ELDONUT Eric Stefanski Unfriends the Entire LCMS Ministerium, Quotes Hard Rock Group Lyrics. Leaves a Foul Smell Behind

ELDONUT Pastor Eric Stefanski

The LCMS is worse than I am!
And why? Because they do not listen to the minister who
was promoting UOJ for years on his website.

The ELDONUTS have a strange obsession with rock music,
given their veneer of old-fshioned popery.

As the Spartans said to Philip of Macedonia, "IF."
I missed the fireworks too, Richard, but heard the whining.
Your review of Thy Strong Word gained us a member, so thanks.

As I wrote before, Martin Luther described the factious Synodical Conference sects with great discernment here, in his Galatians Commentary.

I snipped the timeless tosh of Rev. Stefanski from his Facebook page, lest he erase his words and charge me with misquoting him. So in the midst of excommunicating all of the LCMS clergy, he has to heave a digression full of unwarranted accusations, an ad hominem sputter, to avoid dealing with the facts of their nasty two-faced attitudes.

I would be wary of dealing with them in any fashion. They let their drama queen emotional state get in the way of the truth. They are currently in a status confessionis with me - or more accurately - status epilepticus. In other words, they do not talk to me, although my email is clearly posted. But they loudly complain about me on their Facebook pages, and "like" one another's little witticisms, so precious in the sight of the Lord. They they prove they aim to be what Luther described about Paul's opponents.

Luther:
When he says, “to his face,” this is aimed especially against those poisonous spirits who slander those who are absent but do not dare open their mouths in the presence of these people. That is what the false apostles did; he touches them obliquely here, because they did not dare slander him in his presence; they did so only in his absence. “I did not,” he says, “speak evil of Peter in the way; but I opposed him candidly and openly, not because of any pretense, ambition, or other human affection or mental disease, but because he himself was deserving of attack.” Page 108 of LW Lectures on Galatians

They imagine their little fulminations are hidden away, since I have blocked the ELDONUT Enthusiasts on Facebook, but I can still read and copy their posts. The kids these days are so naive.

The Word of God is a better weapon - better upgrade, ELDONA.

Strange Accusations That Impugn Their Character
One ELDONUT claimed that their Pastor X "worked with people" but I do not.

That moved me to tears - tears of laughter. I was working with Pastor James Heiser around 20 years ago, when he was selling books with Lutheran Confessional Synod Bishop-for-Life Randy DeJaynes.

That situation blew up and I was again in contact with Heiser when he received a call to Malone and began working to get out of the LCMS. I promoted his books, sold his books, and he sold Thy Strong Word. He liked to play both sides of the fence, so he was working with Paul McCain to sell his Repristination Books through Concordia Publishing House.

As an AAL agent once said to me, "If a man has two stories, he does not believe either one."

This went on for a long time while I was in Phoenix and we had many long phone calls, mostly from Heiser calling me, all the way through taking the congregation out of the LCMS. He wanted to be at the independent Lutheran conferences I helped organize, and he was welcomed, but he seemed to have a hidden agenda.

When Stefanski joined his group, I figured that Heiser would have to face the Justification by Faith issue, but that did not happen. Anyway, Heiser wanted subordinates who bought his bishop-for-life status, so he went silent.

When WELS Pastor Paul Rydecki showed up at the Emmaus Conference, he got a free copy of a justification book from Brett Meyer. ELS Pastor Jay Webber hid behind a column, motioning to get Paul to go to lunch with him. Rydecki and I discussed publishing at great length, and I encouraged him to publish with ELDONA, not with me, because so many faux-Lutherans boycotted me and would hold any association. And I thought ELDONA was better than solo, which I stated clearly enough. I mostly help people think through options, instead of bossing them around.

It became clear that Rydecki was associating with ELDONA, as Doug Lindee of the Intrepid Lutherans did. I had many friendly exchanges with Lindee over the years, when he was Freddy Finkelstein. Funny how people associate with ELDONA and stop being friendly. That is no longer surprising, based on the raging of their bishop-for-life.

I have concluded a few things:

• Concordia Seminary in Ft. Wayne really damaged a lot of pastors they produced, not only with UOJ fanaticism from Preus and Scaer, but also in their abusive, dishonest, and opportunistic behavior. ELDONA is largely a product of Ft. Wayne, where Jay Webber and Paul McCain graduated during the same time.
• ELDONA is not really a Justification by Faith group. They went through the motions, but they are like the other mini-micro sects in being not-LCMS, not-WELS, not-something, and really obessesed with leaving Bablylon for their Paradise.
• ELDONA is another sect-worshiping sect, glorying in how perfect they are. Just listen to them. Mercy! 

Someone Asked

Yes, I work with people all the time, various people from all over the world, at many different levels. A typical day involves communicating with three or four different people, not the same ones each day. 

Many abused people contact people because their synod ignore and shun them. I keep their secrets and share their sorrow. In fact, Heiser used to have pastors contact me after they were kicked out of the LCMS. I knew the process and tried to help in the recovery.

Intrepid Lutherans: When the Government Forbids Orthodox Pastors to Christian Congregations: The Sad Story of America’s First Lutheran Colonists

Intrepid Lutherans: When the Government Forbids Orthodox Pastors to Christian Congregations: The Sad Story of America’s First Lutheran Colonists:



Last year, our Fourth of July post, The Lutheran Conception of a Christian Commonwealth according to King Gustavus Adolphus, and its Mighty Impact on the Formation of our Great Republic, and on the State of Pennsylvania in particular, recounted the happy history of Swedish Lutheran colonists who originally settled New Sweden – an area that is now Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Wilmington, Delaware – under a Charter devised by the beloved Swedish King, Gustavus Adolphus, prior to his grizzly death at theBattle of Lützen in 1632, and later carried out by his successor, Axel Ostenstiern. A pious Lutheran aggrieved by the plight of Christians in the face of State sponsored religious persecution, who fought gallantly in the name of Religious Liberty, and died as a victorious leader in its cause, his plan for a colony in the New World, which would guarantee and protect the Fundamental Rights of the people, was defended by him for almost a decade as

“a Free State, where the laborer should reap the fruit of his toil, where the Rights of Conscience should be inviolate, and which should be open to the whole Protestant world... [where] all should be secure in their persons, their property, and their Rights of Conscience... [and] should be an asylum for the persecuted of all nations.”

Under the plan of the Lutheran King, Gustavus Adolphus, the Swedes of New Sweden paved the way for the Quaker,William Penn, who would receive credit for most of the work they had accomplished under the plan of Gustavus Adolphus, prior to Penn’s arrival.

'via Blog this'

So Much To Do!

Coffee is the great motivator.

I awoke to the second of two job candidates messaging me at 4 AM -  that dream job came through, the chief benefit in each case being the right place and the right job.

As I drink morning coffee and read the news, the desire to write something increases. I am happy to have my own dream job. We love living in Springdale, in this neighborhood, and not far from our son's family. Team Jackson will grill again this weekend.

Jesus' first miracle created a miraculous abundance
of perfect wine, through the power of the Word.

I get to work from home where my hobbies are

1. Gardening, 
2. Writing, and 
3. Writing about gardening. 

Pastors late to the party are starting to explore what our little congregation has done for years - broadcasting to everyone via the Net. That means various people write to me about doctrinal issues. I enjoy responding to them. At least I can offer educational and synodical perspective, from the grim and grimy to the hilarious.

The Feeding of the Multitude is another example
of miraculous abundance through the Word.

Luther called the pastoral ministry Predigtamt - the preaching ministry. His view of the ministry is the opposite of what we see today, where the emphasis is on management, keeping the operation running smoothly, achieving critical mass, and getting good, measurable results.

Luther's perspective, borrowed from the Scriptures rather than Peter Drucker's Management by Objectives is rather simple - sow the living seed of the Word and trust God for the results. I do that in the garden by not trying very hard.

I sow various seeds and many of them come up, flower, and bring their fruit to perfection. With roses I get ugly little thorny and dormant sticks, soak them, and plant them. This involves effort, but nothing compared to what God accomplishes through His Creation, engineering, and management.

Today I will have the before and after photos of the front yard.

Broadcasting the Word is exactly the same. The Word goes out the same way as the snow and rain come down from heaven, bringing seed to the sower and bread to the eater. The Word is never without an effect, both positive and negative - it is always effective.

The Word

1. Is never void.
2. Always accomplishes God's will.
3. Always prospers God's will.

The trouble with man's manipulations is that they reveal so little trust in the Gospel Word. 

Many of these posts make ministers hopping mad. Why? The Word condemns their unbelief, because they do not utterly trust in the Savior. Otherwise, why would a blog "that no one reads" have any effect at all? Perhaps if we owned a shining, marble temple endowed by a famous adulterer, we could have some real impact. But here we are, broadcasting and blogging from rented rooms, so we should be dismissed rather than fried, scattered, and chunked like Waffle House hash browns.

Last NIght's Beer Party - Neighbor Invites Himself

What Would Mequon Say?

Last night I walked outside to invite a select few to a beer party. I noticed a shiny mucous trail of  s slug where I had some definite damage to my Elephant Ears.

I would love to have that statement overheard during a phone conversation. Not carrying a cell phone probably protects my reputation for sober reflection.

My neighbors were outside and noticed me carrying the beer to the Elephant Ears. I told them, "I am having a beer party for the slugs. They will drink this and drown by tomorrow morning." Wesleyan Methodists should note that this was the end of a six-pack I opened a year ago for this purpose.

The boys heard this about my beer party, and were intrigued. The father said, "I may come over myself," which presented an amusing image for the kids as I poured the beer into a bowl, which was kept outside for that purpose.

The problem with pests in the garden is attempting mass killing to aim at a few. If the slugs are not thirsty or have acquired sentience, the brew may go untouched unless neighborhood pets and wildlife taste it. Various slug baits are toxic and may entice the wrong animal while leaching the poison into the ground, killing the significant but overlooked soil creatures.

A Hymn from the Past



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The quartet above illustrates what can be done with a hymn. A reader sent this because I quote James Russell Lowell from time to time - Truth on the Scafffold, Wrong on the Throne. His poem morphed into a hymn.

Ironically, Lowell, the son of a Congregational minister, did not write hymns as such, but spiritual poems. Therefore, a version of his poem became a hymn. Parts of that hymn appeal to liberals activists, but the key expression of the poem is within the graphic above.