LCMS - ELCA - United Nations - Thrivent - Planned Parenthood - Malaria Campaign

LCMS keeps denouncing Beetlejuice,
but he keeps popping up again.

ELCA Malaria Campaign

A child dies from malaria every 60 seconds. 
We are in a special moment to help turn this around. Since the start of the ELCA Malaria Campaign, ELCA members and our companions overseas have already seen a reduction in the number of deaths from this preventable, treatable disease. We are a church that believes God is calling us into the world — together. Working though Lutheran partners in Africa, the ELCA Malaria Campaign is uniquely positioned to help provide mosquito nets, education, testing, medication and more to help eliminate deaths from this disease — for good. - See more at: http://www.elca.org/Our-Work/Relief-and-Development/ELCA-Malaria-Campaign#sthash.AhUkyC4K.dpuf

Lutheran Malaria Initiative

LCMS

Every 66.5 seconds, a child in Africa dies from malaria.  Through the Lutheran Malaria Initiative (LMI), LCMS Lutherans can help fight this disease.

Nearly 700,000 people die each year from the malaria, and most of them are children and pregnant woman.  But it doesn’t have to be this way.  Malaria is a preventable and treatable disease.  As Lutherans, we have a historic and confessional opportunity to make a difference, to turn the tide on malaria deaths. 

This is our call. The preventable deaths of thousands of people in Africa cry out for a compassionate response.  Through LMI, we can work together to restore health and inspire hope to people and families in Africa who are suffering from or vulnerable to the ravages of malaria.

“Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.”
—Matt. 25:40

Summer 2012 | Volume 110 | Number 664

Getting Together

Nothing But Nets

Thrivent members do their part to end deaths from malaria – one net at a time.
By Sarah Asp Olson

1,440. That's how many children under the age of 5 die from malaria every day. But it doesn't have to be that way. A $10 treated mosquito net can save the life of a child sleeping under it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Lutheran Malaria Initiative (LMI) has a goal of getting nets – along with medical care and educational resources – into places where malaria hits hardest, including Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria and Mali.

To support this mission, LMI has called upon Lutherans to take action through prayer, donations and fundraisers. LMI is a partnership between Lutheran World Relief and The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, and is supported by the United Nations Foundation.

Many Thrivent members around the country have responded by hosting creative fundraising events. Here's a look at three.

Thrivent HAS funded Planned Parenthood

February 12, 2014 By Gene Veith 78 Comments

We’ve blogged about the controversy surrounding Thrivent, the Lutheran financial company, which offered matching funds for contributions to charities, including Planned Parenthood.  At response to the uproar from pro-life Lutherans, company officials said that they would no longer match contributions to the abortion provider OR to pro-life ministries.  The spokesman also said that no money had actually gone to Planned Parenthood.  Now we know that was wrong.

Thrivent matched $8,484 for a $16,968 gift to Planned Parenthood.  And cuts to crisis pregnancy centers and other pro-life organizations have come to $878,569.

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http://www.patheos.com/blogs/geneveith/2014/02/thrivent-has-funded-planned-parenthood/

From Lutheran group Thrivent Financial caught funding Planned Parenthood, yanks pro-life funds in response:

A controversy is stirring in Lutheran circles over the revelation that Thrivent Financial Services, the largest fraternal benefit society in the United States, and one ostensibly centered on Lutheran faith and values, has been quietly sending thousands to Planned Parenthood through its gift-matching program.

Thrivent Financial is a Fortune 500 non-profit organization with the goal and vision of assisting its members with financial planning and services. This entails a gift-matching program by the corporation wherein an employee’s charitable contribution will be matched, dollar-for-dollar, from a Thrivent funding pool the Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Foundation. While the company sets limits and guidelines as to how much of a contribution will be matched, they set very few limits on what type of organization can receive the funds. It has become clear over the last several weeks that Planned Parenthood makes the cut.

The questionable donations were highlighted by Lutheran Pastor Steven Cholak, and brought to the attention of another Lutheran pastor, Rev. Michael Schuermann, who operates a blog entitled The Daring Lutheran. Schuermann questioned Thrivent on the apparent donations via a Twitter exchange, and was initially told that while certain Planned Parenthood organizations did appear on a list of approved “charities” that could receive matching funds, “[f]or what it’s worth, to date, no funds have ever been directed to that organization.” A subsequent review of Thrivent’s tax documents, however, revealed a very different story.

According to Thrivent’s IRS 990 forms (linked at the bottom of Scheurmann’s blog), the organization has sent at least $8,484 to Planned Parenthood, for a total matched gift of $16,968, just in the years 2006-2012. As Schuermann points out, given the average cost of a surgical abortion, Thrivent has given Planned Parenthood enough money to perform approximately 34 abortions, or an unknown, much higher number of chemical abortions.

It also appears that Planned Parenthood has been on the list of approved recipients for quite some time, with new additional Planned Parenthood offices and affiliates being added in recent years. Schuermann reports that a Thrivent source with in-depth knowledge of the gift-matching program revealed that approved organizations are given their approval code in chronological order as each organization is added to the list. This means that certain Planned Parenthood organizations with codes that are “earlier” numerically have been on the list for a substantial period of time, leaving the real amount of money flowing from Thrivent to Planned Parenthood affiliates largely unknown.

Equally disturbing is that Thrivent has made not even the slightest effort to direct in what manner these funds may be used. When the Susan G. Komen foundation was caught funneling massive sums of money to Planned Parenthood, the organization was quick to respond that the gifts were designated only for use in breast cancer screening and could not be used to fund any other service offered by Planned Parenthood. While the economic reality is, of course, far different when it comes to how Planned Parenthood supports itself, Thrivent cannot claim even this much, as the corporation appears to have made no effort at all to at least direct the manner in which the funds are used. In short, dollars from the ostensibly faith-based organization can be used for anything, including supporting Planned Parenthood’s deviant version of “sex education” and outright abortions.

Following the outcry that naturally came from the Missouri Synod members when this funding was discovered, and the official statement issued shortly thereafter, Thrivent responded by pulling not only Planned Parenthood from its list of approved organizations, but also all pro-life organizations that had previously received matching grants as well. Ostensibly, this was marketed as a “temporary” suspension until the organization had time to review its policies, and it was accompanied by quickly removing the public’s ability to search Thrivent’s list of approved organizations, after refusing to provide a list themselves.

On February 6, Thrivent released its most recent statement and new guidelines for its gift-matching program. Planned Parenthood, reportedly, will no longer receive funds. But neither will any pro-life organization as well – a move that robs crisis pregnancy centers and other pro-life groups of $878,569 annual average in matching funds, or nearly a million dollars per year. Thrivent’s justification for the move is that such a controversy may “distract … from the common purpose of Thrivent and its membership.”

"You called - again?"
Yes - WELS and LCMS working with ELCA through Lutheran World Relief

http://lwr.org/getinvolved/campaigns/LMI

Photo: Olivier Girard for LWR

Malaria is a preventable and treatable disease that kills more than a million people a year, the majority of them children. As Christians we must not stand by and let this happen. That’s why LWR is working to make sure people have the knowledge and tools they need to prevent malaria.

LWR is also a partner in the Lutheran Malaria Initiative (LMI), which mobilizes U.S. Lutherans in the global effort to eliminate malaria deaths in Africa by 2015. LMI is a partnership of Lutheran World Relief and The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod and is made possible through support from the United Nations Foundation.

Malaria kills one child every 60 seconds and upwards of 1 million people a year, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Malaria is preventable and treatable. Together, we can make a life-saving difference. Half of the world’s population is at risk for malaria. It takes just one mosquito to destroy livelihoods, health and hope of entire families and communities. By helping to provide treatment and resources for education and prevention, Lutherans can make a monumental difference in the global fight against malaria. Find out more at lutheranmalaria.org

So what are you waiting for?

Pastor Mark Surburg's Train in His Basement

Extra Nos Addresses the Shaky Lutherans on UOJ

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

C. F. W. Walther - UOJ Theologian with no exegetical prowess, a Zitatentheolog

Over at Shaky Lutherans,  we see a celebration of ACLC's critical response to ELDONA's statement on Justification.  ELDONA, thank God, retreated away from  the doctrine of Universal Objective Justification (UOJ), the doctrine that says that God has ALREADY declared the world to be righteous, when Jesus was raised from the dead (or when he breathed his last at the Cross - UOJers are not uniform on this). Obviously such a move by a synod away from UOJ carries some traction and must be averted at all cost - it is just bad publicity, so all guns from UOJ synods are pointed at ELDONA today.

Needless to say the UOJers proudly fronted their hero, C.F. W. Walther by presenting him as the man with the final say. Here is an interesting quote...from Francis Pieper presented by Mr. Jim Pierce (an enthusiastic defender of UOJ).

Should, for instance, anyone deny the universality of Christ’s redemption, negating with Calvin the Scripture truth that Christ has redeemed all mankind and that in the Gospel God seriously offers to all men His grace without any discrimination, then he subverts the doctrine of justification. If that error is maintained, then the individual sinner cannot become personally sure of his salvation unless he receives an extraordinary, immediate revelation to that effect. Again, should anyone teach that Christ has indeed redeemed all men, but not completely, in other words, that Christ has indeed made forgiveness of sins possible for all men, but that this forgiveness of sins or justification does not yet actually exist for every sinner, then he makes faith and conversion a meritorious cause of the forgiveness of sins and invalidates the doctrine of justification by grace for Christ’s sake. Or, should anyone pervert the doctrine of the means of grace by denying that God offers the sinner His grace in Word and Sacrament so that the sinner must seek grace in Word and Sacrament, then he bids the sinner seek grace in his own subjective condition, in conversion and regeneration, and so in his own good works. Finally, should anyone pervert the doctrine of faith by denying that faith is essentially trust in the grace offered in the Gospel and by identifying faith with the feeling of grace, then he will put in place of divine grace the condition of the human heart as the basis of justification and salvation. Or should anyone teach wrongly concerning faith by ascribing the creation of faith to human co-operation or to man’s good conduct, then again he surrenders the Scriptural doctrine of justification despite the fact that he may use the expressions “by faith alone” or “by grace for Christ’s sake.” This subject seems to us so very important that we shall develop more fully the three points on the basis of many statements made by Walther. 

I highlighted the bolded text to show how UOJers commit the fallacy of tertium non datur. The reasoning goes like this, if you do not believe in UOJ then you MUST...believe in "faith as a work" or you MUST then believe in Limited Atonement... blah blah blah. None of this is true because the statement assumes that there are only two options that are mutually exclusive. This is the fallacy, it assumes there is no third alternative. Anti-UOJers do not believe in Limited Atonement and they follow the teaching that faith is a gift created by means of grace. At first blush the fallacy makes initial sense but this is demolished by a clear exposition of passages which purports to teach a Justification without and prior to faith.

A few months ago, I was search through the Internet and I found the thesis of a certainRev. KARL EDWIN KUENZEL. This ThD thesis (2006) was about the doctrine of church and ministry in the ELS (of USA).  Of course, the thesis could not help but mention Walther because after all Walther wrote something about this subject. The author had some glaring criticism of Walther though we can also detect somehow his political stance of not overtly lambasting Walther. he swung between respect and disdain of Walther. Here are some interesting quotes. Some of the emphasis are mine...

Walther was a tremendous leader, a dynamic preacher, a powerful lecturer, and a remarkable 
writer. However, lest we wind up worshipping the man, as many had done with Martin Stephan, 
and perhaps some do with Luther, we need to be mindful of some of Walther’s deficiencies. 
Walther was legalistic when it came to the matters of usury, dancing and going to the theater, life 
insurance, running a tavern, in-law marriage (e.g., a man marrying the sister of his deceased wife), 
geographical parish boundaries, the local congregation and the pastoral office. He often made his 
position as if it were Scripturally based and therefore God-given doctrine, when, in fact, he was 
going beyond what the Bible says and turning matters of casuistry into untenable doctrines.

Not only did Walther use terms that were readily misunderstood by others, but another cause for 
his naevi [faults], according to his student August Pieper, was that Walther depended too heavily 
on the secondary sources of theology, i.e., Luther and the lesser fathers. In spite of all his 
emphasis on Scripture, there can be no denying this. Although Walther was a great, and a very 
talented leader, he was a poor, even an inferior exegete. He had only an average knowledge of 
the original biblical languages. Frequently he would cite dozens of Bible passages merely because 
Luther and the dogmaticians had done so. Yet these passages did not prove what they were 
supposed to prove. Although very eager to express himself on matters, he failed to recognize that 
his position was based on translations and not on the original text. Thus, he could say something 
as if it were doctrinally true, but without a firm scriptural basis. Over all, the knowledge of Scripture 
that Walther had was more an intimate acquaintance with Luther’s Bible and knowledge of certain 
passages rather than knowledge of the whole line of thought of a biblical book and of the original 
text.

 Another reason that is frequently cited for his use of this format is that he 
realized how inadequate his knowledge of Scripture and doctrine really [LPC: I suppose compared to Hoenecke]was in comparison with 
Luther and Chemnitz, Gerhard and Calov, thus in all modesty he was afraid of going astray in 
even the smallest point of doctrine.

Walther was a great leader and the Lutheran Church benefited much from his leadership, still no 
matter how justified Walther’s method of citing Luther and the Lutheran dogmaticians might have 
been in the beginning, it was wrong both in principle and in practice. The problem was that unlike 
Luther, who stressed the Bible and the study of the Bible, Walther’s positions neither rested 
directly on Scripture nor did they lead one directly into it. Instead he strongly stressed, to the 
extreme, the importance of Luther and the Lutheran Confessions and the Lutheran fathers, and 
certainly much more than he cited God’s Word. Utilizing this format Walther led people to think that 
the matter under discussion or being presented had been established sufficiently by the quotations 
from Luther and the fathers; therefore it was unnecessary to study Scripture. This format actually 
hampered people in their use and study of the Bible. And eventually, it has come to the point 
where the citation theologians not only quote Luther and the old fathers but now they have also 
included Walther and others as proof of the doctrinal stand. As pastors, theologians, and 
theological students took up the study of doctrinal maters in subsequent years the subject of study 
was not as much a study of the Bible as it was a study of old synodical reports and conference and 
convention essays. And now quotations from these, not the Bible, are frequently used to support 
doctrinal positions

However, it was unsettling to have Walther take a firm stance on a matter citing the Lutheran fathers as his proof, yet not realizing that at the same time his position was in contradiction to what they had written 



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LPC: Is it any wonder why UOJ has damned souls and caused confusion? It was promoted by someone who knew more secondary sources rather than the Scripture itself, what do we expect?

 Brett Meyer said...

The situation today with Walther's theological descendents is exactly the same today as it was then. They point to UOJist Marquart who in turn points to "world class" liberal Roman Catholic Hans Kueng for proof of UOJ. All of the WELS essays on Justification that came out of the South Central District plagiarized from Becker and Buchholz - some verbatim. Unfortunately they've lulled the laity to sleep with Holy Mother Synod lullaby's. Now most are too sleepy to care that they've been sold a false gospel.

Christ's blessings to you and yours Lito,
Brett Meyer

Thursday, February 27, 2014 at 5:48:00 PM GMT+11

 LPC said...

BM,

Walther was a citationist. He cited the Lutheran Fathers even though the position he espoused was directly opposite to theirs. In other words, he was into the fallacy by authority. He gave his listeners the impression he was orthodox because he cited them, yet he used them to gain an air of authority though the position of these Fathers were at odds with his. The critique of this author is telling - note he said that Walther wanted to have a say at every bit of controversy - reminds me of the issue of election he got the synods involved in.

So it is today that his UOJ children do what he did - and now even citing him, a man who did not handle the Word himself but learnt it second hand.

He went on with his misinterpretation of Scripture and to gain credence, he cited the Fathers as if they taught what he was teaching. This is the art of theological magic.

God bless you, you gave a good fight at Shaky Lutherans.

LPC

Ash Wednesday, 2014. 7 PM Central

Ash Wednesday, 2014

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/bethany-lutheran-worship

Bethany Lutheran Worship, 7 PM Central Time

The Hymn #552                Abide with Me            2.11

The Order of Vespers                                                p. 41

The Psalmody               Psalm 1                        p. 123

The Lection                              Joel 2:12-19

Matthew 6:16-2

The Sermon Hymn # 17            O Worship the King     2.44

The Sermon – Gospel of Faith

The Prayers

The Lord’s Prayer

The Collect for Grace                                       p. 45

The Hymn # 429      Lord, Thee I Love                  2.54

KJV Joel 2:12 Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: 13 And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. 14 Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your God? 15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: 16 Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. 17 Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God? 18 Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people. 19 Yea, the LORD will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen:

KJV Matthew 6:16 Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; 18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. 19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Collect

Lord God, heavenly Father, who didst manifest Thyself, with the Holy Ghost, in the fullness of grace at the baptism of Thy dear Son, and with Thy voice didst direct us to Him who hath borne our sins, that we might receive grace and the remission of sins: Keep us, we beseech Thee, in the true faith; and inasmuch as we have been baptized in accordance with Thy command, and the example of Thy dear Son, we pray Thee to strengthen our faith by Thy Holy Spirit, and lead us to everlasting life and salvation, through Thy beloved Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.

Gospel of Faith

KJV Matthew 6:16 Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

I was discussing the righteousness of faith with someone on Facebook. We were writing about the disappearance of Romans 4:25 as "proof" that  the world was absolved without faith on Easter.

UOJ pastors would write this claim and add - "He was raised for our justification. Romans 4:25."

Since the complete sentence includes, "If we believe that Jesus was raised from the dead" in Romans 4:24, that claim was wrecked by the immediate context. Moreover, the argument of Romans 4 is entirely about justification by faith.

The next frontier is "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." That is described so extensively in the Luther Galatians Commentary that I am surprised it is mentioned as UOJ proof. Later I will develop more about that.

Here we have Jesus speaking about the difference between justification by faith and justification by works. There are two and only two possibilities.

Whoever argues against justification by faith is advocating justification by works, no matter what he may do to crabwalk away from that conclusion. 

All religions are based upon, works, except for the Christian Faith. All religions talk about what man does for God, but Christianity teaches what God gives to man.

Thus, the distinction between the Gospel of faith, taught by Jesus, and the Gospel of works, which He discussed in the behavior of the Pharisees.

Although He was discussing Pharisees the way they were, the description applies to all the great, wise, and holy today who have no faith. Luther had no problems ascribing the same description to most admired of his day.

I have noticed with photos of perpetual alcoholics, like the ELCA bishop who ran down the woman with his car, DUI, they try to look sober. I checked his photos on the Net and he was always trying hard to be the opposite of what he was - pickled.

People without faith, in religious roles, assume an attitude of great piety, and that has always struck me as funny. How would we know that these people are fasting? They have to show us, and so they receive their reward in the regard of fellow unbelievers.

I observed a Pentecostal show, where the minister did such things as weeping on command. He caught my gimlet eye and knew immediately that I was on to him. After the service, as we were leaving, he gave me the handshake that pushes out the door, somewhat like crack the whip.

But this is especially true of those who spend their lives teaching against the Christian Faith while achieving maximum benefits from the religion they despise. This is true of the vast majority of denominational leaders and their spokesmen in the seminaries, not unlike the Medieval Church where the pope and all the great theologians were anti-Christian but super-pious on the outside.

They have their reward in this world but not the next. As I have said many times, I know what they do to ordinary clergy, especially the faithful ones, which is criminal. 

It hard to understand how this can go on much longer, because the most obvious signs of anti-Christianity are abundant among the celebrity leaders, such as open adultery (Benny Hinn) and gay advocacy (Andy Stanley and many other Shrinkers).

17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; 18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.

Or - "you have as much laughter as you have faith," as Luther wrote. There is a vast gulf between knowing that God forgives graciously and thinking that one must put on a show to prove something.

19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Lay up treasures in heaven - This is a great play on words, because people stored treasure and hid treasure in the ancient world - and even recently. One couple claims to have found $10 million worth of gold coins hidden underground, I believe in their yard. The dog dug it up.

When people feared invasion or went on long trips, they buried treasure in a field. Often it was not dug up by the owner and became a big surprise for later residents.

Treasure is hidden away because of fears of theft.

The Lutheran Reformation recognized that the Gospel is our treasure. The Book of Concord is full of references to this treasure. Luther used the term, too. The atonement of Christ is the great treasure, but it does us no good in a heap. So the Holy Spirit distributes it through the Means of Grace.

This is such a beautiful contrast between that treasure that does not last and gathering the treasure that does last.

No one is exempt from this. Many a minister has handled the Gospel in such a way and to insure his own security and luxury. He finds a way to compromise to keep things the way they are and not have the apostates take them away. They are so happy to enroll another member of their union, to see how fear can silence someone without any real threat being made. An implied threat is so much better. Saber rattling is effective when the wrong treasure is guarded.

But when we gather around the Means of Grace, God increases our blessings and our faith. 

Virtue Online - The Head of the Episcopalian Church Is a Joke - So Let's Give Her an Oxford Doctorate

The actress who played the witch in
Lewis' The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe was perfect.
She is an atheist who hates Christianity -
just like Katherine Jefferts-Schori.

Episcopal Presiding Bishop Scores a Triple Winner

By David W. Virtue 
www.virtueonline.org 
February 19, 2014

First came the news that Katharine Jefferts Schori is to receive an honorary Doctor of Divinity from Oxford University.

The announcement produced scorn, outrage and disbelief from differing academics. An Oxford Don and Anglican sociologist described the announcement as "disastrous and derisory...I'm ashamed of my alma mater." Episcopal liberals and progressives rejoiced in the announcement while one blogger described it as scandalum magnum.

Archbishop Justin Welby welcomed the news saying the award was "richly deserved, and reaffirmed Bishop Katharine's remarkable gifts of intellect and compassion, which she has dedicated to the service of Christ."

The surprise announcement left many in the Anglican world, other than the Archbishop of Canterbury, scratching their heads in wonderment and disbelief, considering the American Presiding Bishop's well known and thoroughly documented trail of unChristian and anti-Christian actions and theological stances bordering on heresy and apostasy.

Then we learned that the Episcopal Presiding Bishop would give the annual C.S. Lewis Legacy Lecture at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri. One blogger observed that Jefferts Schori exemplifies just about everything C.S. Lewis mocked and deplored in the Anglican Church.

"I wonder if she will take Lewis's famous essay, Priestesses in the Church? for her topic, or maybe she will speak on the apostate bishop Lewis caricatured in The Great Divorce."

In a laughable press release about this travesty, professor Cliff Cain (as in Cain killed Abel) says, "Her divinity degree combined with her bachelor's degree in biology and two graduate degrees in oceanography make her uniquely qualified to offer remarks on this subject.

"I mean, if they were really looking for an unqualified, female celebrity whose whole life is a repudiation of everything C.S. Lewis stands for, why didn't they ask Paris Hilton or Lindsey Lohan?"

To cap the insanity, the announcement was made today that the Presiding Bishop would preach at St. Paul's in London at the invitation of the Very Rev. Dr. David Ison on March 7 at the 11:30 am GMT service.

"I look forward to joining the St. Paul's community again and meeting the new Dean," the Presiding Bishop said. "I give thanks for the remarkable witness and ministry of this cathedral, and pray that its faithful leadership may continue to bless the people of London and far beyond." Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori previously preached at St. Paul's on July 25, 2010.

"The Presiding Bishop is the Chief Ecumenical Officer of the Church and the pastor and primate of this national church with over 4.6 million members in America alone," added the Dean. NOTE: This figure is blatantly false. TEC has less than 2 million members on the books and less than 700,000 in Average Sunday Attendance.

"The Presiding Bishop is charged with responsibility for leadership in initiating, developing, and articulating policy and strategy, overseeing the administration of the national church staff, and speaking for the church on issues of concern and interest," noted the Dean.

And Jesus wept.

END

Ash Wednesday Service, Tonight at 7 PM Central

No Academic Requirements for the President - ELS Little Schoolhouse on the Prairie.

Call for Nominations for the President of Bethany Lutheran College

Since president Dr. Dan R. Bruss has announced his intent to retire from the presidency of Bethany Lutheran College, effective June 30, 2015, the Board of Regents of Bethany College, in accordance with the guidelines of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod, is seeking names of individuals to consider as it makes nominations for the position.

An individual shall be a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod or of its fellowship, who possesses the aptitude and experience that will qualify him to direct the control and planning of all facets of the college operation. He must be a firm believer in the mission of our college and combine a skill for supervising and motivating highly-qualified and creative people with an understanding of and a commitment to the doctrine of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod.  He should possess the necessary skills to lead Bethany as a growing baccalaureate institution and demonstrate a deep commitment to and love for students.

The Regents respectfully request anyone who receives this notice to prayerfully consider those who may fulfill the qualifications of this important office and submit their name(s) to Board of Regents for consideration as nominees. Please send names to Secretary Paul Chamberlin, 90 Fairview Avenue, South Chatham, MA 02659; nrchamb@yahoo.com

Deadline:  To be considered, the Board of Regents must have all names in the hands of the Secretary by May 8, 2014.

The ELS-WELS-LCMS and the Academy Awards

LCMS-WELS-ELS reaction?

http://www.ieyenews.com/wordpress/marvin-m-schwan-foundation-and-michael-ryan-mystery/#comments

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  Don Gutz I don't understand why you hold such vitriol for the LCMS! What is your intent to tear down every vestige of goodness??

  19 hours ago · Like
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  Gregory L. Jackson I didn't write the report.

  19 hours ago · Like
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  Don Gutz The picture isn't your comment? Stop playing games!

  18 hours ago · Like
• 

  Gregory L. Jackson John Shep is on Facebook.

  16 hours ago · Like
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  John Shep Don, you have no sense of humor.

  16 hours ago · Unlike · 1
• 

  Gregory L. Jackson I have apologized to the estate of the Three Stooges. I did not mean to impugn their integrity.

  15 hours ago · Like
• 

  Don Gutz You all need to apologized to the millions of LCMS members!!! I'm waiting just lauging (sic) my ass off!!!

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I watched the Oscars with Mrs. I, just to see how wretched they have become. We were not disappointed.

When Gutz went postal over the link concerning St. Marvin of Schwan -  who purchased indulgences from three different sects - I thought of the Academy Awards ceremony.

The LCMS, WELS, and Little Sect are quite similar. They spend all their time praising themselves. The Oscars were invented simply to sell more movie tickets. Lutheran blogs exist simply to magnify the praises of the Synodical Conference itself - and to vilify sound doctrine.

They follow the pattern of Walther, who went from syphilitic-bishop-supporter to bishop-usurper, all in the name of grabbing the man's books, gold, land, and power.