This church has survived a fire that started back in 1962 - BBC News

 Built on solid rock, it will not be undermined by underground coal fires.

This church has survived a fire that started back in 1962 - BBC News:

"The town of Centralia has been left to die - but its last remaining church is thriving.

In Pennsylvania's coal-mining mountains, there's an empty grid where a town once lived.

Once, there were homes and gardens. Now there are weeds.

Before Centralia started burning from below, more than a thousand people lived here. At the last count, there were six.

The roads remain - on Google Maps, they have names like Railway Avenue and Apple Alley - but on the ground, they are ghost streets."



'via Blog this'

Another Layer of Family Mythology, Jack and Robert Preus - or - Did They Teach This at Fort Wayne? Yes!

 We ran into Jack Preus at the Chicago convention of the LCA, walking behind us on the street, at night. I thought it was Jack and called to him. He said, "Are you one of ours?"

Minnesota Governor Jake Preus begat Jack and Robert.
They are at their lake camp where the Preus clan still gathers. We knew Robert fairly well and liked him.

The governor is called Jake while his son was called Jack.

Previously I wrote about the mythology of Herman A. Preus, which is a burden for the ever-growing Preus clan. The younger generation seems even more frantic to impose UOJ on the faithful than were their fathers (the Klemet, Rolf, and Peter generation) and their grandfathers (Jack and Robert Preus)

After all the key, popular treatment of the LCMS-Seminex crisis is Preus of Missouri and the Great Lutheran Civil War. Jack and Robert are prominent in the book, along with a cast of characters: Herman Otten, Waldo Werning, and John Tietjen. I have owned several copies and read the book three times.

The Jack and Robert saga is hard to duplicate because there are no leaders anymore, only managers of public perception. Matt the Fatt and Paul the Plagiarist live in luxury. Look at the seminary cost issue seven years ago. No leadership - nothing done.

Jack and Robert Preus made their bones in winning control of the synod and Ft. Wayne.  Robert pursued Maier on the issue of Justification at Ft. Wayne, and Robert was laughably wrong. His little essay on UOJ is so bad that Frosty Bivens could have ghosted it. Every detail is nothing but dogmatic blabber with no Scriptural or Book of Concord support. Here are some brief details about the disastrous Robert Preus UOJ essay.

If you look at the problems with the Preus essay, you will also note the graphics based on Robert's last book - Justification and Rome. Rolf does not approve of my quotations from that book. Apparently, a published book remains the property of those who guard the mythology.

Herein lies the problem - the Preus clan has based their unity on the Preus mythology: generations defending UOJ against the noisome hordes of Justification by Faith adherents. But Robert jumped the fence and his sons Daniel and Rolf did not even notice, because they were the alleged editors (or censors?) of the book, which was published posthumously.

Did they rip out a heartfelt apology from their father? Given the overall content, that is a possibility.

However one frames the question, as the journalists say, the Lutherans who depend on mythology must face the dissonance. Ft. Wayne definitely cultivated a mythology built around Preus, Scaer, and Marquart. It is something non-Missourians notice about the LCMS and WELS too (if they are unlucky enough to meet up with the Wisconsin sect).

The issue is easily resolved if we follow what St. Paul said about being stewards of the mysteries of God. The only requirement is faithfulness of the steward, who has no ownership rights.

KJV 1 Corinthians

4 Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.

2 Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.

3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self.

4 For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord.

5 Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.

A steward (house manager in Greek) takes care of matters for the owner, and the mysteries are those doctrines revealed by the Spirit through the Word. We cannot judge anything, not even our own success. We can only be faithful. Therefore, we can only defend and teach what the Scriptures reveal and attack whatever goes against the Word of God.

As previously shown in several hundred posts and a few books, there is no divine imperative to defend the family or synodical myths. To abandon the stewardship is nothing less than running away from the stewardship, often to gain rewards, honors, and promotions.

No one was ever born with a KJV in one hand and a Triglotta in the other. We have to learn and grow in our understanding of Biblical doctrine. If matters seem confused, we must go back to the Source, where the water is clear - the Scriptures alone.

As I wrote before, in that Preus UOJ essay which Jack Cascione and Paul the Plagiarist have waved in my face - allegorically speaking - Robert used UOJ dogma to beat WAM II down. The Preus brothers demoted WAM and a dark cloud hovered over him afterwards. Perhaps one day a Preus clan member will apologize to the synod and to WAM's family.

  

Herman A. Preus - How Difficult To Move Beyond the Family Mythology

 Herman A. Preus, UOJist
and Martyr to Unfaith

The Missourians were looked at as the leaders in the election controversy. When Preus and the other Norwegians supported the same position as Walther and Missouri, they were accused of loyalism to the Missouri Synod. The controversy became so fierce in the circles of the Norwegian Synod that on Good Friday, 1883, Herman and Christian were physically removed from their congregations. The Anti-Missourian Brotherhood, a group within the Norwegian Synod, had engineered their removal.^[10] They were later received back to their parish after most of the people were convinced of the Preus' position on election.^11 - Preus, Johan Carl Keyser Herman Amberg Preus: A family history (Privately printed and distributed by the Preus Family Book Club. 1966)

 Rolf Preus vacillates between UOJ and JBFA,
but he normally lands on UOJ.

Wiki quoting Rolf Preus quoting Herman A. Preus

Preus defended the doctrine of objective justification. In particular, he wrote:

"According to his new gospel the professor must preach that through his suffering and death Christ has only accomplished so much that God has now become willing to let his wrath cease and to be reconciled and to loose, confer grace, forgive, justify and open access to salvation, but that in actuality he can only do and does all this if man on his part fulfills the condition placed on him by God, namely that he is supposed to believe. And the thing which is thus supposed to be believed does not become this that God already has done this and is reconciled but that God will do it and will be reconciled when he sees the obedience and the good quality in man, that he believes." ^{5 - http://www.christforus.org/Papers/Content/HermanAmbergPreusonJustificationofWorld.htm}

The section quoting Herman A. Preus shows how verbose and convoluted UOJ rationalism can be. Instead of simple Biblical truths, we find the complex syllogistic style of Aquinas and Aristotle. It is like going from Illinois to Milwaukee by taking a short-cut through Arizona. One does not need to bow to centuries of philosophy to teach the truth of the Gospel Word.

Walther's world was one of rationalism (his father and university teachers, not to mention those who ran the state church) and Pietism (his circle of friends, his first Pietist guru, their own cell group, and their final Pietist leader - Martin Stephan, pastor of a Pietist church and leader of cell groups.) Walther simply repeated the Easter absolution of the world according to the Pietists at Halle University, where his guru Stephan studied. 1 Timothy 3:16 does not teach the absolution of the world but the declaration that Christ in being risen from the dead was righteous, without sin.

KJV 1 Timothy 3:16

And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: 

1. God was manifest in the flesh, 
2. justified in the Spirit, 
3. seen of angels, 
4. preached unto the Gentiles, 
5. believed on in the world, 
6. received up into glory.

The second statement is an emphasis upon the sinless, divine nature of Christ. Though He died as if a mortal sinner, He rose because of His sinless divine nature, declared by the Spirit.

The Justification of the World - without faith -  aka UOJ - is the sinking sand on which Pietism lived for a moment. Halle University became a rationalistic, anti-Christian center in only one generation. The Bible was attacked on every front by the Halle theologians, so Hoenecke's mentor Tholuck was considered the last of the good ones, and he proudly called himself a Universalist.

I prefer the simple, plain words of Jesus and Paul.

KJV John 16

7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:

9 Of sin, because they believe not on me;

10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;

11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.

 As the UOJ Church Gropers say, "Nevermind."

The Spirit comes to us only through the Word, so the Holy Spirit convicts the world of unbelief, which is exactly the opposite of UOJ - telling unbelievers they are already forgiven.

How does the inspired Word teach the world of righteousness? Clearly this is the righteousness of faith, which is the theme of the Justification article in the Formula of Concord. 

Paul teaches the same in his brief but compelling section of Romans. Abraham was justified by faith, Genesis 15, but this lesson does not apply to him alone.

Grace and faith are not opposites, as the UOJ donkeys would have people believe, or do I mean disbelieve?

Romans 4:16 Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,

Romans 4

22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.

23 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him;

24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;

25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

So the verbal tangles of Herman A. Preus and his disciples can be sliced into fragments by two passages from the New Testament. All the other proof-texts from the UOJists are from seeing and not seeing, hearing and not hearing, the price one pays for obstinate rejection of the Word.

 Is this not the summary of Romans 4?
Only a nitwit could claim that Romans 4 teaches UOJ?
Paul is not as dense as the Stormtroopers.

When Ancient Posts Are Read More Than Most Articles. Faith Should Make People Angry. Unfaith Tolerates All Monstrosities

 Let's not get upset over small things -
think of all the Benjamins instead.

ELCA Teaches UOJ 24/7 - Here Is the Proof. 

Hey SynCon Boys and Girls - 

Let's Do a Bunch of Ministry with Them Guys

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If we go back a certain number of years, the language used by Lutherans is completely different. The most obscure writers speak this language, because they treated the Scriptures as the Word of God and Justification by Faith as the Chief Article of Christianity.

CFW Walther was one of the first polarizing rationalists. He organized a mob, robbed the bishop of a fortune in gold, and kidnapped the man at gunpoint. The Holy Land guides point to the chest where Stephan kept his gold and talk about how much he had in there - as if that were evil by itself. But no one talks about how the Great Walther stole it so the Perryville cult could be solvent. Not just the millions worth of gold in today's money, but also 120 acres of land owned by the bishop, all his books, and even his personal effects.

John Sparky Brenner has identified the real issue in the so-called Election Conflict as a battle over Justification. On the Walther/WEL side was UOJ, aka the Justification of the World. On the other side was Justification by Faith. See Brenner, p. 150.

If we reduce this to plain, basic English, Justification of the World would be called what it is - Universal Salvation - or - Universalism.

The Missouri Synod did not teach this UOJ dogma at first, only the Walther-Pieper faction did. The bosom of WELS did not heave and pant for UOJ either, until the ministers trained in Waltherism slowly took over and removed the Gausewitz edition of the Small Catechism. That took decades, but synods are like royal dynasties - they work in view of decades and centuries, not years.

The Norwegians were as Pietistic as the Stephanites, but Herman Preus' congregation tossed him out on Good Friday, because he would not pledge to Justification by Faith. Ever the opportunists, the Preus clan declared him a Martyr to the Faith, a Soldier of Christ, a Militant sacrificed on the altar of duty. More Preus hagiography can be found here.

The brilliance of this UOJ takeover can be seen in the way all the UOJists call their own people "Orthodox Lutherans." Jay Webber, with his ELCA online STM in hand, did the same at Emmaus. According to Webber, those Pietistic theologians (often and best forgotten) were "orthodox" by virtue of their UOJ teaching. One might as well mention Quistorp and Luther together, since no one reads Luther either.

By the way, I saw this done with far more craft and guile among the Roman Catholics, who show great patience for the truth while piling up their experts for every possible error. Those experts in false doctrine receive the honors, even the office of sainthood. Their opposition to the Scriptures gains them a fast-track so adherents can cling to them and pray to them far earlier than tradition allows. Then if someone cites one of those nay-saying smart-alecks, the visible Church frowns and the dissenter withers away, forgotten but not gone - the best of all burials.

Note the voice of outrage than can be mustered so easily - "He denies the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary!" Fists will be raised, tires will be slashed, heads bowed in pitying sorrow.

The same crowd control exists for UOJ. How many times have I heard - "He denies Objective Justification!" when people know less about OJ than they do about the non-reciprocity of the second genus (Jesus' divine nature is not limited by His human nature).

In fact, the Right Rev. James Heiser, Bishop-for-Life of the ELDONUTs, said those very words when Rev. Balmer spoke at an independent conference many years ago. With outrage in his voice, Heiser said, "Balmer denied Objective Justification!" All the Fort Whiners are taught to be:

• Victims. They are always victims, so orthodox, they are perpetually persecuted. 
• Triumphalists. Their views must dominate all matters and eviscerate all opposition, unless it is convenient to wait it out for a decade or two.

Lost in the Fog of Rationalism

The Lutheran Library Publishing Ministry has shown repeatedly that the "lost books of American Lutheranism" are merely overlooked books of great value. I linked the bio of Schmauk, but 99.9% of all Lutherans would fail a test about Schmauk, truly a great scholar, a man of faith, a multi-talented genius.

That is why the blogs and discussions among Lutherans are verbose, insipid, and sleep-inducing. The dungeon-masters want this UOJ to be the opiate of Lutherdom. They want clergy and laity debating individual glasses versus the common cup, the use of the Christian flag, the office of the ministry, and piles of trivia. 

Thus Lutherans are so devoid of faith that they tolerate Thrivent as their golden goose, though the goose only gives back a tiny bit and demands to be fed - never questioned. Just like the gubmint.

Lutherans are so lacking in faith that they gladly work with ELCA leaders who despise and pity them. Of course, many of "conservative" Lutheran leaders look at ELCA the way David looked at Bathsheba bathing.

The clergy are so unfaithful that they happily bribe the mob with soft drinks and snacks on Sunday, booze at their Bible studies. The rest of the clergy are so somnolent that they are not bothered at all.