ICHABOD, THE GLORY HAS DEPARTED - explores the Age of Apostasy, predicted in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, to attack Objective Faithless Justification, Church Growth Clowns, and their ringmasters. The antidote to these poisons is trusting the efficacious Word in the Means of Grace. John 16:8. Isaiah 55:8ff. Romans 10. Most readers are WELS, LCMS, ELS, or ELCA. This blog also covers the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, and the Left-wing, National Council of Churches denominations.
That Roman reactionary Barhardt website you posted the other day
(http://barnhardt.biz/) has gone full parabolic in panic over the pope being a
less-than-devout fellow. (What was the first clue? That he was the stalker
candidate at Ratzinger/Benedict's election?) Her recent posts are hilarious in a
piteous way, especially the cardinal-to-be-pope celebrating puppet masses.
But sit up and take notice of the answer given by new Pope's
confidant:
Q: In what sense is reform necessary?
Cardinal Hummes: Not
just of the Curia, but many other things: our way of celebrating ("fazer",
lit. "making", "doing") Mass, of doing evangelization, this new evangelization
needs new methods. The pope spoke in the meeting with the cardinals of new
methods, we need to find new methods.
BWAAAAA HAH
Hahahaahahahaha!!
Which of the washed up C&C consultants can we
export to Rome?
A Winston-Salem-based United Methodist church has announced that it will stop performing straight weddings until same-sex marriage is legalized in North Carolina.
The Green Street United Methodist Church announced its decision in a powerful, deeply affirming statement asking the congregation’s pastors to perform marital blessings in lieu of official marriage rights (emphasis mine):
As an Anti-Racist, Reconciling Congregation, Green Street United Methodist Church seeks to be in faithful ministry with all people in the brokenness of our world. This statement is being adopted as a sign of our commitment to love and justice for all people.
If I had to pick one, I'd absolutely 100% pick Pope Francis
and the Catholics over the "Lutherans" any day. Why?
There is no Lutheran
church that I'm aware of that teaches Justification by Faith. They all teach
UOJ, which clearly antithetical to Scripture. They are also antinomialist. They
follow Luther's advice to sin boldly, nearly dualistic in how they view the body
and soul. What you do with your material self, the Lutheran theology teaches, is
meaningless if you have faith. And of course UOJ supports this.
The
Catholic church, likewise, has a screwed up teaching of Justification. They
focus too much on the material side of things, not emphasizing the real hope
that is in Christ. There are plenty of confident Christians in the catholic
church, but too many are taught to doubt their faith, and taught to strengthan
their chances of salvation with works. But at least they hold their members
accountable to the ten commandments. It might be a severe twisting of
Christianity, but hey,bottom line: I'd rather have Catholic neighbors than
Lutheran neighbors.
The pope IS a spiritual authority on earth,
regardless of what we think of his theology. Like the papacy or hate it, you
can't deny it's influence. To that end, I think this pope looks like a guy
who'll positively impact society---which is about as much as you can hope for
from a pope, right?
Let me be more
succinct. Dave P. You're boring. Lutherans always rip the Catholics and the
Pope.
I tell ya what. Every Lutheran Church that I know of teaches UOJ, a
false justification.
The Catholic Church, likewise, teaches a false
Justification.
Lutherans are quite antinomialistic: What you do with your
material body is immaterial (ha ha) as long as you have faith. Sin Boldly, as
Luther said.
Catholics sure don't teach their people to be confident in
their faith, and teach their people to doubt their own salvation as a means to
get them to follow the ten commandments... but at least they teach the
commandments and hold people accountable to them.
Lutherans live in a
glass house so we shouldn't throw stones.
Never trust a Jesuit.
The wily Jesuit pope has told the weeping Italians that he chose the name Francis to honor Francis of Assisi, but he might have mentioned that the second most famous Jesuit is Francis Xavier. Many Roman Catholics are named Francis X. Surname after that Jesuit.
Opinions vary about the new pope. Some Evangelicals are praying that he will be a good pope. I wonder how that is defined - a better Antichrist, a sugar-coated Antichrist, or a bishop who rejects all the dogmas of Rome?
There are areas of agreement with traditional Catholicism, but the Chief Article of Christianity, justification by faith, is greeted with catcalls and Let him be damned!Anathema sit! - Just like WELS, Cyberbrethren, Steadfast Lutherans (sic), and Lutherquest (sic).
The leadership of Rome is committed to New Theology, which is nothing more than a version of mainline, rationalistic Protestant theology, the heritage of Schleiermacher at Halle University. Although the librarians of modern theology may classify these versions into many different categories, the advocates all dismiss the content of the Scriptures in favor of using select words to promote their ideas. The central message of modern theology is - Everyone is forgiven, so let's have some fun with creative writing.
Robert Jenson, the Great Apostate of ELCA, concedes that he really should become a Roman Catholic, but he is not going to do it. Why should he? Jenson has all the book, professorship, and speaking fees he needs from trashing every article of faith. He is the "most creative Lutheran theologian today."
Fuller Seminary Toxins
Missouri, WELS, and the ELS have followed ELCA in kissing up to Rome, but they also send their leaders and future leaders to Fuller Seminary, Trinity Divinity, and Willow Creek.
Fuller and Willow Creek were leaders in feminist theology long before WELS discovered the intoxicating appeal of making everyone a minister, every gender a priest.
Thanks to the pan-denominational network set up at those beehives of Enthusiasm, the "conservative" Lutherans are delighted to work with and emulate the abortion-loving, pan-sexual ELCA ministerium. And they extend the Left Foot of Fellowship with the same gusto as ELCA.
Thrivent Mediocre Insurance is happy to help with the network, too. The AAL/LB merger allowed them to hide their horrid figures and make their move into all denominations, which will soon be official.
Feeding Both Heads at Once
Although ELCA favors Rome and WELS/LCMS kisses up to Fuller, both segments cater to the two natures of Enthusiasm - high church smells and bells, low church clowns and freaks. This shows how all the denominations are headed at full speed into apostasy, taking as many people as possible with them.
The longer each minister and layman stays while "trying to help" and "working from within," the more conditioned everyone is to this apostasy, which is the chief sign of the end.
KJV 2 Thessalonians 2:1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by
our gathering together unto him, 2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor
by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 3 Let no man deceive you by any
means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away [Apostasy] first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. 5 Remember
ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? 6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he
might be revealed in his time
This passage about falling away from faith (apostasy) can only describe the Antichrist in Rome. He is the leader of apostasy because he teaches against justification by faith, has the greatest possible following, and holds himself to be infallible in teaching, God-like. Papal commentators call him Christ's representative on earth - and even Christ Himself.
2 Thessalonians 2:7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
Readers can look at the actions of Missouri, Rome, WELS, and the ELS in covering up crimes and destroying evidence. At the same time those denominations brutalize their faithful clergy and laity, so much that people hide their names when agreeing with the Scriptures.
The greedy denominations have no qualms about letting people pay for their own churches and properties and taking them away when it serves their agenda. I wonder how many would buy a car that way, making $25,000 in payments and then watching it hauled away by the dealership. But the members and clergy give that and more to their congregations and denominations - to lease false doctrine and support criminal conduct.
Fuller and Rome both claim great miracles, and they are good at making vast sums of money disappear.
Lutherans today are divided between "Love me some Fuller" and "Love me some Rome." Luther is a stranger to them, and the Means of Grace are alien to their thinking.
There are Roman Catholics who will agree with you on that
one. Since the 1960's, the Jesuits have been home to some of the most notorious
dissenters, or else have given them prominent teaching positions (such as Dan
Maguire at Marquette University). In fact, even though Francis is fairly
conservative in theology, quite a few in the traditionalist faction had a
collective meltdown, as he is not a staunch supporter of the older
liturgy.
Dave P.
***
GJ - A fairly conservative Jesuit is one who masks his Unitarianism.
Contextualization is the kind of book I loathe, and the style makes it even more difficult to bear. However, if someone wants to have an outline of everything going on in this area, Moreau's book is the place to start.
I found it ironic to be reading the book while teaching a graduate course in urban ministry. My students shared the same emphasis upon the efficacy of the Word, good works flowing from the central message of the church in the city - the Gospel of Christ.
Moreau's work is the ultimate example of the rationalistic, philosophical, statistical efforts started by Donald McGavran, whose non-theological graduate work made him reliant on numbers and the study of mass movements.
McGavran earned a degree at Yale Divinity, a school often denounced by Tim the Plagiarist for being liberal. Yale Divinity had no Lutherans on the faculty at that time - just like Mequon today.
McGavran's doctorate came Columbia University, in education:
Gary McIntosh: Later, he studied for his Ph.D. degree at Columbia University’s Teacher’s College. Training in educational theory at Columbia was greatly influenced by John Dewey. “Dewey spent slightly over a quarter of a century on the regular faculty of Columbia University. He was appointed in 1904 and retired in 1930; the next decade he spent as an emeritus but active professor, drawing a full salary and continuing to teach graduate students” (Ryan 1995:156). While McGavran must have encountered Dewey’s educational pragmatism during his studies at Columbia, McGavran never mentions or credits Dewey for any of his evangelistic insights.
McGavran lived and worked in the liberal, ecumenical Disciples of Christ, so he also participated in the World Council of Churches (boo hiss).
Where are the Disciples today? They work jointly with the United Church of Christ, whose ministers register for conferences as male, female, and transgender. The Disciples were too timid to allow homosexual ministers in their own sect, so their lavender group transferred to the UCC, where such things are embraced, loud and proud.
That gives the context for Contextualization.
The author earned his MDiv at Trinity in Deerfield, one of the favorite training schools for WELS and the LCMS (along with Fuller Seminary and Willow Creek Community Church). Moreau also earned a D.Miss. at Trinity, three years later. A D.Miss. may be tougher than the laughable D.Min., but it is not a PhD. Seminaries are not noted for having difficult doctorates, but ministers love to be called "Dr." Clever marketing has extracted the maximum amount of money for minimal efforts. I may print up some D.Min. diplomas and sell them on the Net.
But I am not knocking the labor involved in this work. Believe me, no one will ever try this again. Moreau has categorized every possible contextualization scheme on this planet. Not surprisingly, he teaches intercultural studies at Wheaton College.
The table of contents for the book indicates its content.
Table of Contents
Section 1 Foundations for Evangelical Contextualization 1: Models and Maps of Contextualization....................................... 27 2: Presuppositional Concerns in Contextualization 1: Revelation .................................................................................... 49 3: Presuppositional Concerns in Contextualization 2: Interpretation .............................................................................. 73 4: Discerning the Good from the Bad in Contextualization ........ 103 5: Concepts That Shape and Constrain Contextualization........... 119 6: Tools for Analysis and Application in Contextualization ......... 141 Section 2 Mapping Evangelical Models of Contextualization Introduction............................................................................... 174 7: Mapping Examples of Evangelical Contextualization............... 177 8: Initiator as Facilitator................................................................. 203 9: Initiator as Guide........................................................................ 221 10: Initiator as Herald....................................................................... 239 11: Initiator as Pathfinder................................................................. 259 12: Initiator as Prophet..................................................................... 277 13: Initiator as Restorer..................................................................... 295 14: Future Trajectories...................................................................... 311 Appendix A: Dean Gilliland’s Map............................................. 325 Appendix B: Marc Cortez’s Map................................................. 335 Appendix C: Charles Van Engen’s Map...................................... 343 Appendix D: A Composite Map of Gilliland, Cortez, and Van Engen 353 Appendix E: A Visual Evangelical Semantic Domain of Contextualization 361 Appendix F: List of Initiator Examples....................................... 369 References................................................................................... 381
---
McGavran and his friend C. Peter Wagner set the stage for the enormous growth of Fuller Seminary and its alliances in all denominations (ELCA, LCMS, WELS, ELS, CLC sic) - including Roman Catholics. As a mass movement, Church Growth has emptied the Christian Church of content and replaced it with entertainment, coaching, and statistics. Ministers are clowns, and clowns are liturgists.
Where is the growth from the Church Growth Movement? The latest eructation--Emergent Church--is simply more ashamed of the Gospel, the name "church," and any confession whatsoever. The group that refuses to have a confession of faith will not stop there but keep going until the Scriptures are also removed.
Craig Groeschel has all denominations giving his sermons. I see the same series being offered on the Net (as if they are original in that parish) in ten congregations at a time, many sects at a time. They all have the same copied message, the same Scripture, the same title, and even the same Groeschel graphics. But that is fine for Lutherans, because DP Engelbrecht says, "Everyone plagiarizes."
Since McGavran started with two questions - Does it work? and What are the numbers? - We have to ask the same questions today, the questions they do not want to address, because their only concerns for these disciples are - Does it make money for me? Does it give me an easy life? If you want to see why most Evangelicals are running full-speed into apostasy, buy this book and share with your cell group.
The children saw their parents for only a few hours per week. They did not receive any education in the traditional sense, said Miscavige-Hill, who lived there for six years, until she was 12 years old.
Those interned there until 2000 were the children of the Sea Org, the elite of the Church founded by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard. They worked 14 hours a day, seven days a week for a weekly wage of $45.
The details fit in with another book which came out in January in the United States, "Going Clear" by journalist Lawrence Wright, which the Church described as "so ludicrous it belongs in a supermarket tabloid."
Among other back-breaking tasks the Scientologist children had to drag enormous rocks to build a wall, or dig irrigation channels under the blazing desert sun, said Miscavige-Hill.
