Intrepid Lutherans: Praise the Lord for preserving our place of worship

Jon-Boy Buchholz and Jay Webber thinks this is a UOJ text.
Not too bright.

Intrepid Lutherans: Praise the Lord for preserving our place of worship:

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2012

Praise the Lord for preserving our place of worship

More Sharing ServicesShare|Share on facebookShare on myspaceShare on googleShare on twitter

I posted the following on our church website today.  Since many of our readers have been paying attention to our situation, I decided to link to it here on Intrepid:
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

PRAISE THE LORD FOR PRESERVING OUR PLACE OF WORSHIP

Our congregation decided on October 17, 2012, to disaffiliate from the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) so that we can continue to believe and teach that sinners are saved and justified in no other way but by faith in Christ. The WELS demanded that we believe and teach that God has already saved and declared all people to be righteous in His sight, whether or not they believe and are baptized. When they condemned our confession of faith as false doctrine, we could no longer remain in fellowship with them. The Gospel is more important than any denominational affiliation, and by God's grace alone, the Gospel is still being proclaimed in our midst.

Our congregation faced an immediate challenge. Our church's mortgage was with the WELS Church Extension Fund (CEF), and we still owed $275,000 on the property. Within 48 hours of our decision to disaffiliate, in spite of the fact that we had never missed a monthly payment, the CEF sent us a letter in which they cited a clause in our loan agreement that placed us in default on our loan the moment we disaffiliated from the WELS. In the same letter, they threatened to begin foreclosure proceedings if we did not pay off our balance in full by December 1st.

We were not entirely surprised by this letter from the CEF. On the very evening on which we decided to disaffiliate from the WELS, within two hours of our decision, Pastor Jon Buchholz, president of the Arizona-California District of the WELS, who happened to be at a pastors' conference at that very moment, began announcing to some of the pastors there that the CEF would call the note on our loan—another warning not to defy the synod.

But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ (2 Corinthians 2:14-17).

The Lord provided willing and generous hearts among our members and among our brothers and sisters in Christ in other parts of the country, and we were immediately able to reduce our debt by over $25,000. At the same time, He provided a local bank that was willing to refinance our mortgage. We closed on the loan November 26th, five days ahead of our December 1st deadline.

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).

This is part of a letter I sent to my members yesterday:

I would like to thank all of the families and individuals of our congregation who helped to make all of this possible—those who donated large or small amounts. Your gifts for the work of the Lord in this place are fragrant offerings to the Lord, acceptable and pleasing to Him through faith in the blood of Christ that cleanses and purifies all the works of God’s children. I give thanks to God for all of you.

Most of all, let us give thanks to God together. We took a stand on a very basic but very important doctrinal issue, trusting that the Lord would preserve us in spite of the odds that were against us. It is He who has helped and supported us for the sake of His Gospel. We could never have done it. And so we pray with the Psalmist in Psalm 115:

¹ Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness! ² Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” ³ Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases. ⁴ Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. ⁵ They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see. ⁶ They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell. ⁷ They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; and they do not make a sound in their throat. ⁸ Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them. ⁹ O Israel, trust in the Lord! He is their help and their shield. ¹⁰ O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord! He is their help and their shield. ¹¹ You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord! He is their help and their shield. ¹² The Lord has remembered us; he will bless us; he will bless the house of Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron; ¹³ he will bless those who fear the Lord, both the small and the great. ¹⁴ May the Lord give you increase, you and your children! ¹⁵ May you be blessed by the Lord, who made heaven and earth! ¹⁶ The heavens are the Lord’s heavens, but the earth he has given to the children of man. ¹⁷ The dead do not praise the Lord, nor do any who go down into silence. ¹⁸ But we will bless the Lord from this time forth and forevermore. Praise the Lord!

See you Sunday,
+Pastor Rydecki

'via Blog this'

Extra Nos: You can end your career by just one paragraph.Unless You Work for Concordia Publishing House, LCMS

Extra Nos: You can end your career by just one paragraph:


You can end your career by just one paragraph

I am loyal to my alma mater. She is good to me. She gave me free education and also provides me with paid work from time to time.

A refreshing aspect is the culture of my faculty where the only description I have is that of egalitarianism. It does not matter what your title happens to be, you stand on the merits of your ideas and that is where you are judged.  Even those more senior than you treat you as an equal.  They do not treat you like a kid.  I remember one particular seminar when our dean spoke. As typical there is Q & A at the end of a public lecture. I was impressed of how the dean was allowed to suffer due to the cogency of the questions thrown at him, even by junior lecturers.  No one is sacred. No one is treated like a god or a guru.

In university world rankings, my university used to be among the top 50 but lately she has dropped to the 60s group. Of all the universities here, she has the most controversial history.

This year we are commemorating the 10th year anniversary of the shootings that happened in 2002. That year a disturbed Chinese student open fired in his economics class. From memory, he killed two of his classmates. A couple of professors went in to subdue him. That is probably the most significant incident but there is another one.

Around that year too, the Vice-Chancellor of my university was forced to resign. The VC is like your CEO, while the Chancellor is like your President. The first is like the Prime Minister while the second is like your Head of State having more a ceremonial role. Why did he have to resign?

The story went that our ex-VC was guilty of plagiarizing several times.  The first couple of times were when he was not even our VC yet and they happened 20 years before coming to our university! One might say that happened in the past it should not count. Not so. The third incident was discovered by one of our professors while reading the VC’s book on the connection of drinking with alcoholism.  This book was also published many years before he stepped into our university. The ex-VC authored his book but he copied some sections word for word even punctuation from another book. It was so appalling that the professor who discovered this labeled the act as an act of serial plagiarism. In the end none of the Council members (Board of Trustees) needless to say, he was asked to resign.

 In academia, you can really end your career by one act of sloppy or lazy referencing. It does not seem to be the case in the world of Internet theology blogging.  It seems church people and theologians have a very poor standard compared to academia.


'via Blog this'

Orchestrated Hatred from the Lutheran Apostates

On another forum, I brought up the subject of receiving hate emails from pastors I knew. I forwarded each email, without responding, to their respective synod presidents. The emails stopped.

One person was shocked. Another said, more or less, "It's because of strong personalities, etc."

Thanks to many contacts in various synods (just wished a lady ELCA pastor Happy Birthday), I hear from plenty of ministers. I know that WELS has a highly organized attack system via the Mark Jeske Corporation (aka Church and Church, aka the WELS leaders). If someone steps off the reservation, the attacks arrive by phone and email for several days.

The sect also has an undermining and shunning system, which is quieter but effective. If someone opposes Church Growth or Emergent Entertainment, this helpful explanation is whispered, "He's lazy" or "He doesn't care about missions." Someone known for questioning the apostasy of WELS will not be allowed any position, not that many would try in the first place. But if he is mentioned, "He's bitter."

Since WELS is all fake-Gospel (UOJ), it is also all Law (man-made). Therefore, punishment is visited unto the second and third generation of all those who dissent.

This blog would be far more interesting if I published all the names and all the stories I receive about false doctrine, murder, clergy adultery and homosexuality.

"My entire family would disown me if they knew I was in contact with you."

"If my husband (a pastor) knew I was saying hello on IM, he would kill me." (I trust that was not literal, but still...)

"I am giving you details but if you share them, everyone will know where they came from." Therefore, the details have not been shared.

Likewise, the gross sins and false doctrine of the Jeske leadership are excused with standard talking points:

• He is passionate about sharing Jesus.
• He is cutting edge.
• He does not believe in Christian bashing.

---

rlschultz has left a new comment on your post "Orchestrated Hatred from the Lutheran Apostates":

In the WELS, the right person can get away with murder. The problem with being an insider and one who rubs elbows with leaders is that you eventually come across someone's dirty laundry. I have witnessed the nicest folks become totally stymied when put into the uncomfortable position of being confronted with this dirty laundry. I used to get angry with them. But now, I pity them more than anything else. The advantage of being an outsider is that you have nothing to lose. Your livelihood does not depend upon not stepping on toes and following the party line. Dr. Jackson, I cannot imagine the content of some of the e-mails from those who confide in you. Many of them would like to upset the apple cart, but understand that the trade off on a personal level could be difficult.

The Fiscal Cliff

bruce-church (https://bruce-church.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "Elmo puppeteer Kevin Clash sued over new underage ...":

The fiscal cliff explained (WSJ video):

http://www.theabsurdreport.com/2012/what-is-the-fiscal-cliff-everything-you-need-to-know/