Roses I Used for Photographs in 2016

These are roses I picked and photographed from the main garden in 2016 - and photographed them.

The effect comes from Photofunia.

WELS and ELS Close a Nursing Home

UPDATE: Market conditions contribute to River Falls' nursing home's closure

Hudson Star Observer

A letter has been sent this week to River Falls Mayor Dan Toland informing him and the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development that the Lutheran Home, 640 N. Main St., will close.

A news release Friday, Dec. 9, from The Lutheran Home Association's Belle Plaine, Minn., headquaters gave this reason:

“The decision was made after a thorough analysis of the changing market place in the River Falls and Hudson area. Trends indicate seniors have a strong desire to remain independent as long as possible and the demand for skilled nursing care has decreased in this region.”

According to a letter from Beth Wadsley, human resources director for the Lutheran Home Association, the closing process in River Falls began Tuesday, Dec. 6, and will end with total closure in mid- to late-February.

The local nursing home employs 62 people. Almost all will lose their jobs.

WelLHaven, an assisted living facility next door to the Lutheran Home, will remain open.

“Closing the skilled nursing facility in River Falls was an extremely difficult decision for our ministry leaders,” said Michael Klatt, chief executive officer and president of The Lutheran Home Association. “The health care sector is experiencing drastic changes in the skilled nursing market place.

"Our quality Christian care will not change during the transition. We are committed to our residents, family members and team members.”

Explore related topics:NEWSBUSINESSSOCIALRIVER FALLSBUS

http://cdn2.hubspot.net/hub/244553/file-1583934183-pdf/TLHA_Resources/TLH_River_Falls_FINAL_020314.pdf

 Michael Jackson's competition, Matt Rothe, is
the former recruiter at Mordor - aka Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary.
And now - Lead Pastor/Church Planter at The Way Church
I wonder if his wife, Emily Zell, daughter of Professor Zell had anything to do with that.

Matt's mother and father are divorced and his father left the ministry.   His mother remarried a Pastor Joseph Dietrich
His facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/joseph.dietrich.5?fref=pb&hc_location=friends_tab&pnref=friends.all

So Matt's mom is now Debbie Uhlhorn Dietrich.  See what her current or former job is as listed on the left side of her
facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/debbie.u.dietrich?fref=pb&hc_location=friends_tab&pnref=friends.all

• Former Regional Mission Advancement Director at The Lutheran Home Association
• Former National Director of Volunteers and Church Relationship Manager at The Lutheran Home Association

There are some WELS connections, as they like to say in their little sect,
which WELS members and pastors will notice.

UOJ Uses the Tactics of the Left-wing, Because UOJ Is Left-wing, Apostate, and Destructive

Before and after the elections - note the plural - when the Left-wing agenda for America was repudiated and reject, these tactics have come into play:

• Celebrity endorsements and threats if they do not get their way.
• Outright deceit and the conscious repetition of deceptive stories.
• Personal attacks.
• Mockery of stated positions based upon the founding documents.
• Verbal threats.
• Pretending to be above it all while accelerating the mud-slinging.
• Hysterical reactions of fear, terror, in the face of other views.
• Hatred of others with identical positions, due to a lust for power. Brigit (Hillary) does not love Bernie.

That fits the UOJ agenda quite well -

1. Celebrity endorsements and threats if they do not get their way. (Walther and his gang as the celebrities, Matt the Fat making threats about not wanting to be in a synod that...)
2. Outright deceit and the conscious repetition of deceptive stories. (Bivens copying Zarling about UOJ being the Chief article. WELS-LCMS-ELS-CLC hiding their scandals from the membership.)
3. Personal attacks (DPs, CPs, and the other parasites living off the synod, Thrivent, and foundations.)
4. Mockery of stated positions based upon the founding documents. (The Biblical position is "denying UOJ," which sounds so much like "climate change deniers.")
5. Verbal threats. (These never end, but my favorite is Wayne Mueller threatening the WELS pastor who leaked his infamous claim about Luther, which was a distorted and deceptive quote. Pure Wayne, of course.)
6. Pretending to be above it all while accelerating the mud-slinging. (Visit Mark Schroeder or his fellow felons for an example. They all cover up the capital crimes and the assaults against the helpless, but honeyed acid drips from their tongues when talking about others.)
7. Hysterical reactions of fear, terror, in the face of other views. (Emotional manipulation of pastors and laity who dare to raise issues, combined with instant shunning and rapid excommunication of those who seek Scriptural teaching. Meanwhile the worst rats are left alone to prosper, encouraged by the leaders, and protected by their scrofulous friends.)
8. Hatred of others with identical positions, due to a lust for power. (Where to start? Otten and McCain? Cascione and anyone? Rolf and the Free World? The UOJists cannot abide each other, which makes me somewhat sympathetic. We cannot abide them either.)

Warren Malach Feigns Innocence on UOJ

 "Come into our lair," the SynCons hiss at anyone disputing their dogma, "and we will discuss Synodical Conference papers until you surrender to us."

Dear Pastor Jackson: Given that you have been a pastor in synods which teach objective justification, have you ever posted on Ichabod your own account of how you came to your position on justification?  If not, please do so; if you have, please tell me how I may find it.  Thanks!  
-- Warren Malach brucknerfan1951@msn.com

***

GJ - Warren Malach asked about UOJ in a number of emails long ago, and I responded on the blog. Here is one post where I responded to him.

After feigning innocence and pretending to want to know more, Warren began his repetitious attack on Justification by Faith.

The last I heard of him, Warren was being cited by DP JonBoy Buchholz - against Steve Spencer - who had expressed some doubts about UOJ. Spencer never left the WELS prison compound, but he apparently looked over the barbed-wire fence a bit too long.

Asking me if I ever wrote about UOJ in various synods is a bit odd, since I lost track of how many times. And I should do the google searches anyone can do?

Here is how to find posts:

1. Use the Labels list on the far left, which is where UOJ belongs, or
2. Use the search box on the upper left corner - not very effective, or
3. Google "Ichabod the Glory UOJ ____ synod".

As Warren acknowledged, I already posted free PDFs of books, including Thy Strong Word, which handles the topic extensively, including as many UOJ statements as I could find at the time.

By the way, DropBox will no longer allow public links, the way I am giving away PDFs of books, after March 15th -

We’ll soon be ending support for the Public folder. Dropbox Basic users will be able to use the Public folder until March 15, 2017. After that date the files in your Public folder will become private, and links to these files will be deactivated. Your files will remain safe in Dropbox.

So if you want to download them, do so soon and save them to your hard drive or to your own DropBox account, which is free at the basic level. Some of my books are also given away on Lulu.com in the form of PDFs.

---

Warren - "Have you ever posted on Ichabod your own account of how you came to your position on justification?"

This sentence is a marvel of using the 2nd person singular to turn the teaching of the Scriptures, Luther, and Book of Concord into a personal opinion.

Luther, Melanchthon, the Formula of Concord - the Scriptures:
all agree on Justification by Faith.

The Chief Article of Christianity is not UOJ, which comes from Pietistic rationalism. The Chief Article is Justification by Faith Alone.

The default position for any Christian is Justification by Faith. It would be difficult to find anyone who could march through the shallow, insipid catechism of UOJ without being brainwashed first at one of the LCMS-ELS-WELS-ELCA seminaries. Warren Malach graduated from Concordia, Ft. Wayne, a warning sign if there ever was one. (Cf. Paul McCain, Jay Webber, Rolf Preus, Jack Cascione, Jim Heiser, and the ELDONUTs.)

Even so, the UOJ position is often cloaked with weasel-words like "grace" used to supplant faith. Example - "No, not Justification by Faith, but Justification BY GRACE through faith." The example should be said in an angry and contemptuous way, to make the Chief Article seem distorted and wrong.

The advantage in dealing with UOJ goes to those who were trained in those old, basic catechisms like the Gausewitz original or the KJV catechism sold by CPH (2 million sold!).

WELS-ELS-LCMS-CLC (sic) will continue to pressure their remaining clergy and members to conform to the ELCA model of universal absolution and salvation.

Meanwhile, everyone should wonder

1. Why is the Chief Article rejected by WELS-ELS-LCMS?
2. Why do the three dying sects rejoice in their agreement against the Gospel?
3. Why does WELS lie (Bivens, Zarling) and call UOJ the Chief Article?

Mid-Week Advent Service, 2016

 The Annunciation by Norma Boeckler

Mid-Week Advent Service, 2016

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/bethany-lutheran-worship

Mid-Week Advent, Wednesday, 7 PM Central

The Hymn # 240                    Father Most Holy
The Order of Vespers                                             p. 41

The Psalmody            Psalm   14                           p. 124
The First Lection                  
The Second Lection       
The Sermon Hymn #61      Hark a Thrilling Voice

         

Isaiah's Christmas Passages

The Prayers and Lord’s Prayer                         p. 44

The Collect for Peace                                           p. 45

The Benediction                                                   p. 45

The Hymn # 558                All Praise to Thee

Isiaah 7:10 Moreover the Lord spake again unto Ahaz, saying,

11 Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.

12 But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord.

13 And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?

14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

Isaiah's Christmas Passages

Isaiah 7 is a wonderful passage to consider, becase so much effort has been made to dispel its importance. Evil King Ahaz was in deep trouble for asking the Assyrian king to help him stay in power. Ahaz also promoted the worship of idols.

The prophet Isaiah had good news to offer him - God would give him a miracle. A sign is a good enough word, but we have watered it down quite a bit. This miracle can be anything Ahaz wishes, either on earth or in heaven.

Of course, God knew the mind of Ahaz, so the hypocrisy of the evil king made this miracle a central event in the entire book. A believer would welcome a miraculous sign from God, but Ahaz said something almost comical - I will not put God to the test.

When God offers a miracle, this is not an excuse for someone to become suddenly modest and super-pious.

Isaiah erupted in anger, "You are not content with making my people weary, and now you will do the same with my God? He will give you a miracle.

What this setting does is clear - it underlines and accents the importance of this message. The words themselves are remarkable, but the language of the prophet shows this is a miracle of miracles, as it indeed is. And even if sceptics quibble at the language, as unbelievers do, there is a final confirming phrase - God with us, Immanuel.

Here is the miracle, which has been under attack ever since the Age of Rationalism. "Behold, a Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son. And you will name Him Immanuel."

The first quibble is almah - Virgin. Oh, that just means "maiden." Aha, the maiden voyage of a ship is one which that ship has never made before. The fact is, maiden and virgin are interchangeable in this context, as shown by the Greek word used - parthenos, which is both young maiden and virgin.

So they want to claim, "This means the king's married daughter will have a son." How can that be a miracle. Married women have babies all the time. And not one is named "God with us." Jesus did not take on that name in ordinary life, but Jesus does mean salvation, a word that fits in well with many Psalms. 

Holman Christian Standard Bible
My eyes grow weary looking for Your salvation (Your Jesus) and for Your righteous promise. Psalm 119:123

In the last century, Methodists took "offspring of the Virgin's womb" out of their own hymn and hymnal. A Wesley hymn!

That is like taking Justification by Faith away from the Lutheran Reformation and draping that error around Luther's neck, as Jay Webber did so maladroitly.

Some so-called scholars wondered if Jesus existed, and other allowed He did exist, but was only a man.

No matter what they say, this Virgin Birth prophesy is central to Isaiah, to the Old Testament, and the New Testament.

The Child prophesy is taken up again in Isaiah 9

Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given:

This is a not just a child and a child give for us. That suggests faith in Him, since is He is given for us. The repetition "for us" emphasizes the meaning of His birth.

and the government shall be upon his shoulder:

This implies the government of the entire world, as the following words spell out. That cannot be an ordinary prince of a tiny nation. We can see from history how God has moved entire nations to change all future developments, sometimes to punish, at other times to bless. The Stuart kings "left an indelible bad impression on the British." Because of their cowardly and deceitful support of Roman Catholicism, they forced many to go into exile to America, where our Founders swore they would never let the government be tied to a given church body.

As a result, this almost unknown world became central to evangelism around the world and an anchor for peace as well. Now we know what happens when our country no longer exerts its power to protect that peace.

and his name shall be called 

If this birth is royal but ordinary, why are such glorious titles attached to a child? Precious few people would name anyone in the House of David remarkable, after David and Solomon. Satan pursued Israel until barely a stump was left when Jesus was born, a green twig growing from a fading, dying stump, owned and punished by Rome.

Wonderful Counsellor,

Is there a better Name for Jesus? We sing from time to time, a favorite of some members. What a friend we have in Jesus. All the verses really spell out what this title means. Those who believe in Christ are in Him, and He is in us, just as He is in the Father and the Father in Him. John

Jesus guides and blesses us. Without His help and His Means of Grace, we could not continue. And yet He promises us endless blessings and forgiveness for remaining with Him, abiding with Him. John 15.

The mighty God,

There is that title again - God. This child is God, which explains the glorious titles and beyond-human characteristics. If the Child is God, and He is born, this is another statement of the Incarnation, God in the flesh.

And how many times is this found in the New Testament? Not just Matthew and Luke, but John 1 as well. Look at the opening of Romans, both God and man. And so many more places. Like the light on the tree my wife could not see today, the clear references are there as long as people look at the plain words and not the distractions.

She saw what looked like cardboard on the tree. Since the light was bent, a solar light, and at an odd angle, as long as she thought "cardboard" she saw cardboard. God shows us the Incarnation from many perspectives, many different but equivalent phrases so we know, believe, and have comfort that Jesus is our Counselor.

The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

"I and the Father, We are one." This is a mystery. Jesus and the Father are two Persons, but also One, and the Spirit. God's Kingdom is the only one described below - not any human government.

7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

Pastor Horst W. Gutsche, ELCA, ELCiC, WELS, CLC (sic) Met His Maker

Koenig was incensed that this photo was posted on my blog.
He furiously sought after its source, which was Facebook!

 Gutsche missed one ELCA conference
because he was in the hoosegow.
That ended his ELCA career, but not his work with the CLC
or ELCA's counterpart in Canada, the ELCiC, eh?

We are saddened to announce the passing of Pastor Horst Gutsche on December 8, 2016, at the age of 65. He is survived by his son, Alexander, his mother Emma, and his sister Heidrun and her family. He was predeceased by his father Edmund and brother Wilfred. A memorial service will be held at Christ Lutheran Church in Mellowdale at 1pm on Friday, December 16. If you wish to make a donation in Horst's memory please consider supporting the missionary work of the Lutheran Church. - See more at:
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/edmontonjournal/obituary.aspx?n=horst-gutsche&pid=183069988#sthash.gL5SnU9z.dpuf

 Somehow Gutsche missed out on serving the LCMS,
but he kept working with the CLC (sic) via
Pastor David Koenig.

Christ Lutheran Church- Mellowdale (LCC)

Box 6 Site 18 RR1 Barrhead, AB  780-674-5801 - LCC is LCMS in Canada.

Sassy Signals

Sassy has a number of ways to tell us what she wants. I taught her to tell us when it involves food.

At 6 AM she was awake, so I did a hand clap to have her come closer and be petted.

Two light claps mean she should do what I ask. She licked her mouth instead - she wanted food.

Clap, clap. "Move, move."

She licked her mouth again. I had no doubts - she would not move when hungry for breakfast crunchies. I really laughed the second time. She inched up part-way, which meant some partial concession, conditional, as if expecting food to follow - and it did, after some petting.

Recently I tried out bird sounds on her. She smiled a little, amused. Then I used my turkey call, which was louder. Her smile grew.

She ignores the bird-feeder now. I filled the platform feed with corn this time, and the squirrels sat in that to reach the sunflowers above in the hanging feeder. Sassy is unimpressed with squirrels, unless they are nearby on a walk.

Most little dogs are ignored on our walks. She decided to visit three, surprising me. She went over to the chain-link fence. They began licking each other's noses, which shows trust. They enjoyed her visit so much that they began to fall over each other to reach her.

Bethany Lutheran Church Greek Lessons To Begin

Greek lessons began early in the parsonage,
but not quite this early. That is a Greek New Testament.

First Greek lesson here.

Saved video of the first Greek lesson, John 1:1-4.

Saved video for the second lesson. John 1:1-14

Greek text to go with the second lesson.

Third Greek lesson.

Third saved video for the third lesson.

Facebook Page for all the lessons and video links.

Fourth Saved Video - Lesson on the Greek article.

Blog Post for the Fourth Video Lesson.

Fifth Saved Lesson

Fifth Saved Video

Sixth Saved Lesson

Sixth Saved Video



Seventh Lesson

Seventh Video


Eighth Lesson

Eighth Video

Ninth Lesson

Tenth Lesson - Finishing John 2 - Cleansing the Temple.

Eleventh Lesson - John 3. Nick at Night.

Eleventh Lesson Video.

Twelfth Lesson Video. End of Chapter 3.

Thirteenth Lesson Video - John 4

Maundy Thursday Video - John 13


Four Seven are interested in New Testament Greek - so far. First a lawyer, then an engineer, next a blogger, after that someone with language training, and now a regular reader and service participant - people are lining up for Greek New Testament lessons.

I am gathering resources for this class. Some items and ideas I can simply post on this blog and link on the left side.

I will outline the approach on Ustream.

A crucial part will be setting up conference meetings where students can translate while learning some good habits - live - with the possibility of saving the sessions.

Basic Approach - NOT the Synodical Way
My teaching approach is based on Roland Bainton's method of learning a new language. He got out his Greek New Testament and a New Testament in the unknown language. He used the Gospel of John, as I recall, and eventually knew 20 languages. He expected his doctoral students to do the same, to learn the language needed for the documents.

I did this with French and passed the French test at Notre Dame, one of the surprise portions coming from...the Gospel of John.

I originally called this the Bonehead Method because anyone can learn Greek this way. The advantage is that people with language skills can get very good in Greek, quickly. LI was well past the struggling part of a new language when he took Latin, Greek, and Hebrew at WELS schools.

The synodical approach is to hire someone who was able to learn Greek the old way - lists of verbs, lists of nouns, long grammatical drills and tests - and yet catch on because of inherent skills. That same person continues the next generation of torturing Greek students with that failed method.

C. S. Lewis was expected to memorize and translate 100 lines of Homer in Greek for each lesson. He said, "I learned a lot of Greek that way."

The military uses immersion, one language only, until the brain switches over and no longer translates but just reads as if it is the native language.

I was utterly smitten with classical culture when I went to college, so I took Greek, Latin, and German, a great time to learn languages. Later I took Hebrew in seminary, Greek and Hebrew exegesis at Yale. Starting on the Latin-Greek track was good preparation for Biblical studies.

LI went through the Gospel of John in Latin with me. He translated the entire Gospel. We repeated the process in Greek. The first four chapters were done slowly. Then we started over at 1:1 and went faster. That is why he was asked to tutor Greek students at Northwestern College, because they were failing with the old synodical grunt methods. Earlier he helped the football team at Michigan Lutheran Seminary with Latin.

Little Ichabod is reaching for Augustine's City of God,
which I studied in college - in Latin.

Bainton-Jackson Method
This is why I do not teach Greek in any synod - because I know how. Calling it the Bonehead Method is a bit rough, so I call it Bainton-Jackson now.

Here are the basic rules:

1. Read the verse aloud.
2. Translate the known words.
3. Guess the rest.
4. Never write the English words above the text. Never use an inter-linear. Never leave the Bible open to that text.
5. Learn by expanding this process.
6. De-emphasize grammar.
7. Use Lenski and the Keys (Schluessel) for the fine points.

Having the English nearby is a horrible habit. I would use Lenski with LI for a tricky portion from time to time. If the English can be glanced at, then the lazy eyes will go to it and real learning will not take place. That is why a cheat in language is called a jimmie - for King James - and sometimes a pony - for a free ride.

My Latin professor at Augustana, who had several master's degrees in classical languages, said, "No matter who you are or what you know, the eyes will go to the English when it is available on the page or the page opposite."

Those who want to participate in this class should write to greg.jackson.edlp@gmailcom

Anyone who begins to study John's Gospel in Greek will remember the experience with advantages:

• Greek is the foundation of the English language and all Western civilization.
• Our nation was begun with men - and women - who were trained in Latin, Greek, and ancient history. That was considered the very meaning of the word - education.
• The Gospel of John is the doctrinal Gospel, which addresses many of the problems that would erupt in the church later.

There is no charge for the classes. Contributions can be sent via PayPal - the link is here.

More information will be available soon.

Here we are, considering iota subscripts
and the optatives in the New Testament.

Bad Boys, Bad Boys - Whatch Going To Do When They Come For You? Modern Theologians in the Woodwork

 Charlotte Kirschbaum is the Commie babe who lived with Karl Barth in a cabin in the summers and moved in with Barth's family later. She probably wrote most of the Dogmatics and
the research for his lectures. When she died, "his" writing
stopped.

Lutherans should concentrate on the Lutheran Reformation rather than the Stephanite (LCMS) Sex Cult, but the faithful should also study the modern theologians - with discernment.

 This is a basic academic treatment of Barth,
allowing that his relationship with his hawt assistant
caused considerable scandal and embarrassment.

Barth is the official theologian of Fuller Seminary, which is the dominant school for liberal and conservative Protestants - and some Catholics. Many conservative Evangelicals think Karl - or rather Charlotte - is the bomb. He was not only a flagrant adulterer and plagiarist, but also a dedicated Communist, sending his mistress to a key Party meeting.

The only thing the Synodical Conference has learned from Barth-Kirschbaum is how to get away with plagiarism. Like nursery school, only the bad habits catch on, and the disease organisms flourish.

 This Fortress book by a friend of Tillich is quite good -
honest about his academic weaknesses and paganism.
Tillich's wife wrote the tell-all about his affairs with the wives of his students and his fascination with sado-masochism.

Tillich soared in the estimation of Protestants and Catholics from the 1960s one, but I wonder if he has much influence today. He is a good example of leaving the faith behind completely while making a living from it. He also plagiarized the work of others, as exemplified by the best-selling The Courage To Be, based on the research of his graduate student.

Barth wrote so ambiguously that he was able to fool the undiscerning. One of my classmates teaches at a famous conservative Evangelical school. He became extremely upset with me when I categorized Barth as a liberal. With Tillich there is no doubt.

In both cases - Barth and Tillich - theology is divorced from the Word of God, except when the Scriptures are handy as a podium. As I repeated to a liberal at Concordia Ft. Wayne, Barth's theology is summarized by "holding the newspaper in one hand, a Kalashnikov in the other, while standing on the Bible." That quip was not original to me, but it enraged the liberal professor, as intended. Jay Webber was peeved, but I was the only one in the room to answer the question about Barth - and I was just visiting.

Bultmann out-lived many original scholars and became the leading New Testament scholar after World War II. The 1950s were quite prosperous for the mainline denominations, and they appreciated a famous man who backed up their mythical treatment of the Bible.

Meet the Founder of Modern Theology - Halle's Schleiermacher

 Friedrich Schleiermacher studied at Halle University as an unbeliever and also taught there in the same capacity.
Halle was a center of Pietism and soon became a center of anti-Biblical Rationalism.

“According to Schleiermacher, the decree of redemption already means that human beings are agreeable to God in his Son; an individual act of justification in time is not first needed in each individual person. It is only necessary that each individual person become aware that in God’s decree of redemption in Christ he is already justified and made agreeable to God.”
Hoenecke, Dogmatics, III, p. 339. Hat-tip to Joseph Schmidt. 

"Objectively speaking, without any reference to an individual sinner's attitude toward Christ's sacrifice, purely on the basis of God's verdict, every sinner, whether he knows about it or not, whether he believes it or not, has received the status of a saint. What will be his reaction when he is informed about this turn of events? Will he accept, or will he decline?"
J. P. Meyer, Ministers of Christ, A Commentary on the Second Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, Milwaukee: Northwestern Publishing House, 1963, p. 103f. 2 Corinthians 5:18-21.

Decree of redemption - does that sound like the LCMS Brief Statement of 1932?

In Christ - does that sound like Jay Webber's eternal mantra? 

Schleiermacher is generally considered the pivotal figure for modern theology, divorcing faith from belief. Halle University turned Biblical studies on its head and became a hotbed for anti-Biblical teaching - especially UOJ.

It is fashionable for modern theologians to distance themselves from Scheiermacher, but they really start from his perspective. If they have been induced to read a lot of earlier theologians, Schleiermacher is definitely on the list. Barth is especially close to the same rhetorical tricks, but Barth is easier to spell and pronounce, so the modern theologians refer to Barth.

 Liberal Roman Catholic theologians enjoy the
philosophical smokescreen thrown up by Paul Tillich,
who is very much like their Karl Rahner.
Two of my classmates, both Catholic leaders and now retired,
were offended by my faith in the Virgin Birth and Resurrection
of Christ. They said, "There is no use talking with you, Jackson."
They were also offended that a visiting Catholic theologian
believed the New Testament was historical,
though he called the Old Testament mythical.

The High Church Cult of LCMS Defends Fenton for Leaving Them But Vulgarizes a Response to an Honest Question

Robes and incense are a big deal for the Eastern Orthodox/Roman wing of LCMS. But at least they agree on UOJ and doctrinal indifference.
One exception - do not criticize UOJ on Beane's watch. 

 Every Ft. Wayne graduate's dream is to have his own
crosier, fish-hat (mitre), cope, and chasuble.
Question that, and they are incensed.

Saturday, December 02, 2006

John Fenton

John Fenton was a pastor in the Missouri Synod for many years. He faithfully served a historic inner-city parish in Detroit (Zion) for many of those years. In addition to daily parish work year in and year out (preaching, baptizing, catechizing, visiting the sick, etc,), John became an expert in liturgical matters - not only the rubrics, the "how to" practicalities of ritual and ceremony (which is sorely needed in the LCMS, as many of us never learned the "etiquette" of conducting the liturgy as well as we ought to have - our excellent seminary professors notwithstanding), but also the deep theological mysteries surrounding liturgy and sacrament in which God is present for us, forgiving our sins.

Year after year, he and his congregation generously hosted the St. Michel's Liturgical Conference, bringing in LCMS speakers from around the country to allow LCMS pastors to continue their ongoing education as stewards of the mysteries. He served as an editor of Gottesdienst and of Bride of Christ - and wrote articles for both. He was also published in Logia. John also served on the synod's Board for Black Ministry Services, as well as serving on one of the LSB hymnal committees. Zion had numerous guest celebrants, officiants, and preachers during Fenton's pastorate - including at least one synodical president, several district presidents, synodical bureaucrats, and seminary professors.

I don't know John very well, but when I have spoken with him, I found him to be devout, genuine, and always open to listen and to answer questions. I know a lot of guys who are very close with him, and I can think of very few men who have served on the clergy roster of the LCMS who are held in such high regard and affection.

Perhaps this explains the reactions of hurt on the part of many when John made the etxremely (sic) heart-wrenching and difficult decision to resign his ministry at Zion and in the LCMS and to convert to the Eastern Orthodox Church. This was indeed a difficult blow to many of us who benefitted by his work with us and with our synod.

Almost immediately, shocking accusations sprang up attacking John's character (although, he did the right thing that any pastor should do if he no longer confesses the Lutheran confessions), digging and delving for information along the lines of "what did he confess and when did he confess it?" Several people have expressed their opinion that John is now going to hell for becoming Eastern Orthodox. Venomous articles have now suddenly been written about Eastern Christians, almost labeling them a Satanic cult. John's reputation has been utterly trashed in a sad disregard not only of chivalry and honor, but of the 8th commandment as well. I'm embarrassed by much of what I have read. I'm shocked at the things Christians will not only say, but commit to print. [GJ - Nothing like Larry Beane's attack against me on his Facebook page, which he quickly erased - after I copied it for posterity.]

John's many years of faithful service to his flock and to our synod are now forgotten, and even now, weeks after he has been released from LCMS membership and from the clergy roster, the barrage continues. The interest in trashing John Fenton's reputation has become nearly as hysterical as a spurned teenage girl. The ongoing chatter and buzz about John's obviously difficult decision borders on cyber-stalking.

I find a lot of the blogging and chatter to be disgraceful and nothing more than self-righteous posturing by men who sound terribly unsure of their own faith. They come across like the guy who wants to put a huge spoiler and shiny wheels on his car in a lame effort to bolster his self-image of virility (perhaps compensating for a lack thereof).

John has left our confession. It saddens me. I don't agree with him. I would rejoice if he came back. But the last thing we in the LCMS ought to be is self-rightoues. In fact, perhaps we should listen to what men like Fenton have to say, really listen to what it is that first made them question why they were in the LCMS in the first place. We have no grounds for self-righteousness. Even before President Kieschnick (with whom I disagree about much), the highest levels of the LCMS tolerated "the charismatic movement." How many high ranking LCMS officials will denounce "contemporary worship"? We denounce unionism and syncretism out of one side of our mouths, and then exonerate (and celebrate) those who pray with non-Christians (who also claim those who deny the divinity of Jesus actually worship the same God as Christians). Evolution is taught in our universities. We have lay preachers and vicars and other laymen "consecrating" elements - all with the blessing of our synodical and district officials. We have churches that openly violate our confessions by hard-heartedly refusing to allow the pastor to offer the Lord's Supper every Sunday - and spineless bureaucrats who refuse to stand up for our confessions by teaching and catechizing the laity when they complain about their pastor for simply doing what he has been called to do. Time after time we have seen faithful pastors being thrown to the dogs and/or being cleverly manipulated out of their God-given - *God-given* - divine calls by political and bureaucratic shenanigans. We have the Lord's Blood routinely thrown in the garbage and the Lord's Body routinely mixed with unconsecrated bread. We also have pastors who openly advocate for women's ordination, and not one of them has ever been disciplined for this heresy. We allow matters of doctrine to be voted on at conventions that operate under Robert's Rules. We seem to have more discussions among ourselves about bylaws than about Scripture. Our new hymnal (which I endorse because the good far outweighs the bad) includes ditties by Twila Paris and Amy Grant, but doesn't have room for all of the Psalms! Our synod defines asking a person if they have accepted Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior to be a "critical event," but doesn't extend this status to Holy Baptism! Much more could be said.

And then we wonder why pastors and laymen alike begin to have their doubts about being where they are, "walking together" with the aforementioned.

Again, I don't agree with John for leaving - nor with others of our brightest and best theologians who have felt compelled to break communion with us. I pray they do come back some day - and I believe we are the poorer without these men. But even if they don't, there is comfort in our confession that there is, and will always be, only *one* holy catholic and apostolic Church. Our Lutheran confessions nowhere confess that there are no Christians in the Eastern or Western Catholic Churches. In fact, our confessions many times praise our Eastern brethren on matters of doctrine. If you think your salvation is based on synodical membership or because you are right about some matter of doctrine or the other, you need to think again. The reality of the matter is that we Lutherans will actually be a numerical minority in heaven. In the Throneroom of our Lord, all Christians will once more be in full communion. We are saved by grace alone, not by our self-righteousness at being right about everything - even when we're not (which is the way theological discourse too often seems to go in our circles). Sometimes I think it's a dead heat which group has more pompous, arrogant, blow-hard, know-it-alls: Eastern Orthodoxy, or LCMS Lutheranism. There's another thing we actually do have in common with the East! ;-)

John Fenton is no longer one of our brethren in the ministry of the Church of the Augsburg Confession. Believe me, we have enough wayward brethren IN the LCMS to worry about without having to look to those outside our communion to go after. Let us resolve to work on fixing *our own* heretodoxy before we start telling every other church body how to fix theirs. It seems our blessed Lord addressed this in the Sermon on the Mount with some ophalmological advice that we would do well to heed. A little more humility wouldn't hurt any of us.

How about praying for John Fenton, for the LCMS, for Eastern Orthodoxy, for yourslef, for me, and for every other sinner and imperfect group of people for whom Christ died? I'm finding this to be a more felicitous use of time than reading a lot of blogs. I'm finding blogs to be like friends: a faithful few is better than a great many that are fickle. I'm finding myself no longer posting comments to others' blogs, and find myself actually reading (and writing) very few - and I think this is probably a good thing.

Meanwhile, if John Fenton is restored to holy orders within the communion of the East, there will be a great many Eastern Christians who will benefit from John's pastoral care and grasp of the Gospel. Just as when he served as a Lutheran pastor, if it is the Lord's will that John resume his pastoral work, he will once again preach, baptize, and absolve sins, and give out the medicine of immortality. In other words, he will be dispensing grace and eternal life - that is, unless you want to deny the Lord's power in water and the Word.

As sojourners in this broken world and as members of the Body of Christ that bears the battle scars of many an encounter with the devil - let us pray for the *one* holy Catholic Church, let us pray for the Bishop of Rome, the Patriarch of Constantinople, for the President of the Missouri Synod, and for every Christian pastor who gives everlasting life by applying water and the salvific words of Jesus.

On the other side of the grave, our schisms and scars will be healed. Not one of us will stand in the awesome presence of the Lord eager to seek out a fellow believer to say "See, I told you so, I was right! I was right! My doctrine was right, and yours was wrong! I was right, right, righty-right!" For our vindication doesn't come that way, but only by the blood of the Lamb who covers our faults, our own faults, our own most grievous faults. Being forgiven is far better than being right about everything. Just ask the breast-beating tax collector who stood in the shadow of the always-right-about-everything Pharisee who thanked God for not making him a tax collector.

Soli *Deo* gloria - sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

***

Does this look Eastern Orthodox, ELDONUTs?

GJ - Fenton left the LCMS ministerium and became Eastern Orthodox, denouncing Justification by Faith, because EO teaches justification plus works.

Someone wrote:
What would you say are the biggest differences between the Book of Concord and Eastern Orthodoxy?

As I visit supposedly Confessional Lutheran churches here, I'm seeing things in the worship which seem to be more than adiaphora.  But I could be wrong in my discomfort.  Are there any particular things to look for you might suggest as "tell-tale signs"?

I wrote back to him and a few others:

The first thing about EO is its avoidance of doctrinal precision. That happened after centuries of real warfare over the Two Natures in the Byzantine Empire. They took on a Methodist attitude of “conservative but not polemical.”

 

One warning sign is an obsession with every detail of high church worship, which I hear is Heiser’s main agenda item, getting everyone to do everything the same way. Satis est? Not for them.

 

This also developed with the LCMS pastor Fenton, who worked on the Lutheran Service Book with McCain and joined EO when it came out.

 

http://fatherhollywood.blogspot.com/2006/12/john-fenton.html

 

The Ft. Wayne guys like Jay Webber and another graduate (you guys don’t know) always wonder why LCMS cannot be more like EO in worship. Scaer really promoted that, but he was not alone. Another professor at Ft. Wayne, perhaps several, were doing the same thing. Scaer is 100% UOJ. Robert Preus supposedly wrote Justification and Rome to stop the Romanizing drift at Ft. Wayne.

 

Jay Webber, Ft. Wayne, thought I needed to read a book about the EO-Constantinople discussions during the Reformation. But he never read Luther or the Book of Concord with comprehension. He is another Ft. Wayne guy. Of course, Paul McCain, Ft. Wayne, also walks the Roman Catholic tightrope, fearing lest he fall on either side.

Here are the earlier Larry Beane witticisms:

Update - Beane kept the original Scalia post but erased almost everything else, including his cowardly ad hominem attacks.

The discussion began about Scalia's funeral and whether it was a Gospel service or not. Since Father Scalia referred several times to Purgatorial devotion in the Church of Rome, I added this graphic to Larry Beane's initial thread. (See below)

Someone posted a David Scaer graphic, so I posted my graphic about his UOJ quote.

Someone asked what was wrong with Scaer's statement, so I linked my new book. He was asking me, after all.

He wanted a free book - and also a CliffNotes version, so I linked the free one and also a summary post that involved Robert Preus quotations from his last book.

The person who asked finished by saying -

Kenneth Bomberger Thanks for the link! I'll read it at my earliest convenience.

So what did Larry Beane write? Oh my. He went full Paul McCain on me for responding to questions, something we do on discussions, no?

Here is Father Larry Beane - responding to the thank you from Kenneth Bomberger -


Pater Larry Beane  Gregory, please use your own Facebook page for self-promotion. I charge $100 for ads. 

You're getting to be like the embarrassing relative that drinks too much at Thanksgiving and passes out on the bed with all the coats on it. 

Every family has members who want to hijack every expression of gratitude and joy, every real discussion and lighthearted banter, and even obvious humor, into a self-serving and dour political or doctrinal argument. 

Gregory, you need to display better behavior from now on, or you won't be invited back. 

To my other guests, I apologize. Hopefully your coats will not require dry cleaning.

---

I was surprised by his vulgar, gratuitous response, so I naturally wrote - 


You should order your friends not to ask questions that deserve an answer. If you read the posts, you will see that.

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Father Larry Beane, LCMS Pastor responded  -

Pater Larry Beane Gregory, the way to save face is not to urinate in the kitchen.