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.
Sunday, March 9, 2014
The First Sunday in Lent, 2014. Matthew 4:1-11
Invocavit Sunday, The First Sunday in Lent, 2014
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
Bethany Lutheran Church, 10 AM Central Time
The Hymn #148 Lord Jesus Christ 3:61
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 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 # 146 Lamb of God 3:62
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn # 146 Lamb of God 3:62
Jesus Was Tempted
The Hymn # 153 Stricken Smitten 3:63
The Hymn # 153 Stricken Smitten 3:63
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 # 154 Alas and Did My Savior 3:14
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 # 154 Alas and Did My Savior 3:14
KJV 2 Corinthians 6:1 We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. 2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) 3 Giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed: 4 But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, 5 In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings; 6 By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, 7 By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, 8 By honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true; 9 As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; 10 As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.
KJV Matthew 4:1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. 2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. 3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. 4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. 5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, 6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. 8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. 10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 11 Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.
First Sunday In Lent
Lord God, heavenly Father, inasmuch as the adversary doth continually afflict us, and as a roaring lion doth walk about, seeking to devour us: We beseech Thee for the sake of the suffering and death of Thy Son, Jesus Christ, to help us by the grace of the Holy Spirit, and to strengthen our hearts by Thy word, that our enemy may not prevail over us, but that we may evermore abide in Thy grace, and be preserved unto everlasting life; through the same, Thy beloved Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.
Jesus Was Tempted
KJV Matthew 4:1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
Jesus' human nature is emphasized in this lesson, which is a lesson for all of us. The Gospel teaches us that Jesus could be tempted and yet He did not sin. The story also shows us why He understands our temptations and weakness. As Hebrews says, He was tempted in every way we are, and yet He did not sin.
This passage is an important beginning for the Lenten Sundays, because the modern attitude is to have Christianity remove trials and temptations, giving everyone a smooth and carefree life. If anything, the Christian faith adds to our problems short-term, because faith incites hatred and opposition in unbelievers, especially among the clergy who are apostates.
The Biblical statement is - He spared not His Son. And yet, the modern entertainers teach that faith means removing the cross, not bearing the cross.
God led His Son into the wilderness to be tempted. Luther grew up on saint stories, which are retold in new versions today. Instead of men and women who have no struggles, they are businessmen and celebrities whose fortunes are blessed by God because of their self-esteem or purpose-driven life.
So it is rather startling to hear in Luther's sermons that the sufferings of the saints (the historic figures) are there to teach us that no one is spared. This sounds like a bad recruiting method, but the moderns are ones driving everyone away.
By teaching the Christian faith without the cross. they are preparing people to break for the exists as soon as trouble comes along - especially when it is connected to the Word of God.
True saints suffer for the Gospel and thereby spread the Gospel. The victims of entertainment-worship never really hear the Gospel, quickly tired of the entertainment, and leave at the first sign of trouble from the Word of God.
2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
First of all, Jesus was tempted by the lack of normal human needs. He was hungry, but not thirsty, which means He was near fresh water. Deserts are not all sand and heat, but also include places known for their water supply. The book The Sand Arabs tells about the area of Saudi where there is so little water than the population is almost zero. And yet people traveled across the wilderness and had places where some water could be found. If it was dried up in that spot, there was no relief to be found.
However, having water and no food is not pleasant. Every drink of water lands in the empty stomach as a reminder of no food. Weakness is bound to follow, since staying cool demands calories to burn.
This remains one of our chief temptations. What if we do not have enough to take care of our basic needs? The fear can promote a lot of actions that are not in harmony with the faith, especially when people (clergy and lay leaders) see that being unfaithful is rewarded generously with material blessings.
3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. 4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
The first temptation is one concerning faith in God. We see it from the perspective of Christ, but it can be cast in other words just as easily. "If you really are a believer, then God will take care of your needs immediately."
That is a great temptation, because it is easier to dwell on these matters in our minds than to suffer them in real life. Therefore, the contrary assumption is made - God does not really care about me, so faith in Him must be fruitless. He does not care about these so-called small matters, but they seem to be taken care of for the ones who go along, who say nothing, who actively and knowingly work against the Word.
On a national scale it is even more shocking. With selective vision one can see the enormous wealth of the worst criminals in America, men without worries about human justice. Divine justice is another matter.
The answer is that we live by the Word of God, not by bread alone. If we start with bread, we end with bread and there is no concern for the Word of God. If we start with the Word of God, there will be bread and other blessings, enough to have and to share.
We had a little episode after the thunder-sleet. Once again the driveways and walks were horrible. Kids were playing in the snow, which was fun. Our infirm neighbors did not even go out to get the mail. I brought it to them and started on their driveway and walks. The sleet made removal tough. I was hoping older kids would help, because early removal makes the rest melt away in the sun. A bit later a group of kids were working on the driveway and the sleet covered cars. It was fun to see the couple out in the car doing the errands they had to do.
That was just a matter of sharing time rather than money. It made for mutual happiness, in giving and receiving, which is God's intention. Likewise our high school class pitched in to help a Viet Nam vet and a couple going through massive cancer surgery and therapy. In both cases there was great, shocked joy from the recipients and equal happiness from those who gave.
When one man, now passed away, was blocked from giving to others, he said, "Don't take away my blessing. It is more blessed to give than to receive."
A direct result of faith is giving to others, giving our time, our labor, and our money when needed. As one layman said long ago, "Giving draws people together, on both sides." That is God's intention, which is clearly recorded in the Scriptures.
5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, 6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
This defines temptation even more sharply, directly challenging God to be God. There are so many examples today of people tempting God, demanding that He prove His power and compassion - both at once - although they are revealed in His Word.
Firewalking was a fad that promised to make people more confident. It certainly tempted God, especially when people burned their feet badly and became more timid.
Tempting God is the same as expressing lack of faith in God. You may be powerful but you do not love me - Or - You may love me but you are not powerful enough to help me.
To have faith in God means to be patient and not make demands. God answers in His way and not in ours. I tell my education classes, full of teachers, that I got no bites on being an educator at our new museum, which seemed exciting. But that cleared the way for what I really enjoy doing. And this is also true - we end up with more than we can imagine. It is not only very good in terms of satisfaction, but it is the fun and worthwhile part of each day, working with younger Christian college kids.
8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. 10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 11 Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.
History shows that worship of Satan means having it all, because he is the temporary Prince of this World. Hitler had whatever he wanted, as Musolini did. Stalin was so hated that his own hencemen rejoiced when he collapsed.
In the cafeteria Friday I talked about one of the richest men in the world. He died of smoke inhalation in Monte Carlo while his wife stayed in the next-door apartment. His army of guardians was strangely absent.
Another one was tossed out into the Atlantic from his personal jet - like yesterday's garbage - clearly by someone close to him.
God continues to show us how Satan's grip and rewards only lasts a short time. Serving God means enjoying His presence now and forever.
Saturday, March 8, 2014
LCMS - ELCA - United Nations - Thrivent - Planned Parenthood - Malaria Campaign
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| 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
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.
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
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.
Thrivent HAS funded Planned Parenthood
February 12, 2014 By 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/
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.”
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| "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.orgSo what are you waiting for? |
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Extra Nos Addresses the Shaky Lutherans on UOJ
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
C. F. W. Walther - UOJ Theologian with no exegetical prowess, a Zitatentheolog
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...
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
Christ's blessings to you and yours Lito,
Brett Meyer
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
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
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Ash Wednesday, 2014. 7 PM Central
Ash Wednesday, 2014
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
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.
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