The devastations being experienced by seminaries have something in common - loss of denominational support. All denominations - just like WELS, ELCA, and the LCMS - have said, "Oh yes, we need you in the pulpit, so you have to borrow your way through seminary, have your wife work, etc." The Boomers who attended seminary for almost nothing took away the denominational support.
One ELCA survivor said a lot of middle-management types went to seminary mid-career - until the schools said, "Your 401k plan belongs to us. Cash it out for tuition." Once that happened, no more of those men went to seminary. Let's face it, high tuition demands are a massive transfer of money from loans, savings, and work to overpaid and underworked professors and administrators."
The political agenda is so thick in each seminary that the spiritual value of study is nil, whether ELCA or WELS. If anything, faith will be destroyed, which is the overt goal of ELCA, but the covert plan of WELS.
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| District VP Paul Kuske championed Church Growth, aided by Floyd Luther Stolzenburg and Roger Zehms. |
The seminaries have accomplished wonders in destroying their own system. It did not happen all at once, but one by one, individually and then, class by class. Ex-Michigan VP Paul Kuske got in trouble for saying Mequon was turning out one UOJ class after another, that is, one group of false teachers after another.
I guess Kuske never had a Martin Luther Complex, something he mocked in local Columbus meetings. That is the beauty of the WELS secret hazing ritual - teaching the alleged talent for saying one thing and then the opposite.
- WELS bravely stood alone and admonished the LCMS for being so liberal.
- Anyone who does the same is a trouble-maker with a Martin Luther Complex.
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| District President John Seifert and the omnipresent Scott Barefoot - a self-appointed minister - People of Grace. Scott should team up with the Michigan District's Church Growth expert - Floyd Luther Stolzenburg. |
Therefore, a "Confessional Lutheran" in WELS is someone like John Seifert, elected on one set of issues - promptly abandoning them. The Michigan District voted Robert Mueller out - that is, he made a decision not to run and got a free vacation in Russia. The same district actually voted Kuske out. But nothing changed, because WELS is very good a controlling people. The officials are like the tree stumps I use in gardening - pick out the least rotten one, but it is already rotting. Rot is good for soil, bad for Christian institutions.
One at a Time - Grafting the Gospel Word
Lest this jeremiad go on too long, the other side of the analogy also works, though it is seldom tried in this age of Nappy Hill success fraud. I am actually studying the hagiographic Hill biography, published by the Nappy Hill Foundation. It is almost as fanciful as the Walther bios in the LCMS.
The brain-washed and conscience-rinsed graduates of Fuller Seminary have forgotten that Jesus converted people with the Word, one at a time. Masses followed Him, but He never cited His numbers as proof of His divinity. Instead, His divine Word was confirmed with the miracles He performed through the Word.
But take note - the miracles were never enough for the crowds. They wanted one more miracle, so many remained obstinately opposed.
Though I lack certificates from Fuller, Willow Creek, and Corunna, I contend that many of the miracles in the Gospels are taught to show how those early leaders were established in the Faith.
Because WELS-LCMS demands numbers, God denies them what they require to be satisfied. A simple solution is possible, though largely ignored.
The Parable of the Sower teaches us to sow the Word of God with abandon, knowing it will on hardened soil, rocky soil, and weed-choked land. Nevertheless, some seed falls on good soil and makes up for the supposed losses. We are not responsible for results but for being faithful.
Many have signed a pact with their Father Below to do anything for the numbers needed to nourish their greedy hearts. Needless to say, they become enemies of being faithful to the Word and great friends with all the instruments of mischief devised by their hellish mentors.
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| "Little girl, I say to you - Arise!" Art by Norma A. Boeckler |
When we sing a great old hymn in church, I feel a great loss for the next generations - raised on noisy pop music. The new breed of organ-grinders remind me of the professional mourners Jesus kicked out of the house before He raised the young woman from death. They laughed at Him when He said she was not dead.
The new organ-grinders not only laugh at Biblical doctrine, they tear out the pipe organs so they can install their digital cacophony machines, valet parking stations, and donation ATMs.
All I can say about sowing the Word with abandon is this - the results are completely unpredictable - but abundant and miraculous.
- Weather is never an issue, unless the Net shuts down the connection. Even then, services are saved to be seen or taped later.
- The sick and shut-in can take advantage of worship, even if they have their own congregations to attend the rest of the time.
- In our case, no one is chasing the mortgage payments for a building seldom used and almost never filled. Paul McCain made fun of our rented room facilities (nota bene - the Bethlehem stable) but we have had 30,000 views of our video services.
- Special courses can be taught and saved, without worrying about whether "enough people" arrived to make it worthwhile. The Word is always worthwhile, as Jesus demonstrated when He trained His disciples.
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| The best example of mass movements in the Bible is - the Gadarene swine. |
