Reviewing CN 8-22-2016. Otten Praises the False Teacher Reuel Schultz, RIP, WELS Church Growth Enthusiast. Want the Same Treatment from Otten? Attend Fuller Seminary!

"For several years I've been a Pete Wagner fan. Although I don't see eye to eye with him on many important theological points (he approves of faith healing and speaking in tongues as long as it promotes church growth and he comes from a Billy Graham decision for conversion doctrinal background), he is the most eloquent spokesman of the Church Growth Movement. A prolific author on mission/evangelism/church growth subjects, Wagner is also an excellent teacher and a crystal clear writer." 
Pastor Reuel J. Schulz The Evangelism Life Line (WELS) Winter, 1980.

"The publication TELL ('The Evangelism Life Line') has been inaugurated to promote the cause of church growth." Ernst H. Wendland, "Church Growth Theology," Wisconsin Lutheran Quarterly, April, 1981, 78, p. 105.

Schulz was famous for his Fuller Seminary, Church Growth Enthusiasm.

Otten:
The first eleven pages of this issue contain some of the many writings of one of the WELS’ finest pastors and writers. Read what Pastor Reuel Schulz wrote and judge for yourself. Northwestern should now publish “A Pastor’s Role Model” with the writings of Reuel Schulz. Right now CN is working on a book titled “Back to the Bible, Luther, and ‘Old Missouri’ – The Writings of Raymond Surburg.” Northwestern has far more help and resources than CN to publish the writings of Reuel Schulz. In an age when far too many computer literate pastors spend little time visiting both members and the unchurched it would be helpful for them to read what the brilliant, courageous, well informed, bold and humorous Reuel Schulz has written.

The Wit and Wisdom of Fuller UOJ Pastors - 
One of Reuel Schulz’s humorous comments on p. 3 mentions the “GJ Church.” CN’s review of Thy Strong Word by Gregory Jackson, Ph.D., who at one time was considered the WELS’s whiz kid, is still on the growing pile of material prepared to publish for which CN has not yet had space. Finances prohibit adding more pages. Hopefully it will appear next week. Jackson writes: “We now belong to the largest synod of all, the 5,000,000 people who are Lutherans but refuse to attend the synodical franchise congregations. Some of us have started independent congregations” (ii). “Do the LCMS, WELS, ELS, and CLC leaders ever imagine that their jealousy, spite, envy, and peevishness have driven the synod into the ground?” (477). “Christian News has been a spectacular failure” (509). “Once Ylvisaker and the Preus brothers were gone, the ELS had no intellectual leadership” (510).

And here is the bon mot from WELS Pastor Schulz, apparently from 2000 -

“Thanks for printing all my articles about our mission in Grenada. So nice of you: “Best regards and God bless you, RJS “P.S. Have you heard about the new church in Arizona, the GJ Church, with one member who has a tough time getting along with himself. G for either God or Greg. J for either Jesus or Jackson."

***

GJ - If Schulz had spent some time checking out his facts, he would not have made a fool of himself in print. Church Growth dogma has dominated WELS for a long time. But why would Otten exhume this typical WELS misfire as an example of wit?

Our congregation has pioneered streaming video for live and saved worship services, which are viewed around the world. So far we have 14,500 views. The sermons are recorded live and also published via this blog - with a Luther sermon each week.

This blog has 4.8 million total views, with the highest number going to a Luther quote - the object of Ichabod - to promote Luther's doctrine.

Herman Otten does not like to reminded of his ecumenical twists, his need to have SP candidates fawn over him until they are safely in office, at which point he says his latest Sycophant President "must go."

I would much rather read about Harrison singing "The Ballad of Herman Otten" before being elected the first time - not much later, after being enthroned in his office with a princely salary.

I would love to see Herman Otten finally teach the Chief Article of the Christian Faith rather than the dogma of Halle University, Universal Objective Justification.

Otten the politician has the same faults as the Synod Presidents he promotes and then disdains. He has no grasp of Lutheran doctrine, promotes Church Growth, and tries to silence anyone who disagrees.

Review

Here is a brief review of crimes covered up in Christian News by not reporting them or - at best - burying them on page 17 (Hochmuth).

Question on Adult Education Classes

One reader asked about what I use for adult education. Luther preached for an hour at a time and advised pastors, "If you cannot preach that long, preach 30 minutes." Now the standard is 10 minutes of fluff copied from the Net." Therefore, Luther combined preaching the Gospel with doctrinal and Biblical lessons.

No wonder the modern Lutherans are copying from Captain Billy's Whiz Bang - or the equivalent thereof. Many Lutheran pastors cannot define their own doctrine, apart from memorized and confused bits from the talking points in Dog Class.

First of all, I feature one or more Luther's sermons for the Sunday in the historic lectionary year - no papal readings for us. I publish those weekly on Facebook and this blog.

Secondly, I quote from that Luther sermon during my sermon. I have used Lenski a lot and will use Lenski more in the future.

The adult class is either going through a book of the Bible, verse by verse, or a section of the Book of Concord.

Here are three books others have used for adult classes or confirmation:

Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant

Liberalism: Its Cause and Cure

Jesus, Priceless, Treasure - An Introduction to the Christian Faith

Soon all three will be on Amazon and Kindle.

Feedings, Inspections, Weedings and Blessings

Sassy and I are usually up before dawn, so she waits for some sunlight to take our walk. Today the sun was up already. Sassy ate her Science Diet breakfast while I got dressed for the walk. She walked toward the Four Esses, where every daughter's name starts with an S, but she veered when the Army Ranger called out. "Get over here, you three-legged dawg."

Sassy's favorites are greeted by a howl of pleasure - "Ah-roo-roo-roo." The Ranger and I had a long talk about politics and crime while Sassy got petted and combed by my fingers. When she was ready to walk, she barked sharply. "Have you got an appointment?"

"Bark! Bark!" People laugh about our dialogues, but we communicate all day long. She stops on our walk, hanging back so I can play "Go. Go." with her. She will be 50 feet back and bark sharply. I yell "Go go go go!" as she races toward me, like the days when she was running toward me in the park. I reach toward her and she dodges me each time.

If I miss the implication of her sounds and body language, she lets me know. The other night I thought she was ready for sleep at the end of our bed. She sat up, after having lidded eyes and that drowsy look. "Aroo. Bark! Bark!"

She wanted good-night petting from both of us. She wants to be invited, so I clap my hands softly and say, "Move, move." She comes up and sits for some petting from both of us, with exclamations of how gentle and loving she is. We enjoy that session almost every night, but we have to invite her.

If I miss all hints I suddenly find a dog's head under my hand, with a big Sassy grin looking up at me. "Time for night-night?" She will stand up and fall over for both of us to pet her.

That is the hanging feeder - not my photo.
My squirrels are much livelier.

Feeding Time for the Birds Squirrels
The normal quota for the bird feeders is - one big cup of sunflower seeds for the platform feeder and four cups for the hanging feeder.

Today I had a young squirrel on the platform and another one using the hanging feeder as his vending machine. Squirrels know to spin the six-sided feeder to bring the loose seeds closer. I closed the window sharply to reset the feeders.

Birds and squirrels fly, but still remain close to the food. The Butterfly Bush is strong enough for both. Now seven birds are on the platform and one squirrel is spinning the hanging feeder for breakfast.

Spiders Casting Their Nets on Privet Hedges
Two neighbors behind us on Joye Street do landscaping work and have boxy privet hedges on the front of their property. They keep them trimmed neatly.

Almost every morning the spider webs on top of the hedges are highlighted by dew. What a bountiful zone for spiders. They can snag the insects landing on top and the bugs crawling up from the branches. Bushes are feeding zones for spiders, nesting places for birds, and havens for insects.

The webs are irregular circles, never touching, leaving a margin around each feeding site. Web spiders are created and engineered to cast a net wherever food is likely to appear.

Spiders without webs (cursorial) march across the property to hunt for food. Spiders alone number in the thousands in a field, so one can only guess how much damage they do to pests.

God manages all the beneficials so they have their own territory and favorite foods, including themselves. Almost every beneficial will devour its own, but that protests the gene pool to favor the strongest.

At first we earthwormed the yard,
mulched and pruned the Crepe Myrtle.

The Crepe Myrtle was newly trimmed in this photo.
Now the bush and yard are even more bloom covered.

Honoring Creation
Not using toxins is one way to trust in God's Creation, engineering, and continuous management.

The plants and animals carry out their duties according to a calendar and plan we do not comprehend or implement. I know the Crepe Myrtle bush enjoys plenty of sun and food for its roots, so I have another pyramid of food under the bush, an explosion of color people point to as an example of they want to grow.

The food supply is comprised of cow manure, shredded wood, the blooms I cut off to encourage more growth, twigs cut to spur growth, pieces of rotten wood, and pieces of lawnmower manure. The large powered lawnmowers build up clumps of dust and grass, which fall off from time to time. Some are scraped off. They are pure energy held together by fine dust. This larder is almost free and always settling down.

What happens?

The soil creatures, mold, and fungus work on the more complex ingredients of bark and mulch, and share it with the roots below. Spiders set up shops to process fresh insects, the hollows and dampness ideal to attract their food. Bees manage the flowers to provide seed for the Cardinals nesting above.
Bacteria devour the simpler foods, like grass, below. Earthworms and slugs shred bigger pieces, and bacteria in the earthworm gut carries out digestion for the earthworm. Since bushes attract insects, the Cardinals also have fresh meals for their young. Additional flying patrols are carried out by beneficial insects like wasps, tiny Flower Flies, Tachenid Flies, and Ichneumon Wasps. Although I knew only a portion of this last year, the creatures did their work anyway.

If anyone has ever worked on a church building project, it is well known that the project will take at least two years to complete from start to finish. Many details have to be managed, so one error can spoil the results. And yet, this little spot of Creation can exist and flourish with only a little help from us, if we only appreciate what God has created, engineered to perfection, and managed so well.

Fluffy pink fireworks of flowers
hide the Cardinal nest within.
Note the layer of branches and mulch
on top of composted cow manure.

Inspecting the Yards
Once again I am Hamlet debating - "To water or not to water, that is the question."

Some genuine rain is promised for tomorrow, and I soaked everything already for the recent faux-rain. The KnockOut roses look splendid because we pruned them back by 50% at first droop, and they received some serious rain right after. Our helper and I clipped off the spent KO blooms, so now they are all fresh and bright and reaching their former height.

Roses droop in dry and hot weather, so pruning and soaks give them energy. I have no qualms about sprinkling and hosing them down, to remove the dust and sweat from their toil. OK - just the just. Rose canes are spongy rather than woody, so they soak up the water fast and loose it fast on hot, sunny, windy days. The spongy canes green up fast too.

Veterans Honor - give the rosebush,
share the blooms.

Falling in Love roses donated generously and now rest for the next cycle. They will be a very special next year, with the roots established all winter. I expect some good rains will yield another crop of these roses.

Easy Does It orange roses produce strong stems and clusters of roses. Its color production says "Look at me" all the time.

Mr. Lincoln will generate the longest, strongest, and most fragrant roses before any other hybrid tea. If someone wants to grow impressive roses for the vase or yard, Mr. Lincoln is an easy choice. Our friend loves to see her Mr. Lincoln bud open up and slowly turn purple.

Veterans Honor is the  other red rose bloom in mug-like form, fat rather than tall in shape, its red color so pure that the blooms glow in low light and stand out among all other roses in the garden. Veterans Honor also earns high praise for its longevity in a vase.

In the backyard I found two roses with non-rose leaves. I looked again. Growing from the middle was probably a nut tree, planted by the squirrels - watered and mulched by me.

The ground is so fertile that nuisance trees and bushes erupt from the ground, so I am always doing some weeding and yanking out growth.

Mr. Lincoln buds are tall, very fragrant,
and open up to large blooms.