of God, who can stop the earth on its axis and drop the dew on the fleece (or off the fleece)--Judges 6 for Mequon graduates.

No wonder the leaders of all the Lutheran sects have rushed off to Fuller Seminary to study marketing. They trust Management by Objective, but not the Means of Grace.

This is my MBO graphic. Please steal it and send it to your DP.