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| Graphic created by Zach Engelman |
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.
Friday, February 13, 2015
Amber-Sam Is Getting Touchy on the WELS Discussions FB Page
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| Sam Birner was a Martin Luther College WELS graduate, December, 2014. |
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| Now Sam is Amber Noel Birner. (trans-Jennered). Martin Luther College - "We didn't know!" |
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| Did Schone know his MLC lambs were straying? This shirt worn at the convention proves he is clueless. |
Virtue Online - Asking the Wrong Questions of Bishop Heather Cook
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| Texting while drunk driving = killing the father of two young children - Heather Cook was probably consecrated under the influence. She could not even hold it together for the celebratory dinner beforehand. |
Why the Episcopal Church got it Wrong on the Selection of Bishop Cook
No biblical mindset to ask the right questions
Committee's refusal to ask hard questions
COMMENTARY
By David W. Virtue DD
www.virtueonline.org
February 13, 2015
A bicyclist is dead. The bishop who caused his death, Heather Cook, has been inhibited by the Church's Presiding Bishop. Now the Episcopal Church plans to take a hard look at alcohol as though that were the besetting issue.
It is not. The issues are far deeper than booze and what Cook should have told the committee investigating her case, but did not.
No biblical mindset to ask the right questions
Committee's refusal to ask hard questions
COMMENTARY
By David W. Virtue DD
www.virtueonline.org
February 13, 2015
A bicyclist is dead. The bishop who caused his death, Heather Cook, has been inhibited by the Church's Presiding Bishop. Now the Episcopal Church plans to take a hard look at alcohol as though that were the besetting issue.
It is not. The issues are far deeper than booze and what Cook should have told the committee investigating her case, but did not.
In 2010, Heather Cook was caught behind the wheel with a blood alcohol level of .27 -- more than three times the legal limit in Maryland -- and pleaded guilty. There was pot paraphernalia in the car as well.
This has prompted clergy and laypeople alike to reread church policy on alcohol and the consecration of bishops, and to ask how addiction is handled. Is the church in any way culpable in the death of cyclist Thomas Palermo, a 41-year-old husband and father of two?
The Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, president of the House of Deputies, one of two main governing bodies of the 2 million-member denomination, said many Episcopalians are asking why church leaders allowed Heather Cook to be confirmed as bishop last September, despite their knowledge of her struggle with alcohol.
"Sometimes a tragedy happens and people move on after a couple of weeks," Jennings observed. "This particular tragedy has caused many people to not only look at the issue of alcoholism and other drug addictions, but also how we select and elect our leaders, our bishops."
Jennings is appointing a committee to review the church's 1985 policies on alcohol and drug abuse and to propose new resolutions to be considered at the church's General Convention in Salt Lake City from June 25 to July 3.
Jennings is at least asking the right question...how do we select our leaders and bishops.
First of all, you have to have a Biblical mindset and consult Scripture on what the basic credentials are for being a bishop.
1 Tim. 3 reads thusly, "The saying is sure: whoever aspires to the office of bishop desires a noble task. 2 Now a bishop must be above reproach, married only once, temperate, sensible, respectable, hospitable, an apt teacher, 3 not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, and not a lover of money. 4 He must manage his own household well, keeping his children submissive and respectful in every way-- 5 for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how can he take care of God's church? 6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may be puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. 7 Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace and the snare of the devil."
[GJ gloss - No - the KJV is far better -
On about half the qualifications outlined above, Heather Cook did not qualify. Her life was not above reproach, she is not married, has an ambiguous relationship with a man (the one who bailed her out) who happens to be divorced and was inhibited from ministry in the Episcopal Church by the former Bishop of Connecticut. Is it sexual? No one will say. She was able to manage a household of one (she has no known children), apparently with the help of alcohol. Apt teacher, who are we kidding?
On virtually every Scriptural scale, Cook failed. So how did she slip through the cracks when clearly there were better qualified persons?
First, Scripture is no longer authoritative in the Episcopal Church; therefore appealing to it is deemed irrelevant, if not an abstraction.
Second, most Suffragan Search Committees don't consult scripture to ask the right questions. They are made up of men and women who have not had Scripture explained to them from the pulpits in years, if ever. Sermons on social justice, inclusivity, and diversity will not provide them with the Scriptural foundation to quiz bishop candidates.
Third, the walkabouts are basically political and issue oriented. Committees are pushed to be politically correct, "Do we need a woman, perhaps someone who is gay?" No one asks what the Bible says to qualify one as bishop.
Fourth, how does a candidate come across? Do they exude niceness, charm, and will they "fit in?" Nobody too extreme, please. Make sure they endorse the Church's hot button sexuality issues. There is no room for fudge here.
Fifth, based on the above, no orthodox candidate would be eligible for being a bishop in TEC.
Sixth, the slippery slope of theological ambiguity leads to moral ambiguity and therefore leads to an almost anything goes attitude based on a false, misplaced compassion. So with the dumbing down qualifications for bishop, you end up with poor white trash like Cook whose boozing habits were clearly known and ignored because "compassion" dictated that the committee overlook her past failings.
"This is a matter of moral character and there seems to be a serious ethical failure in this instance. I was shocked to learn she (Bishop Heather Cook) was charged in 2010 with DUI and possession of pot. Could someone tell me who the hell there was on this one?" enquired the Rev. John Farrell.
I hope we have answered your question Mr. Farrell. If you have no standards except secular ones, you get exactly what the Diocese of Maryland got.
Episcopalians playfully -- and others sometimes not so playfully -- call themselves "Whiskeypalians." And they joke: "Wherever two or three are gathered, there's usually a fifth" (of alcohol). That's not a joke anymore.
"Obviously there's a flaw, there are flaws in there," said Episcopal Maryland Bishop Eugene Sutton. Really.
If a diocese like Los Angeles can elect an openly non-celibate lesbian as bishop, why shouldn't it excuse a serious drinker like Heather Cook?
When I worked for the Diocese of Virginia under Bishop Robert Hall, I quickly learned he was a first rate alcoholic. He could barely get through a service, was propped up by his staff, and stumbled his way through the Prayer Book. Good southern folk would never expose him, he was 'aristocracy' and a good ol boy. He was stage managed till he retired, a bottle of scotch never far from his fingers. He has mercifully died.
The Episcopal Church will go on electing non entities, third rate theological minds (how much theological education did Katharine Jefferts Schori ever have?) and morally flawed men and women, people who demand our compassion because half the committee are doing the 12 steps and don't want to "judge" someone like themselves. Make them bishop and hope they will get over it privately.
For Cook, that never happened. She killed a man. She has now been summarily dismissed from the Church by the Presiding Bishop, faces 13 charges by the state, and could do 20 years in the slammer.
"The church can sometimes confuse secrecy and confidentiality," Jennings wrote to the deputies. "Our desire for reconciliation can sometimes make us reluctant to confront one another in love."
She has it half right. Cook was not even a viable candidate by ANY standard, especially Biblical.
The deeper truth is that the Episcopal system is to blame through its Standing Committee (and a weak-willed Maryland bishop who managed to forgive himself). The Committee's refusal to ask the hard Biblical questions outlined in First Timothy because they have been uninstructed or deconstructed over years in the pews, is the deepest reason why Cook slipped through the net and why the Church will go on electing the morally conflicted and the spiritually dead.
END
This has prompted clergy and laypeople alike to reread church policy on alcohol and the consecration of bishops, and to ask how addiction is handled. Is the church in any way culpable in the death of cyclist Thomas Palermo, a 41-year-old husband and father of two?
The Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, president of the House of Deputies, one of two main governing bodies of the 2 million-member denomination, said many Episcopalians are asking why church leaders allowed Heather Cook to be confirmed as bishop last September, despite their knowledge of her struggle with alcohol.
"Sometimes a tragedy happens and people move on after a couple of weeks," Jennings observed. "This particular tragedy has caused many people to not only look at the issue of alcoholism and other drug addictions, but also how we select and elect our leaders, our bishops."
Jennings is appointing a committee to review the church's 1985 policies on alcohol and drug abuse and to propose new resolutions to be considered at the church's General Convention in Salt Lake City from June 25 to July 3.
Jennings is at least asking the right question...how do we select our leaders and bishops.
First of all, you have to have a Biblical mindset and consult Scripture on what the basic credentials are for being a bishop.
1 Tim. 3 reads thusly, "The saying is sure: whoever aspires to the office of bishop desires a noble task. 2 Now a bishop must be above reproach, married only once, temperate, sensible, respectable, hospitable, an apt teacher, 3 not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, and not a lover of money. 4 He must manage his own household well, keeping his children submissive and respectful in every way-- 5 for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how can he take care of God's church? 6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may be puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. 7 Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace and the snare of the devil."
[GJ gloss - No - the KJV is far better -
3 This is a true saying, if a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.
2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;
3 Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;
4 One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity;
5 (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)
6 Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.
7 Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.
Translations are faddish, too.]
On about half the qualifications outlined above, Heather Cook did not qualify. Her life was not above reproach, she is not married, has an ambiguous relationship with a man (the one who bailed her out) who happens to be divorced and was inhibited from ministry in the Episcopal Church by the former Bishop of Connecticut. Is it sexual? No one will say. She was able to manage a household of one (she has no known children), apparently with the help of alcohol. Apt teacher, who are we kidding?
On virtually every Scriptural scale, Cook failed. So how did she slip through the cracks when clearly there were better qualified persons?
First, Scripture is no longer authoritative in the Episcopal Church; therefore appealing to it is deemed irrelevant, if not an abstraction.
Second, most Suffragan Search Committees don't consult scripture to ask the right questions. They are made up of men and women who have not had Scripture explained to them from the pulpits in years, if ever. Sermons on social justice, inclusivity, and diversity will not provide them with the Scriptural foundation to quiz bishop candidates.
Third, the walkabouts are basically political and issue oriented. Committees are pushed to be politically correct, "Do we need a woman, perhaps someone who is gay?" No one asks what the Bible says to qualify one as bishop.
Fourth, how does a candidate come across? Do they exude niceness, charm, and will they "fit in?" Nobody too extreme, please. Make sure they endorse the Church's hot button sexuality issues. There is no room for fudge here.
Fifth, based on the above, no orthodox candidate would be eligible for being a bishop in TEC.
Sixth, the slippery slope of theological ambiguity leads to moral ambiguity and therefore leads to an almost anything goes attitude based on a false, misplaced compassion. So with the dumbing down qualifications for bishop, you end up with poor white trash like Cook whose boozing habits were clearly known and ignored because "compassion" dictated that the committee overlook her past failings.
"This is a matter of moral character and there seems to be a serious ethical failure in this instance. I was shocked to learn she (Bishop Heather Cook) was charged in 2010 with DUI and possession of pot. Could someone tell me who the hell there was on this one?" enquired the Rev. John Farrell.
I hope we have answered your question Mr. Farrell. If you have no standards except secular ones, you get exactly what the Diocese of Maryland got.
Episcopalians playfully -- and others sometimes not so playfully -- call themselves "Whiskeypalians." And they joke: "Wherever two or three are gathered, there's usually a fifth" (of alcohol). That's not a joke anymore.
"Obviously there's a flaw, there are flaws in there," said Episcopal Maryland Bishop Eugene Sutton. Really.
If a diocese like Los Angeles can elect an openly non-celibate lesbian as bishop, why shouldn't it excuse a serious drinker like Heather Cook?
When I worked for the Diocese of Virginia under Bishop Robert Hall, I quickly learned he was a first rate alcoholic. He could barely get through a service, was propped up by his staff, and stumbled his way through the Prayer Book. Good southern folk would never expose him, he was 'aristocracy' and a good ol boy. He was stage managed till he retired, a bottle of scotch never far from his fingers. He has mercifully died.
The Episcopal Church will go on electing non entities, third rate theological minds (how much theological education did Katharine Jefferts Schori ever have?) and morally flawed men and women, people who demand our compassion because half the committee are doing the 12 steps and don't want to "judge" someone like themselves. Make them bishop and hope they will get over it privately.
For Cook, that never happened. She killed a man. She has now been summarily dismissed from the Church by the Presiding Bishop, faces 13 charges by the state, and could do 20 years in the slammer.
"The church can sometimes confuse secrecy and confidentiality," Jennings wrote to the deputies. "Our desire for reconciliation can sometimes make us reluctant to confront one another in love."
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| ELCA Bishop Burnside - pickled. |
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| Ex-bishop Burnside - sober - in court. |
She has it half right. Cook was not even a viable candidate by ANY standard, especially Biblical.
The deeper truth is that the Episcopal system is to blame through its Standing Committee (and a weak-willed Maryland bishop who managed to forgive himself). The Committee's refusal to ask the hard Biblical questions outlined in First Timothy because they have been uninstructed or deconstructed over years in the pews, is the deepest reason why Cook slipped through the net and why the Church will go on electing the morally conflicted and the spiritually dead.
END
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| ELCiC qualifications for presiding bishop: don't tempt me. |
Snow Is Pretty Cool - But Still Warm
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| Spinach hums along beneath the snow, true to its Creator. |
Most of our friends are stranded by heavy snowfall, from Moline to Maine. That can be pleasant peaceful, but also annoying and difficult at some point. We were isolated by the 1978 blizzard in Sturgis - southern Michigan. That storm swept from the Great Lakes to New England. We were next to a state highway that was not plowed for one week, leaving the area in eerie quiet.
How high was the snow? When I raised the garage door, the snow was above my head. The amount was staggering, yet beautiful in its blue-white crystalline drifts.
Snow owes its blanket effect to the interlocking crystals. Nothing gets very cold under a thick layer of snow. Many creatures have lively winters beneath it. Like the effect of leaves locking together, the snow crystals trap air and insulate the ground from the drying and freezing effect of storms above.
Gardeners and farmers would rather have heavy snowfalls than drying, freezing winds without snow. When the snow melts all the plants get a special boost and the ground water increases.
The Scriptures promise (and warn us) that God's Word is just like rain and snow. The effect is inevitable. On the positive side, the effect of God's Word is never void, always accomplishes His purpose, and prospers His will.
But there is another side to this - a warning. Only God's Word can do this - not man's word. In the battle between Satan's Kingdom and God's, God will win.
Isaiah 55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
For now, God is using false teachers to punish the denominations that tolerate them. We all know the Lutherans (so-called conservatives, putative confessionals, faux-orthodox) are in bed with ELCA. God knows too. He will reward those who prosper the work of Satan, as all these do. Everyone has been warned.
Augustine said there are two cities, the City of Man is built upon the love of Self. The City of God is built upon the love of God.
These false teachers even brag about their promotion of self-love, because it is all they really think about - themselves. Listen to Mark Jeske for five minutes--keeping a puke pan nearby--and see if you agree.
Garlic Small and Large To Bloom Soon - Chives Later
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| The alium family includes alium, garlic, onions, leeks, and chives. |
The garlic cloves we planted last fall have popped up above the soil. They are hardy bulbs, but people seldom think of planting them in the fall for an early harvest in spring. Roman soldiers carried garlic bulbs as all-around cures, and garlic is still known for the same properties. We planted garlic cloves in the vegetable garden and also around the maple tree. I believe some extra cloves were planted along the fence. I failed to calculate how many cloves came from a broken up garlic bulb.
I seem to be the only one who plants giant alium, seen with the boy in the photo above. I bought Globemaster, from Dutch Gardens, which produced strong stalks and mega-blooms last time, in New Ulm. A little girl posed with some of my Globemasters and looked intimidated by their size. Hold the stalk? She trembled at the thought.
Much smaller alium can be bought as small bulbs - but why? The giant ones are relatively rare. We took about 10 minutes planting four in the rose garden last fall.
I like garlic chives growing among the roses, since they spread through their roots, look like grass, and do the work of garlic with even less labor. Some scoff at the magical properties of garlic, making roses healthier and driving away insects. However, root exudates are taken more seriously now. One whiff of garlic chives on a hot, humid day will erase all doubts about their efficacy with insects.
Garlic chives have the advantage of producing their grassy shoots as they spread, and these can be harvested easily for soups and salads.
I do not grow onions, but they are another large component of this health-giving family.
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Train whistle blowing, this one carries goats. Riding on the train top, the sheep are full of oats. Rocking, rolling, riding, through the snowbound land, All bound for Springdale town, spreading tracks with sand. Driver at the engine, Billy's on the top, Baby goat has joined him, to warn when they should stop. Maybe it is raining where our train will ride, One can never really tell, forecasts can't decide.
Rocking, rolling, riding, through the snowbound land,
All bound for Springdale town, spreading tracks with sand.
Somewhere there is sunshine, somewhere there is day,
Somewhere they can see the streets, but not in Maine today.
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Pruning Wakes Up Plants and Makes Them Fruitful
New gardeners are afraid to cut their precious plants, but most plants respond well to pruning and to harvesting. Pulling peas and beans off their vines will create new flowers and new pods. If you plant enough of them, you will learn what the Sorcerer's Apprentice (Disney Cartoon) is all about.
I am waiting another week to prune the crepe myrtle and rose bushes, because that will start root growth and new branches, when frost is somewhat an issue. We will get a little cold, perhaps even a little snow for Valentine's Day weekend.
Pruning is the best fertilizer to spur growth, because the entire plant responds. Naturally the roots will call for more nutrition from the fungi, handing the fungus carbon credits in return for the chemicals demanded. The plant governs this process, so why not start with the boss - the plant?
Dead wood on roses and crepe myrtles rob the plant of its vigor, so removing that will make the roots spread out more for water and food. Some branches grow into to each other; those prunes also help. The crepe myrtle has lots of tiny, useless twigs, starters that faded, so removing them and adding them to the mulch will make the bush more vibrant as it buds and flowers.
Pruning also shapes a plant, so a bush with lots of growth can be made to grow taller rather than fan out.
Trees can be pruned to death, but bushes can be cut back quite hard, by 2/3rds, and bounce back better than before.
Fifty Shades of UOJ - WELS Documented
http://welsdocument.blogspot.com/2015/02/fifty-shades-of-grey.html#comment-form
AnonymousFebruary 12, 2015 at 11:07 AM
Brett Meyer, why don't you just stay on Ichabod where you belong? If you consider WELS to be preaching a false gospel (along with 99% of the Lutheran church), why do you waste your time befouling every WELS blog with your misguided and deceptive ranting? Jesus paid for the sins of all and earned God's forgiveness for all sinners. The benefits of the justification he earned come to the sinner by faith alone. You know very well that WELS nowhere teaches universalism.
Reply
It's more Antinomial than the Universalism you keep driving at, Brett.
The doctrine of Objective Justification rightly taught speaks of the debt against mankind forgiven in the death and resurrection of Christ. Even though the gift of Grace (His forgiveness) extends to all men, a man does not possess what he rejects. So to say as you do that unbelievers are forgiven subjectively in Objective Justification is false.
What concerns me is the 'Evangelism by Guilt" that the WELS is peddling these days; that it is our fault if a sinner is lost because we don't communicate at just the right time in just the right way. God's Word is an offense to those who are not walking in the light and have no desire to; so we should expect a negative reaction most of the time. It's called bearing the cross.
ReplyThe doctrine of Objective Justification rightly taught speaks of the debt against mankind forgiven in the death and resurrection of Christ. Even though the gift of Grace (His forgiveness) extends to all men, a man does not possess what he rejects. So to say as you do that unbelievers are forgiven subjectively in Objective Justification is false.
What concerns me is the 'Evangelism by Guilt" that the WELS is peddling these days; that it is our fault if a sinner is lost because we don't communicate at just the right time in just the right way. God's Word is an offense to those who are not walking in the light and have no desire to; so we should expect a negative reaction most of the time. It's called bearing the cross.
AnonymousFebruary 12, 2015 at 11:46 AM
"What concerns me is the 'Evangelism by Guilt" that the WELS is peddling these days; that it is our fault if a sinner is lost because we don't communicate at just the right time in just the right way."
Joe Krohn, that's a serious charge you're leveling. Where's your evidence? I've never witnessed this in a WELS church, nor have I seen it promoted at conferences or conventions, nor have I read about it in any journals or magazines or been taught it in any seminary summer quarter classes.
ReplyJoe Krohn, that's a serious charge you're leveling. Where's your evidence? I've never witnessed this in a WELS church, nor have I seen it promoted at conferences or conventions, nor have I read about it in any journals or magazines or been taught it in any seminary summer quarter classes.
Look around you, anonymous. What do think is fueling all the contemporary churches springin up in the WELS???
Reply-
AnonymousFebruary 12, 2015 at 1:44 PMI think it is giving the wrong impression to imply that there are all kinds of contemporary churches springing up in WELS. I can think of only two or three that have been started recently. The other dozen or so have been around for tene years. Not exactly a growing trend, although with the attention that these congregations get on the web one might wrongly conclude that they are more numbeous than they are.
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AnonymousFebruary 12, 2015 at 1:53 PMAnonymous from 1:44 here. Sorry about the typos. "ten years," and "numerous" in case you were scurrying to look up numbeous in your online dictionary.
AnonymousFebruary 12, 2015 at 12:58 PM
I will agree and disagree with Joe. I don't believe that WELS is peddling this evangelism by guilt. But what I believe is happening is that far, far too many WELS pastors are filling their head with Evangelical books, and that's where they're picking up this nonsense of evangelism by guilt. I had one well known WELS pastor tell me that his greatest fear is someone going to hell because he missed an opportunity to bring them the gospel. Evangelical drivel. You are what you read, and too many of us are reading too much American Evangelicalism.
--- From Brett Meyer
I commented on their shameless promotion of UOJ in their most
recent posting - Fifty Shades of Grey. Someone posted my initial comment but
after a rousing response they haven't posted my second comment which was
directed to Anonymous. Here is the comment they haven't yet allowed:
Anonymous at 11:07am, I don’t believe my confession of the
Gospel of Christ to witness to and convert, by the grace and work of the Holy
Spirit, individuals to Christianity and a faithful confession of God’s Truth is
a waste of time.
You contend that WELS does not teach Universalism - that the
whole world is saved. That is only true if God's declaration that an individual
is forgiven all sin no longer equals eternal salvation. That God declaring an
individual righteous in Christ no longer means his sins are forgiven, he’s been
adopted as a child of God, he has faith in Christ alone and by that faith is
forgiven all sins and saved eternally.
WELS’ public confession teaches contrary to Scripture
here:
IV. JUSTIFICATION BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH
1. We believe that God has justified all sinners, that is, he
has declared them righteous for the sake of Christ... All need forgiveness of
sins before God, and Scripture proclaims that all have been justified,
The truth is that Scripture teaches that God only justifies
those who have faith in Christ alone.
Romans 3:26 “To declare, I say, at this time his
righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth
in Jesus”</b>
The truth is that Scripture teaches that God does not forgive
those who do not have the gracious gift of faith in Christ alone. The
unbelieving world is dead in sins, they are not forgiven, and the wrath and
condemnation of God continues upon them.
Matthew 6:15, “But if ye forgive not men their trespasses,
neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
Mark 11:26, “But if ye do not forgive, neither will your
Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.”
John 3:18, “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he
that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the
name of the only begotten Son of God.”</b>
In Christ,
Brett Meyer
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AnonymousFebruary 13, 2015 at 8:17 AMI believe that neither Joe nor Brett are WELS members.
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Spare me your sanctimony. The WELS claims orthodoxy all the while practicing heterodoxy. I'm just calling out the hypocrisy of it all. Y'all should remove Lutheran from the synod name. At least some of the churches and schools have been honest in doing so already.
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Really. With that line of reasoning I suppose a woman can be pastor of an all woman congregation, right?
*** -
GJ. Do any of these WELS louts entertain the notion that they are complely wrong, led by equally ignorant synod officials who denounce everyone while working with ELCA?
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His statement regarding the object of Christ's forgiveness includes the whole world of unbelievers - people. This is faithful to the WELS' teaching that Christ has forgiven the whole world of unbelievers who do not have the gracious gift of the Holy Spirit's faith, Christ's righteousness, in Christ alone.
This is contrary to Christ's own Word in Mark 4:12 “That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.” It is through God's Means of Grace that He works Godly contrition over sin and faith in Christ alone. It is through the gracious gift of faith in Christ alone that individuals put on Christ's righteousness and are adopted as His children, are forgiven all sin and are saved eternally.
Nothing good will come of your efforts as long as you continue to confess, promote and defend the false gospel of Universal Objective Justification in opposition to Scripture and the Christian Book of Concord.
In Christ,
Brett Meyer