Matt Harrison and the LCMS Finally Found a Heretic in Their Midst - And Al Benke Laughs

Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Less Room in the LCMS Brotherhood

http://matthewlbecker.blogspot.com/2015/07/less-room-in-lcms-brotherhood.html

Becker:

Since my ordination into the ministry twenty-six years ago this month, I have had to address several informal and formal accusations against me for "teaching false doctrine" or "doctrine inconsistent with the public teaching of the LCMS." These accusations have included:

(1) denying the inerrancy of the Scriptures;
(2) advocating for the ordination of women to the pastoral office;
(3) rejecting rectilinear prophecy in the OT; and
(4) denying that the first chapters of Genesis must be understood literalistically, as an actual historical account (and holding that the data explained by the theory of evolution need not necessarily contradict our faith in God the Creator).

Prior to April, 2015, I have endured four formal charges of false teaching. Three of those trials had to do with the first, second, and fourth issues above. The process for each of those three cases took between four and five years, lots of energy, lots of money, and reams of paper. (The fourth case--having to do with the third issue above--was dismissed by my District President almost immediately for reasons I will not share here.)

I endured the process of those four cases because I thought the principles involved were worthy of exploring/defending and I thought my accusers were setting up a doctrinal standard that was sub-Lutheran and inconsistent with Article II of the LCMS Constitution. I thought those struggles were worth the effort. I leveled my dissent within the Synod for the same reason.

All of these previous cases ended with my exoneration. That includes the most recent case (issue number two above), the one a NW District Referral Panel finalized in my favor last October.

What was supposed to be "final," however, turned out not to be "final." President Harrison attacked me on his Facebook page, as did others elsewhere on the internet. Several LCMS district conventions have now also passed resolutions that call upon me to repent of my teaching. For more on this, see my "For the Record" here.

But now a new charge has been brought against me that deals, once again, with issues one and four. Last April the Rev. Terry Forke, the Montana District President, initiated this latest case. He accuses me of failing to defend the LCMS position that Gen 1-3 are "an historical record." He's also upset that I have failed to reject the theory of evolution. In his letter he calls upon me to recant what I have written in my online essay, "The Scandal of the LCMS Mind," which you can read here.

In light of this most recent charge--and given everything else that has happened since President Harrison's Facebook post against me--last week Rev. Paul Linnemann, the NW District President, asked me to resign from the LCMS.

After a few days of thinking over and praying about his request, I let him know on Friday that I could not in good conscience resign. I told him that I thought such a decision would lend credence to the accusations of my accusers in the Synod, namely, that I have indeed acted improperly and taught falsely. More importantly, I believe that for me to resign would go against my ordination vows and undermine the principles I have sought to defend in each of the cases against me.

Perhaps in some future post I will comment further on the theological issues here. I do think the synod is hamstrung by some of its official documents from its past (e.g., Brief Statement; A Statement of Scriptural and Confessional Principles). As I've tried to point out over the years, there is a better way of articulating the confessional doctrines of creation, sin, and redemption than by insisting on six-day creationism and a literalistic approach to the first chapters in Genesis.

Today I received official notice that President Linnemann has decided "to initiate formal proceedings under Bylaw 2.14.6 and request [my] expulsion from Synod." As an automatic result of this action, I am on "suspended status" under Bylaw 2.13.4.

According to Bylaw 2.14.6c, I have 15 days to appeal my suspension.

Nevertheless, I have told President Linnemann that I will not appeal his decision. Having suffered through those three previous heresy trials--which burdened nearly 17 of the past 26 years of my ministry--my family and I have come to the point of saying, "Enough! No more!"

Consequently, on July 15, I will be removed from the LCMS.

Yesterday I began to make inquiries into the process for becoming rostered in the ELCA. Later this summer my family and I will be joining Christ Lutheran Church (ELCA), here in Valpo.

My imminent expulsion from the synod has saddened me, since this church body that has been my spiritual home for nearly 53 years will no longer be that. As one of my seasoned LCMS teachers told me over the weekend, when I spoke with him about the situation, "This is no longer the synod of Emil Jaech and Emil Becker..."

I am also at peace. I have a clean conscience. Vis-a-vis these five official cases, I don't believe I have said or written anything that goes against my ordination vows or that contradicts or muddies the doctrinal content of the evangelical-Lutheran faith. I do believe that God's grace is sufficient to cover my sins, errors, and failures--and I remain open to correction. (I'm sorry, but the district resolutions that call upon me to repent of my teaching have not convinced me that I am guilty of teaching false doctrine in these matters.)

So I am shaking the dust off my worn sandals and moving on. I am grateful to be able to continue my teaching ministry here at Valparaiso University.

I am grateful, too, for the support I have received from many kindred spirits across and beyond the LCMS. They and the LCMS remain in my prayers.

***

They agree with ELCA that everyone is forgiven and saved.
They are not Lutheran, but they are united in false doctrine
with their big, rich dying sister sect, ELCA.

GJ - If they ever award a gold medal for doctrinal hypocrisy, Matt Harrison will get it.

Matt the Heretic Impaler made his career from working with ELCA and continues to do so. He is happy to have Missouri gather $50 to 60 million a year from Thrivent, a pan-religious business that ardently supports abortion on demand and rainbow marriage.

Becker is representative of a broad swath of LCMS and WELS pastors who ache to agree with ELCA while remaining where they are.

Will Matt toss DP Al Benke for his unrepentant velcro attachment to all things ELCA, various pagan religions, and his computer?

Will Matt offer Paul McCain to the howling mob, for plagiarizing Rome and various blogs while posing as a "confessional" Lutheran, whatever that means today?

Fun Morning at Almost Eden Nursery Sassy Does Iberia Bank

Elderberry close up.

Elderberry - tall and loaded with flowers and berries.

I am seldom scheduled for anything, but when that happens, there is a conflict. I expect my 50th high school reunion will coincide with two absolutely crucial events the same weekend.

Almost Eden Nursery's owner was available Wednesday morning and I had a business phone call scheduled at the same time. Sassy and I went over early, at 7 am, but knocking on someone's door at that hour is not a good idea. We connected on Facebook and agreed on a later time, after the call, which took all of six minutes - the July 4th effect - get out of Phoenix before it is 120 degrees again. Add to the heat, steady, hot, mummifying winds. Dust storms - not a gardening state - but cacti grow like dandelions.

There is no relief from any day over 105 in Phoenix. If the humidity is up too, watch the electric bill soar. But here I am in the Natural State with rain and cooler temps. The afternoon heat gives way to tree shadows falling across the house as the sun sets.

The later trip to Almost Eden was fun. The owner was working. We have talked several times and he walked the last buy over to our house, pulling them on his gardening wagon. He knows plants very well, and my knowledge is rather narrow - roses, vegetables, and weeds.

I told him about my expanded wild garden, so we lined up elderberry plants, two more Chaste Trees, and several others that attract insects, bees, hummingbirds, and butterflies. He said, "Going down that road, it's a slippery slope."

Almost Eden also has a large grape arbor.

"More like an addiction?" I asked.

He is developing the property, which I would covet, except for the exponential increase in labor. He has the space and equipment to do anything he wants. 

I said, "I like all types of plants beneficial to the creatures. I am not proud. I like goosefoot, Queen Ann's Lace, and pigweed."

He said, almost like David Caruso on TV, "A little goes a long way."

I bought seven plants, quart and gallon sized pots, for $50. The Internet companies would charge $30 plus shipping for most of those - each. And these plants are alive, in great soil.

When I left I pointed out a potential name change. "I call our place the Jackson Rose Gardens, but since you are Almost Eden, I am calling it Eden." He laughed and said, "I'll take that."

Eden, by Thomas Cole

I looked up Roses without Chemicals, a good introductory book on roses and organic gardening. That is another author who had to have a conversion experience before giving up chemical fertilizers and pesticides. He sold them all.

A lot of gardeners had the wrong mothers. Mine had her own compost pile and knew all about beneficial insects.

The book agrees with me, citing research, that wood mulch is the best way to feed the soil when growing roses. 

And of course- grow plants that harbor beneficial insects. That includes weeds.

Sassy and I went to Iberia Bank to deposit a check and withdraw a dog treat. Sassy loved getting that little treat. Later, she met two police officers working on a lawnmower. One lives here. She made friends with them.

July Issue of ELCA's The Lutheran Makes People Wonder - "Why Are WELS and LCMS Working with ELCA and Thrivent?"Mark Jeske Sells to the Gay Marriage Issues Crowd

July 2015, The Lutheran.

Caption for the July 2015  photo from The Lutheran

Photo and caption together, The Lutheran, July 2015.

--

WELS Pastor Mark Jeske Shovels Money at ELCA, Then Sells CDs and DVDs on the Issue - Love of Money Wins!

 "Each night I count the stars in the skyHoping that you aren't telling me lies."
A Thousand Stars in the Sky, Kathy Young

Learn from ELCA, WELS and LCMS - Change or Die!
Got a problem with that? Write a letter.

The Underlying Doctrine Determines the Final Expression

Yes, this is a gardening post. And a justification by faith post.

Everything I discuss on this blog starts with creation of the universe through the Word, and that creating Word is Christ, as taught in Genesis 1 and John 1. "Without Him was not anything made that was made." That is all-inclusive.

Moreover, this Creation took place in six 24-hour days. Like the infallibility of the Scriptures, Creation is often shaped, bent, and twisted until the word means the opposite of its original, un-polluted meaning. Likewise - justification (by faith). One must add (by faith) because the shrieking demons of UOJ always mean justification without faith, with an emphasis on without faith.

Gardening articles are going to assume Creation by the Word or evolution. I can find evolution droppings in perfectly good gardening books, like Teaming with Microbes. Some items are hilarious, whether intended humorously or not. But when the content is 99% in harmony with Creation, the conclusions of the book or article are going to be predictable - and good. I recall one passage in Teaming about concern for bacteria output, carbon monoxide or methane, something like that. Concern registered. I was laughing as I imagined how we might license, ban, control, or tax that problem with bacteria.  I saw that remark as a wink at the reader.

On the other hand, most gardening books are nonsense, because they assume a mastery over bugs, weeds, and disease through the use of expensive manufactured chemicals. The authors open up other gardening books and copy the information, adding their own pictures or buying stock photos. A garden can survive all the bad advice and practice, just as the church continues with so many people defaming Biblical doctrine. But a price will be paid in the future, either way.

For instance, the gardening books start with the proper use of NPK fertilizer, with esoteric advice about the right percentages of NPK on the right plants. At the same time, they warn solemnly that manure is very lower on those precious percentages. Why does manure work so well? Now we know - earthworms graze on bacteria, and these soil microbes are the key to plant health and growth. In fact, the manufactured fertilizers pass through the root zone and pollute the water table. Therefore, lots of fertilizer must be used all the time.

In contrast, Creation gardening locks the nutrition in the top 12 inches, because the soil creatures buy and sell those commodities to stay alive, with plant roots ordering what they want from the fungus strands that reach and support every plant and tree, often several plants at once.

The truth defends itself. When the landscaper mocked my wild garden as "weeds," because we like to kid each others, I said, "Count the roses." He has a 10 foot poison ivy vine growing up the side of his house - and he knows it. That is my ultimate weapon, but I am loathe to use the poison ivy card...at the moment.

Once the roses are watered, mulched, and pruned, the only work is cutting more roses and watching people smile as they get them. That is Creation - not work. God does that work through His obedient creatures. I have to study the relationship between plants and beneficial insects all the time, but their work goes on whether I know about it or not.

The more Christians teach Biblical doctrine as it is, without man's opinions, the greater effect the Word will have, because it is not polluted and watered down by foolishness. The Word remains powerful, but that Word is often not used. Instead, the apostates use bait and switch. They pretend to be God's Church while offering Management by Objective, entertainment (aka clown ministry), and motivational speeches from occult gurus like Napoleon Hill.

People lap it up, just as animals lap up spilled antifreeze, because it tastes so sweet as it poisons the body. I had some antifreeze splash into my mouth once - it does taste good. But that does not make me pour a glass to have with a meal.

So the Great Divide is just as evident in Christian doctrine as it is in gardening.

The Means of Grace chapter, Romans 10,
how often is that cited by UOJ gurus?

Some Are Thanking God for the Wrong Reason

Every "free" Thrivent item is really a cheap ad for a radical Left, pan-religious business.
Those juicy grants are a way to bed down covertly with the enemies of Christ.

Facebook is a goldmine of wrong-headed opinion, false stories, crudely edited videos, and snapshots.

Currently, the LCMS pastors are thanking God that their synod president has maintained a "Biblical position on marriage." We all know what they are saying - without offending the other side.

I asked one pastor, "Then why is Matt Harrison working with ELCA and Thrivent?" A Biblical position would make it impossible with work with the opponents of traditional marriage, the advocates of abortion on demand.

Missouri and WELS have been asking women pastors from ELCA to teach them about church matters, how to do church, as the Evangelicals like to say. This goes on at the highest levels of the LCMS and WELS, and no one is bothered.

They seldom respond at all to me, but they call me a troll behind my back. However, about 500 LCMS people are friends. If they really disliked what I write, they would unfriend me - as Matt Harrison and David Scaer did. UOJ makes everyone a forgiven saint, except those who doubt this crypto-Universalist malarky.

Scaer likes to brag about his ELCA friendships.
And why not? - they teach the same rubbish.