Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Upcoming Publications and Posts




My Lutheran Hymnal has finished production. Promotion will start soon. It will be available on Amazon's Create Space and as an e-book on Kindle.

Norma Boeckler is finishing her illustrated book on the Augsburg Confession. I wrote a short introduction to it.

Next is the apologetics novel. Setting - Moline. The rough draft will be finished relatively soon. The Moline trip is to photograph some settings and check on facts. Sassy is going along to supervise. Chris will enjoy a special ladies luncheon with Moline High friends from 1966, The Class the Stars Fell On.

I am sure a number of projects will emerge, because I have some material that will be useful for those who love Luther's work - as few as that may be today.

Upcoming posts -

Top Ten Crimes in WELS.

Top Ten Doctrinal Crimes in WELS.


Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Classic Ichabod - One More Useless Letter to Mark Schroeder,
Jeske's Director of Public Relations.
Nothing Was Done, Except To Protect the Perps.
Entire 29-Page Letter Linked at Bottom of Each Post



Monday, November 1, 2010


St. Peter, Freedom, Wisconsin. Letter to WELS Officials, pp. 1-3








Click here for pages 4-5.


Bow down and worship me, WELS, and all this will be yours.

Frustration about the Apostate Synods

Martin Luther was UOJ - sure, sure.


It is impossible for anyone to remain Christian without the external preaching of the Word of God (KJV), the Lord's Supper, Office of the Keys, Baptism.  God saves me by the external preaching of the Word (KJV) and the external means of grace (Baptism, Office of the Keys, Holy Communion).  

How can I remain Christian?  I do not trust any pastor or church or synod anymore.  The main synods are apostate; but not everyone in the synods are apostate.  I do not trust you either when you insist on everyone leaving the apostate synods to sit all by themselves with NO pastor to preach the Word (KJV).  NO pastor to administer Holy Communion OFTEN (at least once a week). No pastor to administer Baptism and the Office of the Keys.  What good are the means of grace unless they are administered OFTEN by faithful pastors in my area.

I have no where to turn at this point.  No pastor can be trusted, not even you.  The office of pastor demands that they be the first to step forward against the false teaching in the apostate synods. I do not see this happening.  So don't ask me to leave the apostate synod until I have a faithful pastor in my area.  

I apologize for my frustration. I do respect you and I do agree with your teachings; but please stop asking us laymen to do the impossible.  

With Respect,

Name Withheld


***

GJ - I would rather see the apostates leave their synods and join the Unitarian-Universalist Association, but they want the funds they already control. 

I am not trying to tell people what to do - only to open their eyes to what is happening around them.

Synodicals think in terms of affiliations.

The conservative Evangelicals do not worry about membership, as long as someone believes what the Bible teaches.

Lutherans do not care what someone believes, as long as he belongs to the right synod.

Mark Jeske is ELCA, WELS, ELS,
WELS, New Age.
They all lub, lub, lub him.



Big Beer Glasses To Fill at the Stinky Old Bar Called The CORE -

Pastor Mike, Kim, Brooklyn, and Maya
Pictured: Pastor Mike, Kim, Brooklyn, and Maya
Pastor
Mike Novotny
mnovotny@eastsidelutheran.org
244-3045 ext. 12
Hello! I’m Pastor Mike Novotny, the outreach pastor here at Eastside. I’m a Green Bay native who has lived all over our great state. After attending Green Bay Preble High School, I decided to become a pastor and enrolled at Martin Luther College in New Ulm, MN. It was there that I met my wife to be, Kim Springstroh, an Appleton native. We married just after graduation in June of 2003.

------------------------  C A L L S   A C C E P T E D  ---------------------
    Novotny, Rev Michael T     St Peter - Appleton WI             04/25/2014
         Associate Pastor @ The CORE




Sunday, April 27, 2014

Hulk Does Impression of SpenerQuest Debating UOJ


None dare call it LutherQuest.

Where is their pal Paul McCain? They used to link his plagiarism of The Catholic Encyclopedia every day.

Perhaps he is in Rome for the pope-saints.

Quasimodogeniti, The First Sunday after Easter, April 27, 2014.
John 20:19-31. Doubting Thomas



Quasimodogeniti, The First Sunday after Easter, 2014

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson




The Hymn # 199                 Jesus Christ is Risen  1:83
The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual       
The Gospel              
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #200                I Know that My Redeemer            1:80

Two Natures United in One Person


The Communion Hymn #187            Christ Is Arisen                     1:45
The Preface p. 24
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn # 195 (Luther)            Christ Jesus             1:46

Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead with His life-giving Word,
by Norma Boeckler.

First Sunday After Easter

Lord God, heavenly Father, we thank Thee, that of Thine ineffable grace, for the sake of Thy Son, Thou hast given us the holy gospel, and hast instituted the holy sacraments, that through the same we may have comfort and forgiveness of sin: We beseech Thee, grant us Thy Holy Spirit, that we may heartily believe Thy word; and through the holy sacraments day by day establish our faith, until we at last obtain salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.

KJV 1 John 5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? 6 This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. 7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. 8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. 9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. 10 He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.

KJV John 20:19 Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. 20 And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord. 21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: 23 Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.

24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. 26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. 27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. 28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. 29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. 

30 And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: 31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.



Two Natures United in One Person


KJV John 20:19 Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. 

In one verse, John shows us once again the Two Natures of Christ. The Fourth Gospel is often called the Gospel of Faith, but one listener added, "It is also the Doctrinal Gospel."

True indeed. John's Gospel teaches us about the Trinity, the Father-Son relationship, the work of the Holy Spirit, faith, Creation, the Sacraments, forgiveness, and the Two Natures of Christ.

This one narrative teaches us about faith and about the Two Natures of Christ, human and divine, united in One Person - Jesus.

This is a contrast between faith and doubt. Thomas had years of experience with Christ. He was not a traitor like Judas. He was the eye-witness to those miracles we read about. He not only heard Jesus teaching but also Jesus explaining His teaching. 

How did this happen? Perhaps fear overcame faith. They are not the same. Fear is an emotion. Trust is not an emotion, which is why leaders fail when they try to emphasize feelings.

Luther observed that when fear takes over, faith goes out the window. Fear is generated by our experience and human reason. Thomas the disciples had good reason to be afraid. The power of the Roman Empire was overwhelming and they knew all about the religious opposition. 

Religion always increases the power of evil. Norma retaliation on a secular level is raised to the highest degree because they are sure they are doing God's will. When the staff of a church takes a member to court for telling the truth, one has to wonder, "Were you even thinking when you planned this?"

The first verse shows us that the divine nature of Christ was not limited by His human nature. Rationalists have a door left open or a secret entrance. But the text simple says the doors were locked for fear of the Jews.  There is nothing to hint at an alternative, which human reason demands. Just the opposite would be true of men fearing for their lives. They would make sure everything was locked down.

The Son of God cannot be locked out of a room. What man cannot imagine, God does all the time. When people fail to give honor to His power and guidance, they trust themselves and become like Doubting Thomas. "I will trust in miracles only if they conform to my requirements."

The visible Christian Church is governed by fear today, because their is a drought of the Word and a complete lack of faith at the highest levels. Doubt generates even more fear, and fear generates doubt. Therefore, people believe that money will solve their problems. When they get the money they covet, they spend it foolishly because God will not prosper those activities that go against His will, even if they are popular at the moment.

Let us hope that no one forgets this - In one generation, Robert Schuller went from teaching Possibility Thinking to seeing his Crystal Cathedral sold to the Roman Catholic Church.



20 And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.

The disciples were at their lowest point before Jesus appeared. Everything seemed collapsed, but they were still together as a unit. Jesus said that no one of them would be lost. The memory of the crucifixion fears and dismay would animate their sermons as long as they lived. They and the others were chosen to see the risen Christ so their witness would be the foundation of the Christian Church.

Jesus appeared as a real man, with the marks of His crucifixion. He was not a vision, not a spirit, but God Incarnate. Only a human being would have scars from the crucifixion. But only God could appear at will.

The Incarnation is the ultimate test of Christian faith, expressed in many ways in the New Testament. No one had to say "bodily resurrection" because they knew what resurrection of the dead meant. It was not a dream, not a vision, but a reality.

Jesus prepared them by raising the widow's son, the young girl, and Lazarus, who came to Jerusalem with Jesus on Palm Sunday. Everyone hailed Jesus because the evidence of His power was there at the parade. The funeral party because the Messianic party and it spread across the city, leading to formation of the Christian Church there.

Jesus appearance to disciples restored their complete faith and promised them much more. The Holy Spirit would lead them and teach them, bringing to remembrance what Jesus had done and had taught.

21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: 23 Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.

I keep looking for the missing Trinity in the Bible. The rationalists tell me the doctrine was invented 500 years after Christ. Knappe, the Halle Pietist who taught UOJ, said the doctrine of the Trinity was not Biblical.

But here is the Son speaking of the Father and Holy Spirit. In two verses, the work of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is revealed. Through the Gospel, the disciples will offer forgiveness and also non-forgiveness.

Forgiveness is receive through faith. Unbelief does not know anything about forgiveness or receive forgiveness, whether it is called the forgiveness of sin or absolution, grace.

The good tree of faith produces good fruit, while the evil tree of unbelief produces corrupt fruit. 

24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. 26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. 27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. 28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. 29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. 

The reaction of Thomas is definitely criticized by Jesus in the strongest possible terms. You believe because you saw me? Blessed are those who believe without seeing.

This is a blessing offered to all those who believe now. Jesus is still present among us, but He is not visible to our eyes. We are blessed for believing without seeing, and through the eyes of faith we see what God does and promises.

30 And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: 31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.

There are those who claim the name Lutheran who imagine that "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" has a special meaning, known only to a few hundred fanatics. Their delusion is that Jesus is the reason for the entire world being forgiven - without faith, without the Word, without the Means of Graces.

They must also mean that the Fourth Gospel predicts itself, since the opposite of universal forgiveness and salvation is taught throughout John's Gospel. The purpose of John's Gospel is to create faith - that you might believe, and in believing have life through His Name.


Saturday, April 26, 2014

Classic Ichabod - Review of JP Meyer's Classic UOJ Textbook - The Fetid Womb of the Kokomo Statements

Monday, July 18, 2011

Review of J. P. Meyer - Ministers of Christ,
Revised Slightly and Re-Issued by NPH


Northwestern Publishing House
Ministers Of Christ-2 Corinthians
Author: Joh. P. Meyer

Ministers of Christ, Professor Joh. P. Meyer's commentary on Paul's second letter to the Corinthians, was first published in 1963 as part of the centennial celebration of Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary. Almost fifty years later, Armin J. Panning, another professor of Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary and student of Meyer, has updated the commentary by incorporating the New International Version of the Bible where appropriate. This classic commentary continues to influence another generation of pastors and seminary students. The commentary features an exposition of the great thoughts of the divinely inspired writer, plus a study of the writing's emotional overtones. Size 6x9 inches. Hardcover. 313 pages. Published 2011. $42.50!

The publishing house blurb is correct about this being an influential book, so that would be one reason to buy it. The confusion and contradictions are the essence of the Synodical Conference segments still alive today. Except for working with Thrivent and ELCA, the ELS, Missouri, and WELS agree most of all on Universal Objective Justification, so neatly summarized above in the graphic.

Armin Panning, the retired seminary president and New Testament professor, supposed work on this revision, to smooth out the rough patches. He must have used the wrong side of the sandpaper.

I am trying to reconcile the Wisconsin slander against the two Kokomo families with this commentary. WELS has claimed that the Kokomo Statements are a parody of justification, but three of the four Kokomo statements are from this commentary, which WELS proudly reprinted.

No one can really understand the Wisconsin Sect until he realizes that they are willing to head-fake people about their own dogma, dogma so important that they excommunicate people just for asking questions about it, as they did with Joe and Lisa Krohn this year. I remember the Thought Police in the novel about Stalinism - 1984. WELS has Thought Police too.

UOJ from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis
J. P. Koehler, John Schaller, and August Pieper earned their degrees at St. Louis, during the time Missouri and the Wisconsin Synod had a school sharing plan. Walther was an elder professor at the seminary when they were students, and Stoeckhardt was just starting to teach. Thus the Wauwatosa trio had their beginnings in Knapp-Walther UOJ dogma.


J. P. Meyer's Studies

J. P. Meyer studied at Northwestern College and the seminary in Wauwatosa. The seminary later moved to Thiensville, and moved again to Mequon, when the post office changed the Thiensville address to Mequon (an inexpensive move, but confusing to outsiders). The change to the new seminary was also significant for the Wisconsin Synod, because J. P. Koehler was fired as president of the school, during its construction. The Depression hit afterwards, so the synod was saddled with a large debt and a long stretch of bad economic news. John Brenner (Historic St. John Lutheran, Milwaukee) was president of the synod during those years.

Meyer was a parish pastor for six years, 1896-1902, spending the rest of his career teaching, except for one three-year spell at Oconomowoc.

His teaching career was long, ending in retirement and the writing of this book:
"1896-1902, pastor, St. Stephen, Beaver Dam, Wis.
1902-1903, professor and dean, Northwestern College
Nov. 26, 1903, married Lydia Reinke
1903-1915, professor, Dr. Martin Luther College, New Ulm, Minn.
1915-1918, pastor, Oconomowoc, Wis.
1918-1920, president, DMLC
1920-1964, professor, Lutheran Seminary, first in Wauwatosa, then Thiensville (now Mequon), Wis.
1937-1953, president, Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary
1963, published Ministers of Christ
Nov. 10, 1964, died at the age of 93."

Two Fatal Flaws
This book has two fatal flaws, which are overlooked, because he belongs to the unbroken line of UOJ promoters, from Knapp at Halle to Valleskey at Fuller.

Saint
One is the "status of saints." The Wauwatosa professors are supposed to be strictly exegetical, but this example, in the graphic, shows they were quite willing to write fiction and call it exegesis. The term "saint" in the New Testament is synonymous with "believer." Although this is widely known, NPH has chosen to footnote the problem as if it does not really matter.

The WELS spin on the term makes nonsense out of it, and this is no small matter. When the great Greek expert Panning is willing to be associated with such a farce, everything else is in doubt as well.

There are many hints, if not outright declarations, that the Wauwatosa men were willing to ignore all previous studies and declare their opinions to be derived from exegesis of the text. That is also another way of rejecting the Lutheran Confessions and Luther in favor of a tiny seminary that looked just like the Addams Family mansion - truly a cartoon version of Lutheran education.

I offer as additional proof, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the Sausage Factory attitude toward Lenski. The graduates sneer at Lenski without using his commentaries. They imagine the repetition of UOJ talking points will suffice for proclaiming the Gospel, but feel compelled to plagiarize from all kinds of false teachers. Apparently, their UOJ Gospel leaves them hungry - or just predatory.

The Scriptures were written to create and sustain faith, to provide God's own unchanging standard for truth. If their favorite dogmatics book cannot get a simple, obvious term right, the rest of the content is also suspect. That fact cannot be missed in the merging of atonement and justification.

Atonement and Justification - Not the Same
The second fatal flaw is impossible to miss. J. P. Meyer taught that the atoning death of Christ made everyone in the world free of sin. His parody of saint has this effect - every single person from that point on became a "guilt-free" saint...or sinner. Reading the statement in the graphic again will not straighten out the matter. The sinner is a saint, whether he ever believes or not, whether he even finds out about this mysterious status.

Worst of all - he has to make a decision. Will he accept or decline, once he hears this strange dogma?

Did the Three Kokomo Meyer Statements Survive Editing?
Yes, they did. One is in the graphic above. I created two more, so everyone has the information in graphical form.





Some Kokomo Narrative for the Newbies
The Kokomo episode began when Pastor Papenfuss began teaching UOJ in the congregation in Kokomo, Indiana. Thanks to some research from Name Withheld, we know that WELS used a Justification By Faith catechism for many decades, the Gausewitz, until it was replaced by the horrid UOJ Kuske catechism. Two families were upset by the new dogma being promoted by Papenfuss.

Look at the 1978 graduates with Papenfuss - Mark Jeske, Stroh, Starr, Schumann the Born-Again Atheist, Curia the UOJ Scribe, Jim Witte (DMin in CG), Marcus Manthey - Defender of Unfaith. And the faculty - no less than four UOJ fanatics: Gerlach (Fuller alumnus), Becker, Panning, and Kuske.

Although Papenfuss admitted to the families that he never heard of UOJ before The Sausage Factory (he may have said Mequon), he went ahead with excommunicating the two families who had questions. I was at the Hartmann farm talking to both men about this, and they copied the letters of excommunication for me.

The four Kokomo Statements came about this way. The families wrote down the three statements from Meyer's Ministers of Christ, which Papenfuss gave them to study. They added a fourth from their research. They said, "Is this what you are saying?" Papenfuss agreed with those statements. The letter of excommunication removed them for NOT agreeing with the statements.

The same Synod President who lied about the origin of the Kokomo statements also lied about the Tabor adultery and murder.

Either the families or someone else wrote around to WELS about this and it became a big deal inChristian News. The families appealed, which is always a waste of time in WELS, and Panning headed the board that backed UOJ. Sig Becker also gave papers defending and promoting UOJ.

The Kokomo Statements, 1979

J-580

I. "Objectively speaking, without any reference to an individual sinner's attitude toward Christ's sacrifice, purely on the basis of God's verdict, every sinner, whether he knows it or not, whether he believes it or not, has received the status of saint."

II. "After Christ's intervention and through Christ's intervention God regards all sinners as guilt-free saints."

III. "When God reconciled the world to Himself through Christ, He individually pronounced forgiveness to each individual sinner whether that sinner ever comes to faith or not."

IV. "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."[34]
Footnote 34: "Every one of the statements can be understood correctly, even though one must swallow a little hard to accede to the fourth [Kokomo Statement]." Sigbert Becker, "Objective Justification," Chicago Pastoral Conference, WELS, Elgin, Illinois, November 9, 1982, unpaginated.
The letter sent to the two families quoted the statements and declared that the families were being expelled for denying those statements. Certain people have tried to confuse the issue by claiming the statements were made up by the expelled families to parody WELS doctrine. Three statements are almost verbatim from J. P. Meyer’s Ministers of Christ, now out of print. The fourth statement came from a controversy in the 19th century but was added by Pastor Papenfuss to the previous statements from J. P. Meyer. Although WELS has often backed away from the Kokomo statements, the synod continues to defend the content and reproduce the most obnoxious falsehoods found in them. The Evangelical Lutheran Synod teaches Kokomo justification in their seminary. After a layman wrote to Bethany Seminary professor John Moldstad Jr., the following statements appeared in the Evangelical Lutheran SynodLutheran Sentinel:

J-581
“When Paul uses the word ‘reconciling’ here, [2 Corinthians 5:19] he clearly means that forgiveness of sins is really imputed to ‘the world.’
            John Moldstad, Jr., “I have heard some Lutherans say they do not believe the Bible teaches objective justification. How can they assert this and still call themselves ‘Lutheran’?” Lutheran Sentinel, October, 1996, p. 11.[35] 
Footnote 35 says - "The alleged question sets a record for being prejudicial. The typical ELS member would never say something so idiotic, since most Lutherans react in shock and disbelief to the very concept Moldstad is trying to promote, that forgiveness comes without the Word, without repentance, without the Means of Grace, without faith. The article is a response to Dr. Peter Moeller questioning the validity of Objective Justification, enclosing articles on the topic from Pastor Vernon Harley. Moldstad sent a long, friendly letter to Moeller on August 6, 1996."
Using Orthodoxy To Merge Atonement and Justification
By using two justifications, object and subjective, Meyer confused the act of Christ in atoning for the sins of the world with God's declaration of innocence received in faith.

This double justification formula comes from the Halle Pietist Georg Christian Knapp, whose work was available in German and English before the American Luther Kidnapper landed in the Big Easy. SP Harrison loves to gush about Walther but cannot deal with Walther's many crimes. I dare say that Missouri would never let a criminal like that join their miniserium - unless he had a lot of money to offer. You know, like Thrivent and ELCA as ministry partners.

Ministers of Christ, starting on page 90, simply ignores the plain words of the Book of Concord, Luther, Calov, and Hoenecke to prove the assumption of two justifications. The argumentation is simply appalling.

Those who remain faithful to Justification by Faith, taught by Paul and Luther, should obtain this book to see the way in which plain statements are distorted to fit the UOJ agenda. I have discussed this with various people, including one who can speed read the dogmatics classics in Latin, translating into English faster than I can follow the original.

One explanation is mission creep. To express the atonement of Christ, some engage in exaggerations that compete with one another for absurdity. For example, Ed Preuss wrote that Hottentots are justified, that we are born already justified.

Another explanation came from Dr. Lito Cruz today. He mentioned being familiar with the UOJ categories and terms from Calvinism.
In contrast, I was not familiar with the fetishes of UOJ. The Augustana Synod opposed the Norwegians on UOJ, and the people I knew emphasized the efficacy of the Word rather than the glories of The Founder. (Only Missouri does that - to its shame and detriment.) Those who think and communicate in terms of Enthusiasm cannot maintain a Lutheran position. Nor can a sect or synod. The Enthusiasm spreads like cancer - to legalism, receptionism, Church Grow-ti-vation, and Pentecostalism.

Like bankers, we need to train people with sound doctrine - from the Book of Concord and the KJV, Luther and Chemnitz. Complaining about the counterfeit is not as effective as seeing the true Gospel and noticing how bizarre and stupid UOJ is, in comparison. Yes, UOJ is a fair copy of the Gospel, one that can fool just about any MDiv. But when UOJ is placed next to the Means of Grace, the efficacy of the Word, and justification by faith, Knapp's dogma is dull and toxic.

Deadly nightshade is closely related to tomato, which is another nightshade. The nightshade berries are delicate and attractive. Cows eat them and get sick. Nightshade berries are also black and ominous looking, especially when compared to the bright red and tomato cousin.

UOJ is especially toxic because it supplants rather than attacks. Atheists, like the former WELS CG experts, work by attacking the Christian faith. Far better to substitute a Gospel, when no one is looking, such as replacing Gausewitz with Kuske, or the KJV with the NIV, or Lenski with Meyer.

----

Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Review of J. P. Meyer - Ministers of Christ, Revi...":

People should find it absolutely appalling that the (W)ELS and LCMS have established the false gospel of UOJ as their central and chief article, yet, they have no Confessional statement detailing this doctrine. Nothing. You cannot even get a common confession from 10 different (W)ELS pastors. Some will admit that it doesn't exist in the Lutheran Confessions. Seriously, where's the chapter on Universal (General) Justification in the Book of Concord where this doctrine is detailed in "this we confess" and "this we reject" statements?! They teach that without UOJ there is no gospel so how did the Lutheran Confessors miss this critical doctrine. They didn't because it isn't Scriptural.

Some will say it's in the BOC so ask your UOJ pastor to show you where it's at. They'll twist Confessional statements that are directed to believers and attributes the forgiveness of sins and justification to faith in Christ.

Quote the BOC in the following places and watch the smoke pour forth from the ears of those who've placed Synod above Christ, 6] Let any one of the adversaries come forth and tell us when remission of sins takes place. O good God, what darkness there is! They doubt whether it is in attrition or in contrition that remission of sins occurs. And if it occurs on account of contrition, what need is there of absolution, what does the power of the keys effect, if sins have been already remitted? Here, indeed, they also labor much more, and wickedly detract from the power of the keys. If the Keys, given by Christ to the Priesthood of believers, can forgive and retain sins - how then were they already forgiven without the Means of Grace, when Christ paid for the worlds sins - the true meaning of the Atonement.
http://www.bookofconcord.org/defense_10_repentance.php

In desperation over the fact that the BOC doesn't contain the UOJ doctrine, they will tell you that the BOC was written to address the RCC's false teaching of works righteousness so the emphasis of the BOC was on "Subjective Justification" and not on "Objective Justification". Respond with the question, "Exactly when did the Roman Catholic Church accept the doctrine of UOJ which teaches the entire unbelieving world was declared forgiven, justified and righteous before and without faith or works?" Truth is that the introduction to the BOC states it contains all the chief articles of the Christian faith, even some like Election which were not under contention at the time.

Following those quotes, secure your excommunication from the (W)ELS and LCMS by quoting these BOC statements:
29. You cannot extricate yourself from unbelief, nor can the Law do it for you. All your works in intended fulfillment of the Law must remain works of the Law and powerless to justify in the sight of God, who regards as just only believing children.

74. But what is the process whereby Christ gives us such a spirit and redeems us from under the Law? The work is effected solely by faith. He who believes that Christ came to redeem us, and that he has accomplished it, is really redeemed. As he believes, so is it with him. Faith carries with it the child-making spirit. The apostle here explains by saying that Christ has redeemed us from under the Law that we might receive the adoption of sons. As before stated, all must be effected through faith. Now we have discussed the five points of the verse.
http://www.trinitylutheranms.org/MartinLuther/MLSermons/Galatians4_1_7.html

If by the grace of God they turn in repentance to Christ and Scriptural Justification by faith alone, rejecting the false gospel of UOJ, apply the Key to absolve their sin and build them up in Christ alone, forsaking all others, including the Synod who taught them this false gospel in their grade school, high school, college and Seminary.

Classic Ichabod - Reason Enough To Post

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Reason Enough To Post




John has left a new comment on your post "Two Study Bibles, Almost Identical Titles":

Rev. Jackson,

I am not a learned person.

I am drawn to many of your posts, especially those on Justification. You back most posts up with thoughtful references that a reader can checkout for himself.

You speak of Justification in exactly the same terms as I was taught it in my youth.

You are, however totally missing the mark regarding THE LUTHERAN STUDY BIBLE.

Your posts on TLSB are simply digs at both the LCMS and the ELCA, and show that you have not cracked the cover of either The Lutheran Study Bible or Lutheran Study Bible.

The blog is, of course yours. You are free to post anything on it that you like and anyone who doesn't agree can take a hike. I get it.

What I am saying is that I respect your posts because you indicate your research and experience in most of them. That equals credibility.

Your comments on the two different Lutheran study Bibles, however show a total lack of any research into either of the books and give no insight to your readers who may be wondering about them.

We Lutherans have had to put up with reformed study Bibles forever, depending on our pastors to sort out the drek (sic - Dreck). Two 'Lutheran' study Bibles come out in the same year. I, for one was hoping for your usual, studied, informed comments. We get only sarcasm directed at ELCA and LCMS.

Again, this is your blog and you are certainly free to print anything you wish. In this instance, though I shall seek the counsel of one who has actually researched these two Bibles and is able to speak from that perspective.

I pray that you will bring your assessment of these two books up to the same level as your assessment of subjects such as Justfiication (sic).

God bless!!

Jack

***

GJ - I do not need to do any research on ELCA publications, especially Biblical ones. ELCA has a consistent Unitarian perspective on everything, so there is no need to do research there. They owned a number of copyrights they were glad to get rid of - Lenski, Sasse. The scholarly publications of Fortress used to make a big impact on the academic world, because they were well done (Barth, Tillich biographies) but that was decades ago. If John/Jack wants to buy the ELCA version and mail it to me, I will look it over and use it later for kindling.

I find the constant promotion of the Translation Du Jour wearisome. The English language does not change every week, so we hardly need 500 translations of the same Bible. How does anyone sort out the differences in text and language?

I linked a review to the CPH effort a few weeks ago. Paul McCain has not sent me my free review copy, so I have not seen his version. The blogger who had his own copy said the pages were so thin the print showed through - not good planning for someone "abolutely" crazy about fonts, etc (McCain). 

I brought up Missouri and ELCA working together because the issue is serious, not something to be overlooked by jaded moderns. I am afraid that Missouri now wants to be the LCA of the past - ordination of women, open communion, anything goes doctrine,  and welcoming Masons if they can find one under the age of 80, but none of that crazy stuff. Twenty years ago, the son of a pro-life LMCS activist was told never to bring up the abortion issue when he was a Missouri vicar. John Johnson, Otten's old pal at Our Lady of Sorrows, St. Louis, told vicars never to mention open communion, women leading worship, Pentecostalism, etc. Paul McCain did not want to hear that ELCA women seminarians were consecrating Holy Communion and baptizing babies at LCMS congregations. (How do I know? I stumbled upon the annual vicar boasts at Trinity Seminary, Columbus.)

In 1912, the captain of the Titanic wanted to earn a name for himself by crossing the Atlantic in record time, his last trip before retiring. He ignored all the warnings and ran full speed into an iceberg. Some think by reversing engines at the last minute he made matters worse. He did make a name for himself. People still talk about "rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic." That is precisely what most Lutheran leaders are doing at the moment.


Nils A. Dahl studied under Bultmann and defended his dissertation in Norway under Nazi occupation.

I had a great opportunity to study Biblical literature under Nils Dahl, Abraham Malherbe, and Robert Wilson at Yale. All three men emphasized the text of the Bible rather than the sterile Historical-Critical Method theories that still drive ELCA exegesis. HCM is a relic of the 19th century.

I would have more respect for CPH if Missouri had not published an NIV commentary where one of the editors (Hoerber) was not only anti-Lutheran but also HCM. I read his letters to Otten where he said, "Now that I am retired from the seminary, I can say anything I want." Another seminary professor, still active, told me when Johnson was the president, "Now we can teach anything we want."

Instead of demanding that I write a blog their way, some readers should start their own and use their real names. Ichabod is not required reading for anyone, but I hear it is read everywhere.

Friday, April 25, 2014

Thugs Rule WELS, So No Need For Masochists To Join The Episcopal Church


This law firm stole the property and endowment of Historic St. John in Milwaukee (former WELS)
so WELS could keep it empty, imitating the Episcopal Church in Milwaukee.
The abusive Wisconsin Sect tries so hard to prove me right. I recall warning Bishop Suffragen Steve Spencer that Gurgle was not necessarily the dream candidate for Synod President. After blowing through another windfall (The Schwan Indulgence), Gurgle had to be ushered out of office. 

The next dream candidate, Mark Schroeder, took even less time to make his predecessor look like Martin Chemnitz. Only Mark Schroeder could co-author a letter with future felon Joel Hochmuth condemning the homosexual libertines in ELCA, then publicly absolve Hochmuth for his hundreds of crimes against boys, who were raped so Joel could have his stash of photos and videos at WELS headquarters and at home.



The Edge of Edginess
I remember the WELS that denied being involved with the Church Growth Movement, of such there was none, according to WELS CG leader Wayne Mueller. At least they were ashamed of their vices in those golden years of Carl Mische, the Synod President who got away with covering up two murders - and God only knows what else.

Now the thugs are out of the closet, no longer hiding their evil desire to destroy Lutheran doctrine and worship. Compare and contrast - WELS Pastor Paul Rydecki wanted to discuss and debate justification by faith. Though promising to do so, Mark Schroeder's pal Jon-Boy Buchholz condemned Rydecki as a false teacher, kicked the congregation out of WELS, and foreclosed the property. The congregation stood behind sound doctrine and even took over the financing of the property.

The same Buchholz had been talked into signing a petition against Mark Jeske, but switched sides at the WELS convention and spoke in favor of Mark the Apostate. Birds of a feather. Likewise, Buchholz slowly pivoted from being a critic of Jeff Gunn and Rick Johnson to being an advocate who funded the false teachers and condemned their critics. Chameleons are normally found only in Africa, but clergy chameleons can be found everywhere.

Mark Schroeder changed from being a critic of the New NIV to endorsing all paraphrases as God-pleasing. Mark Jeske must have muttered at him, "Change or die!"

ELCA reduced its size by 20%
adopting the philosophy of Change or Die!


Change and Die!
Let us now consider the newest version of Change and Die! and harvest the wealth of hypocrisy in that event.

The first Change and Die conference was rather low-key, replacing the Church and Change conferences that Mark Jeske, Don Patterson, and John Parlow set up over the years. They even had registration set up for Church and Change conferences on the WELS website. Bishop Spencer told me the den of thieves had been dispersed, but I pointed out they were organizing via the official synod website. I kept reproducing the links until that went away - the link, but not the Changers. Later their public website went away, but their sub-groups multiplied faster than a malignant cancer.

I recall an early Change and Die! event - perhaps the first - being sponsored in an oblique way by Thrivent. Now it is  funded by the Siebert Foundation, which has $100 million to spend. From the beginning Change and Die! was ELCA plus WELS plus LCMS. The conference is always pan-Lutheran, with the ELS strangely missing. WELS does that with worship conferences, too. 

WELS is in fellowship with everyone except the Evangelical Lutheran Synod.

"I wanna join Koine and earn $3,000 per gig."

Who speaks at these Change and Die conferences? First of all, ELCA clergy always do. Secondly, ELCA's female leaders also join the frolic. LCMS Church Growth gurus plan and speak. WELS Shrinkers always plan and speak.

Paul Kelm, WELS plagiarist of Fuller materials, has been fired and retired more than once. But he is back as a Visionary. He has more lives than Rasputin.

John Parlow was one of the original Church and Change organizers. Another was Steve Witte, now running the Asian porta-seminary. John Lawrenz, another Changer, headed the porta-seminary and stayed around to guide Witte during Steve's first year, lest Witte slip into Lutheran doctrine or some other bit of malpractice. 

Parlow used to post "his" sermons on his church websty. WELS clergy noticed they were almost verbatim from the sermons posted earlier by Babtists and others. Once I ran the comparison, with help from leakers, the sermons were taken down. Those who were interested had to pick them up at the office. No thanks, John, I will just Google "Babtist sermons."

For those who are geographically uninformed, Parlow and Witte are from the Anything Goes District, where Engelbrecht presided until his heart attack. Kelm was there, too. Fox Valley is where the foxes guard the henhouse. Fox Valley Lutheran High is where they invite an alcoholic and verbally abusive pastor to lecture the kiddies on sex education.



Engelbrecht praised clergy plagiarism in a formal paper, and backed Glende and Ski in excommunicating Rick Techlin for opposing plagiarism. So don't be so judgmental. In WELS, right is wrong, and wrong is right. Do this and you will live - in the synod - not necessarily in eternity.


Here is the irony - There are faithful pastors who could share their life-long experiences in being leaders in worship and doctrine. WELS and Missouri will have none of that. Instead, they glorify lifelong apostates who sit like Smaug on the synod treasury, to spend it on themselves, their luxuries and vices.

Therefore, the LCMS and WELS have devoted themselves to getting along with ELCA while training people to hate Lutheran doctrine and worship.

And they have the nerve to condemn a tiny little blog for speaking the truth about them.