Report from Mequon

"Son, if you want to graduate from the Sausage Factory,
you must learn to say - Eighth Commandment!"

"WELS will be retiring a lot of Boomer pastors soon - whether they want to retire or not."

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GJ - I figure they have to make room for graduates to move into the cult priesthood, or everyone will figure out that the Sausage Factory could close for years and no one would miss it.

The president of the Sausage Factory said this
in his promotion of the NIV, turning legitimate concern about an apostate Bible
into a sign of corporate cowardice.

Face the Facts - It Was Never about Growth or Evangelism - It Was All about the Liberal Agenda.Would Anyone Support the Liberal Apostasy Movement? They Needed a Name

Monday, March 17, 2014

Larry Olson, D.Min. Fuller Seminary - The College Years

His one and only congregation never grew at all,
so they made him the Waldo Werning Professor of Church Growth at Martin Luther College.

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Synod Minders Are Never Far Away - Especially in WELS

http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2014/07/from-polluted-wels-blog.html?m=1

The synod minders are never far away.   Note the 'not all contemporary worship is bad' and the plea for open and honest discussion (as apparently opposed to WELS bashing) coming from someone speaking from the shelter of anonymity.  

Contemporary worship comes from a lack of trust solely in the Word. It is the negative symptom of deeper problems.

In Christ,
Brett Meyer 

This verse is never quoted or addressed by the UOJ/CoWo crowd.

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 tlcsvaz@orthodoxlutheran.info said...

It is simply not possible to even have this discussion in the WELS. That is a sad fact, but a fact nonetheless, as can be attested by any on the confessional side who have tried. You see, to even bring up the subject is to be accused of Phariseeism by the CoWo side. To them - and all the middle-of-the-roaders in WELS - it is simply a moot point. There is no need for discussion. It is adiaphora, and that's it. Case closed - or actually, not even opened. Anyone who says otherwise is a legalist and does not understand the true Gospel, and does not care about the unchurched, or the young, and is not interested in outreach to lost souls, etc..... End of discussion. So, good luck with this. I've tried for 35 years with no success whatsoever. It is just not acceptable in the WELS to question any and all practices that are done in the name of "evangelism." We MUST grow. Period!

84,000 page views.

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 Daniel Baker said...

I've put down my thoughts on so-called "contemporary" worship in numerous places, perhaps most succinctly here: http://ecclesiaaugustana.blogspot.com/2012/11/orthodox-variety-trumps-sectarian.html

Rather than reinvent the wheel, I'll just summarize the three main issues I've identified with sectarian ("contemporary") worship.

1. It's a matter of origin. The worship forms of heretics should not be used by the orthodox.

2. Lex orandi, lex credendi. Worshiping like heretics indicates that one believes like heretics. Whether or not one actually believes the dogma behind sectarian worship, giving the false impression that we believe what heretics do (and actually running the risk of starting to believe what they do) is not acceptable.

3. Abrogation of the Divine Liturgy. Lutherans profess to retain the Mass. Sectarian worship is inherently opposed to it. Since the Divine Liturgy is nothing other than the Word, sectarian worship often proves to be contrary to the Word (whether explicitly, like talking about decision theology, or implicitly, as in a song written by non-Trinitarians like Phlips, Craig & Dean, whose music I have experienced in a WELS church before). This point should be enough for any Confessional Lutheran to reject sectarian worship on its face, since it is completely opposed to a Confessional paradigm.

Anyway, I'll close with this quote from C.F.W. Walther, which is particularly damning to advocates of sectarian worship:

"A preacher of our church also has the holy duty to give souls entrusted to his care pure spiritual food, indeed, the very best which he can possibly obtain. In Methodist songs there is much which is false, and which contains spiritual poison for the soul. Therefore, it is soul-murder to set before children such poisonous food. If the preacher claims, that he allows only 'correct' hymns to be sung, this does not excuse him. For, first of all, the true Lutheran spirit is found in none of them; second, our hymns are more powerful, more substantive, and more prosaic; third, those hymns which deal with the Holy Sacraments are completely in error; fourth, when these little sectarian hymnbooks come into the hands of our children, they openly read and sing false hymns."

July 4, 2014 at 2:28 PM

The Big Myth -Predators Do Not Control the Population of Their Prey

The food supply controls the number of hawks.
They do not control the population of the prey.

Television and movies dwell on the beauty and grandeur of predators, land and sea, and people love to watch those specials.

The big myth is often used on the rabbit population - "Hawks, owls, and coyotes control the population of rabbits."

Let us meditate on that for a moment. Rabbit populations will grow infinitely without predators?  What will they eat when they have finished our gardens, our crops, and our salad bars?

Rabbits prey on wild vegetation - or our domestic crops, so rabbits must control the herb and dandelion population, the carrots and French lettuce? Hardly.

We control the hawk population.
Without us, they are nothing.

If rabbits are short on water and food, their population will decline. The buck will no longer look with fondness on the doe, and the doe will grow strangely indifferent to romance, since she is starving and vulnerable to disease from malnutrition.

As one book pointed out, rabbits control the predator population. When they are numerous, the predators will flourish and multiply. The wild dog can barf up lunch for her pups, and her mate will grow stronger on fresh rabbit, twice as nutritious as chicken.

The humblest of God's Creation are the foundation of life. In fresh water, algae forms in sunlight and feeds the entire pyramid of life above.

In the soil, mold and bacteria are essential for all the higher life forms. We think of them primarily in terms of breaking down dead plants and animals, which they do with great speed.

If anyone doubts that, try living in a desert valley like Phoenix and see how everything is mummified without water. Leaves and thorns remain on top of the soil. The dog builds up its own contributions, which never go away by themselves. A concrete deck is no better in a wet climate, filling with dust, debris, and animal donations.

The soil is not only an ocean of life, created to feed  us, but also an ocean that swallows up life.

Nitrogen is the building block of protein.
Earthworms are mostly muscle,
needing and contributing nitrogen.

The bird's dead body rests on the ground. Bacteria and mold attack from their earthy citadel while ants march out to see what they can forage. From below, unseen soil creatures reduce the body, shaded by their food. How clever they are - hiding beneath their food, whether plant or animal, woody or leafy. Those who prey upon them cannot see the soil creatures, unless...

One moved the bird's feather, and a robin saw the movement and heard the rusting sound. He cocks his head, fixes on his target, and grabs the bug for the babies' breakfast. Robins are supposed to favor earthworms, but they cannot dine at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse every meal. They look for insects, seeds, and bread crumbs too.

If the soil is fertile, filled with bacterial and soil creatures, the higher life forms will have healthy and growing populations. When the soil is dead, used up, parched, and eroded away, the other creatures go away to find abundant resources or die from starvation.

Dogs can befoul a desert landscape,
but they can fertilize a meadow.
Why? Soil creatures and rain.

Lighting Up the Property - Multiple Bird Baths

The neighborhood skies were almost this lit up.
Fireworks are sold on every corner in July.

I kept all my solar lights from Phoenix, and some of them still work. The old principle was - leave them in sunlight, get four hours of bright light from them at night. The four remaining are embedded in the rose garden. They are quite spectacular at dusk. Last night we walked to the front of the house to watch the fireworks in our neighborhood - the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air. Sassy was not pleased with all the noise, from three sides of us, so she barked back. That seemed to satisfy her.

My newer solar lights turn on at night at low level and brighten up when they detect movement nearby. The lights are inexpensive and easy to install on wooden posts or trees. I have them on the porch posts, plus two in the maple tree in front.

This began when I wanted to keep the porch light on at night, when going to evening college events. That leads to collecting annoying night insects around the light and higher electric bills. I tried one solar light and then another to light up the front. Sassy has her own solar light over the back door. Since our neighbor on the corner has his solar light collection, we are starting to brighten up the night.

The backyard was suffering from an abundance of low-hanging branches. First our helper participated in reducing the ones that hampered mowing and threatened eyeballs. Then, we pruned more for Sassy's ball-throwing and additional sunlight. Finally, when I saw how the chain-link fence could double as a trellis, I went after the maples along the fence. The shade departed and we lost the Miss Havisham look.

The birds are delighted with the soaker hose attached near the top of the fence. They have abot 50 feet where they can perch, drink, take a bath, and preen their feathers. They love safe places for preening, essential for flying. When I was digging - they were watching. They chortled and twitttered like synodical officials at a Thrivent funding event.

Add some rocks for that bird beach experience.
I use a shallower dish than this one.

I went out to check the water and found three birds enjoying their baths near the faucet. I will soon buy some ceramic dishes, the ones put under large flower pots, and use them as baths that fill when I water in various places. People buy one big, expensive bird bath and find themselves doing maid work for the birds. I use many cheap ones and keep them clean by dumping them out after some swirling around. Birds like shallow dishes for bathing, not Hollywood swimming pools.

God's Creation adjusts to the baseline, so we can adjust those details and see the results. One birdbath attracts birds in time because they are shy about anything new. They are good about sharing, so a few more birds will hang around. Add five birdbaths and far more birds will be in the yard. The same is true with natural bird-feeders and shelter. The more food and shelter they have, the more birds will make the yard their home. Each species has its own specialty, its own favorite shelter, its own preferred food and place for food (ground, bushes, trees). Variety in food and shelter means a variety of birds will make their abode in their yard. They earn their keep with beautiful songs, insect and weed seed eating.

Some grow the birdhouse gourd and create shelters for the birds with the dried gourds.