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| Let me play the song of my people. |
Business was called the trades, in Britain, and the wealthiest manufacturer in England was considered a shopkeeper. Now you can understand Downton Abbey better.
Someone wanted to pursue the discussion, so I decided to write here rather than on Facebook.
Luther often used the term Predigtamt, or preaching office. That was consistent with his emphasis upon the Biblical doctrine of converting and leading through the sermon.
Today's Church Shrinkers are shopkeepers. The First VP of WELS, Fuller-trained Jim Huebner, brags about his coffee shop on his websty. One of his assistant pastors was described on the Grace Milwaukee websty as a barista (like Starbuck's - seriously). I noticed the description disappearing after its debut on Ichabod.
So much of Church and Change culture is preserved on this site. Erase what you can, while it is still day - I will still kelm it for the church historians.
WELS - definition. "Acronym for Weaker Evangelical Lutheran Siblings" (Jay Webber, ELS). A sect that practiced in-breeding and Fuller business methods until it went bankrupt, shortly after one last once-in-a-lifetime-giving-opportunity in 2017. Mourned by few, WELS history can still be traced by the volume of arrests and lawsuits in local courts.
Luther's term is only relevant for those who trust in the efficacy of the Word. That is a tiny minority of the clergy today. The so-called leaders, from the parish pastor on down to the synod president, are far more willing to trust in business methods. They make no apologies for coveting big business and modeling their efforts after franchises. As one Shrinker said, after visiting McDonald's headquarters, "If only the church had all these media tools."
Notice that the clergy, when debating in their normal wimpy and cowardly way, want to discuss the history of one sect compared to another. They know as much about Luther as nuclear physics, perhaps less.
The most important way to know Luther is to read his expository sermons, eight volumes of them posted on this blog. (See the sticky post on the left or the links below the main graphic on the front page.)
Luther's only method was to preach the Gospel - justification by faith. He did that by examining the meaning of each phrase in the lesson and using the entire Bible as his exegetical tool. Luther did not lack in his knowledge of philosophy and history. He called upon those fields when necessary. But his chief tool was the Word itself - the Word explaining the Word.
He did this so carefully and consistently that today's Church Growth and UOJ Enthusiasts must carefully avoid Luther in their eructations.
I noticed that Walther picked out some very good Luther quotes in his little book on election (translated by Ken Howes). Those quotes are used to point to Walther as the American Luther. He did his own PR, painting himself as another Luther, denying his own Pietism, and excoriating the other Pietists as false teachers. Branding - they call it branding today. Walther suppressed the criminal history of Missouri's founding so he could establish a brand based on his own person - the Great Walther.
As one layman said, "What other group named its youth group after one of its founders? Muhlenberg League? Spener League? Passavant League? But Missouri has a Walther League - or did - to promote its brand."
Signficantly, 99.9% of the Lutheran brands teach against Luther. That is the reason they avoid Luther's works, mentioning him only to excoriate him for one imagined reason or another.
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bruce-church (https://bruce-church.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "A Good Name for the Clergy":
Cascione's newest blog post is about churches being sold across the UK and US. The Wall Street Journal article mentions churches sold for a half million or a million, but some sell for a mere $20 grand, even though they were used as churches right up to the sale, so they weren't run down at all.
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"First Presbyterian Church sold in an auction this morning for $20,000 plus buyers fee":
http://www.beloitdailynews.com/first-presbyterian-church-sold/article_7dc2f49e-30e0-11e2-81aa-0019bb2963f4.html
REAL ESTATE AUCTION- First Presbyterian Church – 501 Prospect Street, Beloit WI:
http://www.beloitauction.com/auction/191005/real-estate-auction-first-presbyterian-church-501-prospect-street-beloit-wi/
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Church Property Sales Up 500%:
Renovated to Condominiums:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/reclaimnews/message/289
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324001104578163303753632508.html#
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| Eastern Orthodox WEF |
