If We Understand Luther and the Reformation Correctly - The Sermon Is Everything. Therefore, We Should Read Luther's Sermons as a Primary Source for Lutheran Doctrine and Regularly for Our Own Spiritual Welfare

The morons who promote Universal Objective Justification want us to believe that their dogma is the Chief Article of the Christian Faith, the master and prince of all other articles.

This statement, from "The Righteousness of Faith" in the Formula of Concord, simply destroys the entire UOJ argument. The UOJ Hive has to buzz about various people so they can ignore the real issue, their colossal ignorance or vapid atheism. Experience with these thugs has taught me that vapid atheism is the better answer.

They behave the same way on the ALPB Online Forum as they do on SpenerQuest. My neighbor has four pit-bulls in a yard with a very high fence. However some boards are missing so they can peer out through the chain link fencing, and I can look in. Every so often three start attacking one, even though they are all one tribe. The pack makes a terrible racket as the bottom one howls and screams, the top three bark and bite. They remind me of those forums where the clergy and a few brain-bleached laity exchange insults in spite of their obvious agreement about unfaith and universal forgiveness.

In contrast, Luther and the Concordists - in the graphic above - are saying that the sermon is everything.

The purpose of the Holy Spirit's work in the Church is to convict the world of its sin:
Not the sin of individual communion glasses.
Not the sin of polity
Not even the sin of Thrivent.

John 16:8 And when He is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 Of sin, because they believe not on Me...

The foundational sin is unbelief, so the foundation of all Christian ministry must be justification by faith.

Any pastor or lay leader will admit how easy it is to fall into Law preaching and Law solutions. I listen to various Lutherans and scattered denominations deliver their best, and their best is full of secular suggestions, must have's, and scoldings. If scolding worked, we would all be almost perfect by now. No generation has been scolded and hectored more than this one, on an infinite number of manifest short-comings, from failure to recycle to thinking Holy Mother Synod is them. ["No - WEEEE are the Synod!" says the synodical bureaucrat, who will break your kneecaps for questioning him.]

Luther himself saw the ministry as the Preaching Office - Predigtamt. A pastor's sole duty consists of preaching the Gospel of justification by faith from the pulpit, in the classroom, and in regular visits to his members and others. He does not have the Calming Office, the Office of Balancing the Budget, or the Office of the Really Busy Parish.

After 11,500 Posts - Some Results

At least I have this going for me, which is pretty nice.

After years of posting about the evils of Thrivent Insurance, I noticed some action from the LCMS and WELS. Some bloggers, FB denizens, and tweeters noted that Thrivent was using matching funds to donate money to Planned Parenthood. They were not happy.

Planned Parenthood is still the biggest provider of abortions in America. The business was started by Margaret Sanger, who wanted to rid this country of Blacks. The KKK thought so much of her work that they invited her to speak. She was quite flattered - agreed - and wrote about her experience.

WELS took a hands off position. Thrivent is just a business that gives funds to various Christian groups. That factoid was wrong - Thrivent gives to all religions and atheists, too. Brett Meyer has done some great research on Thrivent.

Missouri was a little more upset - but why? The LCMS is happy to work with ELCA, whose health plan pays for abortions on demand. ELCA uses its World Hunger money to pay for lobbyists in every state and in DC to lobby for Left-wing causes, including abortion on demand. Big, brave Missouri suddenly has a problem with abortion?

ELCA and Mark Jeske are two great reasons to avoid Thrivent altogether -

• To stop using their cheap junk at the coffee hour, receptions, and minister meetings.
• To stop promoting their matching funds.
• To stop giving their agents membership directories in order to sell third-rate products to a captive audience. "Oh, Thrivent gives money back to your synod and congregation." 
• To cease selling annuities and other Thrivent products to little old ladies in the name of Planned Giving Counselors with a divine call from Holy Mother Sect.

Mark Jeske is on the national board of Thrivent, and he is the real leader of false prophets/profits in WELS and Missouri. He has the connections with all the Daddy Warbucks. Jeske has his hand in every deep pocket around. Actually, it is so cold in Milwaukee this weekend that he has his hands in his own pockets - but that will not last.

A recent Seibert Foundation report showed that Jeske was pulling out six figure sums, three different ways, from that foundation alone. He teaches Church and Changers, where he is the leader, how to write grants to skim most of the loot for themselves.

Short-Term Calls Make LCMS Look Better to Gubmint Educational Loan People?

The LCMS pays David Scaer a princely salary to teach
against Luther's doctrine.
Salaries = tuition = debt.
Students borrow enormous amounts of money to pay faculty salaries and benefits.

Crippling Costs Related to Sky-High LCMS Seminary Tuition Loans:

http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2013/08/crippling-costs-related-to-sky-high.html


Comment: Some schools pay employers to hire their graduates in order to boost their placement rates right out of school. However, the graduates find they are soon laid off and then they are on their own to find another job, though they have to continue paying off their student loans. So in other words, part of the student loan debt they incurred is used by schools to bribe employers into hiring them temporarily straight out of college or trade school. Could a variant of that practice be happening in the LCMS? Sure looks like it:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/16/corinthian-colleges-job-placement_n_4433800.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000010

Even that short-lived gig wasn't secured on the strength of Parms's degree. The college had paid his contractor $2,000 to hire him and keep him on for at least 30 days, part of an effort to boost its official job placement records, according to documents obtained by The Huffington Post. The college paid more than a dozen other companies to hire graduates into temporary jobs before cutting them loose, a HuffPost investigation has found.

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"I will show you the way."

Are They Kidding Us?

http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2011/09/lcms-seminary-cost-scandal-fabulous.html

 

Seminary to study issue of student indebtedness after receiving grant for that purpose:
 

SEMINARY RECEIVES LILLY GRANT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 11, 2013

ST. LOUIS—Lilly Endowment Inc. has awarded more than $12.3 million for 51 theological schools across the United States as part of the second round of its Theological School Initiative to Address Economic Issues Facing Future Ministers. Concordia Seminary is a thankful recipient of a part of this grant.

Recent research indicates that student educational debt in excess of $30,000 is not uncommon for seminary graduates, and some students are graduating from seminary with loans of more than $100,000. The financial pressures caused by these debt levels severely limit the ability of seminary graduates to accept calls to Christian ministry and undermine the effectiveness of too many pastoral leaders.

To help address this issue, Lilly Endowment created the Theological School Initiative to Address Economic Issues Facing Future Ministers. The initiative’s aim is to encourage theological schools to examine and strengthen their financial and educational practices to improve the economic well-being of future ministerial leaders.

“Concordia Seminary through its Center for Stewardship will use the funding to conduct research on the components of student debt,” commented Rev. Wayne Knolhoff, director of the Center. “It will aim to assist current students in limiting debt, and assist congregations, pastors, and students by providing resources to address various stewardship issues.”

For more information on the Center for Stewardship, please contact Rev. Knolhoff at knolhoffw@csl.edu.