RIP, Pastor Kevin Hastings, Kicked Out of WELS with His Congregation, Only To See It Stolen Back by the Same Thugs

Some history from Pastor Hastings is posted here.

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Hastings, Reverend Kevin R. was called to Eternal Life on October 10, 2018 at the age of 60 years. Preceded in death by his parents, Ralph and Mabel; siblings, Kathy and Allen; and nieces, Tammy and Jennifer. Survived by his sister, Jennifer, nieces, nephews, great nieces, great nephews, other relatives, and friends. Funeral service will be on Friday, October 19, 2018 at Molthen-Bell Funeral Home at 11:00 AM. Visitation at the funeral home on Friday from 9:00AM-11:00AM. Interment at Arlington Park Cemetery.

 The theft of St. John is told here.
Lots of photos. Hastings knew too much about WELS.
The sect protects some, squashes others. How many throw away a priceless building and congregation, then grab it back again?

Today's Posts from a Reader - Interest in the Chief Article Is Growing

 Luther considered himself a "theologian of the Augsburg Confession," as did the editors of the Formula and Book of Concord. The LCMS-ELS-WELS leaders are Enthusiasts.

The Defense of the Augsburg Confession, Article IV

“And lest we may think that the sentence that faith justifies, fell from Paul inconsiderately, he fortifies and confirms this by a long discussion in the fourth chapter to the Romans, and afterwards repeats it in all his epistles.89]
http://bookofconcord.org/defense_4_justification.php#para89

Thus he says, Rom. 4:4

To him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt . But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Here he clearly says that faith itself is imputed for righteousness. Faith, therefore, is that thing which God declares to be righteousness, and he adds that it is imputed freely, and says that it could not be imputed freely, if it were due on account of works.

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Thank you for the link on the exegetical Harley work, pure pure gold, another one saved to Kindle

“To declare” (eis endeixin ) in the NKJV is translated “to demonstrate,” which more properly indicates God’s will to show Himself as a just and righteous God at all times, not only in the Old Testament, but “at the present time” (en to nun kairo ), whenever He forgives sinners. Such demonstration or declaring takes place whenever sinners are brought to faith in Christ crucified. Through proclamation of what God in the Old Testament promised to do and has now fulfilled in Christ, God’s righteousness is manifested when sinners are brought to faith and such believers in Jesus are justified or forgiven. God Himself would be unjust, yea, even a liar, if He declared or accepted as righteous those who have no personal righteousness. But God’s believers do possess a perfect righteousness, namely that of Christ. This is an all-sufficient righteousness which God imputes to faith, and so God’s believers become righteous in His sight.

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Pastor Greg, along the lines of the recent post where Jesus told the Pharisees twice in one verse that they would die in their sins if they did not believe, Paul tells the Colossians AFTER Jesus supposedly forgave and justified the world this in Chapter 2:

13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;

See, it is right there, the last phrase of the verse, universal forgiveness!!!  What a great opportunity to say the sins of the world are forgiven, you just have to believe it.

Except, context is a stubborn thing:

10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:

11 In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:

12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.

13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;

Ooops, not universal forgiveness.  Stubborn things like “complete in him”, “circumcision of Christ”, “in baptism”, “quickened together with him” after being buried with him in baptism….so they were still in their sins until they were brought to faith, hmmm.

Also, another description I do not remember learning/seeing before on faith, described as the faith of the operation of God…..why is it that since faith is the operation of God, not man, that God can not use that faith to declare someone righteous as the entirety of Scripture says?

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GJ - I believe the posts from laity are especially worthwhile, so I encourage people to send them. I do not give away names or identifying facts. Sometimes people tell me about the downhill march of their "conservative" parish, but the details would give that individual away, so I just use that in my sense of where things are going.

Regulars get nicknames and can choose their own.

Lutheran? The Greatest Disgrace This Reformation - The Faux-Conservatives Teach Pseudo-Justification, Betraying Their Calls, Their Synods, Their Members

 These faux-leaders have expanded the war against the Chief Article of Christianity: promoting Objective Justification while trying to eradicate Justification by Faith. They have proved that LCMS-ELS-WELS fellowship with ELCA has been productive in gluing the false teachers together. Most of Lutherdom is apostate at the leadership/academic level, but the faithful laity and pastors are not drinking the Kool-Aid. The NIV has the quality and bacterial count of pond water.

Luther did not teach himself or his organization. The false leaders of today do both, and they are doubly damned for doing so. They should know better - and certainly know enough that their hides bristle at the mention of Justification by Faith.

Like the papal leaders of the Reformation, the "conservative" Lutheran leaders cannot address the actual issues without giving themselves away, so they:

1. Teach and worship the synod they serve so poorly;
2. Teach themselves as infallible genius-level leaders;
3. Impugn the motives and character of anyone who understands the Biblical doctrine of forgiveness and salvation.

My intuition tells me they have more training at Fuller-centric institutions and meetings than they have in Hebrew and Greek exegesis. That is another knee-slapper - the Church Shrinkers deny being at Fuller with one side of their forked tongues while bragging about it with the other side. They love their luxuries -derived from devotion to Church Shrinkage - and remember with advantages those days when they didn't have a pit to hiss in.

As John Slick Brenner predicted, the crimes are piling up for judgment and payment is due. Like the college president who said he knew the tax fraud scheme was wrong from the beginning but pleaded innocent, they will face a Judge far more righteous than a federal one.

Sassy the CyberPet - Fun, Drama, Protection, Fanbase

This is the expression most people see with Sassy,
and "Treats!" will also elicit this response.

Sassy has quite a fan club in Springdale. She is well known at Lowe's, where she loves to shop in the garden department. She enjoys trips to Walmart, which often end with driving through McDonald's next door. She has barked into the mike, but also may hold her peace for the cashier or the second window, where her cone is delivered. Yesterday, the cone was delivered with a big smile and a bow by one of her fans on the crew.

We have shared cones for 10 years. I get the first part, and Sassy reminds me when her part is due. I get taps on the shoulder to remind me of my need to share with her. Not one tap, but three taps. At home, the reminders are, in order of urgency:

1. The first gentle tap on the knee
2. Two gentle scrapes across the knee
3. Two energetic scrapes accompanied by her arrogant German Shepherd scowl. I ask Chris to watch as Sassy escalates the warnings on the bed. Naturally I am laughing as they worsen.

Sassy was amused by the photographer getting on the floor.

As her foster mother warned, Sassy is a talker, with a wide range of vocal cues, barks, moans, friendly growls, and songs. Consequently, we talk to her all day and have lots of conversations, which include her pop up ear alerts, smirks, arrogant German Shepherd scowls, grins, and kisses of all types. Her communication vocabulary seems endless. One kiss on the cheek is reserved for the dog park and a few other delights. Her warning warble is used outside the vet's office, but not every time. She sings with me or may just bark - very loudly.

Ranger Bob and our granddaughter get the loudest, most agonized greetings. A stranger would think Sassy is being tortured. Everyone else gets standard barks.

The talking part comes from her Cattle Dog heritage, and they tend to sing too. Cattle Dogs can be painfully shy and one-person dogs, but Sassy adopts everyone she sees, allowing for the unenlightened to not welcome her. She no longer expects every single person to adore her, but most see her gentle face and start warming to her at once. Sassy sniffs for dog traces on their feet and legs and knows when she has a fan almost immediately.

The loud conversations are hilarious. On walks through the neighborhood, everyone talks to Sassy. People sit in front of their homes and expect friends to drop by for a minute or even to "set a spell." Sassy will settle down and guard the property, constantly scanning it for any new activity, from a squirrel nearby to a person a half block away. Then she gets up and barks.

"Are you in a hurry?"
Bark!
"Do you have an appointment soon?"
Bark! Bark!
"Let's go then."
Bark-bark-bark!

Ranger Bob, an Army veteran, gets the full treatment: the agonized greeting, begging for dog treats, rolling over for a tummy rub, and resting nearby on the floor and listening. We often use the computer to order car parts (for our fleet of old cars) or to research an item - Social Security, taxes, car repair videos, and Command Cody's music.

Today we were walking past the big field where her friends have coffee in front of their home most mornings. Instead, the wife was leaving in her car, but stopped and opened the door to talk to Sassy. Sassy came over for hugs and praise, and the lady was all lit up with smiles.

When another morning friend sits with us, she says, "How about some love, Sassy?" Then Sassy will kiss her hand.

A Reader Commented on the OJ Paper So Loved by Jon-Boy Buchholz and UO Jay Webber

Pastor Greg, another paper I have on my Kindle that I go back to every so often. 30+ pages of straw-man arguments, big words like “logomachy” and the dismissal of faith as anything other than a work of man.

It should be required reading after a paper like this (and some of the other recent ones posted) to read Vernon Harley on Synergism......and Romans, Philippians, the gospel of John, Galatians, Hebrews 11......

“In dealing with justification, the proponents of general justification seem to view faith only from this aspect, namely, of it being a work of man. That’s why they want it excluded from God’s act of justifying the sinner. That’s why it is considered synergistic by them to include faith even though our Lutheran Confessions clearly list faith among the three “necessary elements of justification” together with the “grace of God and the merit of Christ”

“If all men were justified, i.e., declared righteous, absolved at the resurrection of Christ, but if men must be justified again (subjectively) by faith in order to be finally saved from the wrath of God, then quite obviously God wasn’t at all serious in objective justification He didn’t really declare them righteous, give them “the status of saints,” nor remove His wrath from all.”

“...for if faith must first be ruled out of justification and justification must be made universal to avoid synergism and yet faith must ultimately be brought in via “subjective” justification so that man can be saved, then obviously this “work of man” (faith) must be the deciding factor in man’s final salvation. FAITH, the very factor first ruled out to avoid synergism, now must be added so that man can be saved. Who then is faced with the problem of synergism?”

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GJ - Pastor Harley's essays are linked on the left-column of the blog. To find them quickly there, use control-f then put Harley in the window.

Harley Challenging the Opposition

Exegetical Study