Saturday, December 15, 2018

Greenwald on Spirituality

  There's a suspect title. Why no warning label? Mordor did that for Mequon students - labeling Justification by Faith as "Misleading!"


An erroneous spiritualism, on the contrary, has relaxed and easy notions about the faith. One of its ready maxims declares, “It matters not what a man’s opinions are, so only his heart is converted, and his practice is right.” It forgets that practice is governed by principles, and that as is the faith, such also are the devotions that spring from it. It is the faith of the Hindu that produces the superstitious devotions of the Hindu; it is Mohammedan faith that constitutes the peculiar religious spirit of the Moslem worshiper; and it is from the true faith of Christ that the intelligent, pure, and Christ-like spirit of the Christian’s devotions springs. The spiritualism that undervalues sound doctrine, that confounds the true and the false, that exalts feeling above knowledge, that places practice in antagonism to principle, that sacrifices the faith in the interest of spirituality, and that considers it necessary to overthrow the pure faith of the Church in order to advance the cause of vital godliness in the Church, is a spiritualism that is erroneous, unsafe, and that needs to be carefully guarded against. However specious may be its pretensions, it is not the true spirituality of Christ and His apostles, or which will promote, in the end, the best and most enduring interests of Christianity, and the Christian Church. Let a man be alike sound in doctrine, devout in spirit, and holy in life, and we have in him the highest and best style of a Christian, after the pattern of Christ, of the Holy Apostles, and of the best and holiest men in all ages of the Christian Church.
From The First Lutheran Diet. “Paper: E. Greenwald: True And False Spirituality In The Lutheran Church.”

Patti LaBelle at Walmart, Cookbooks, Etc

Patti LaBelle is creating a new, secret line of food,
which she told the world-wide audience about at the Walmart meeting.

Team Jackson mustered in three places today for Christmas. First I woke up in the early morning to take Little Ichabod to the Walmart Saturday Meeting.  We always had these once a month, from 2009 on, until the WM schedule changed - about 90 or more monthly meetings in a row. Now they are quarterly WM meetings, so we pencil in the other dates.

Next we met with the Bentonville food headquarters, where some of the Christmas food was being prepared. Finally we teamed up in Springdale for the barbecue, salmon, bacon, and  homemade apple pie. Alex's first question was, "Where's the ice cream?" I said, "A teen now!"

We had a great time talking with our college granddaughters about their cats. They normally have six cats at a time, all rescues.

 I ran into this photo of our chapel when the roses were extra large and plentiful,the year of extended autumn.

Your 5 AM Post on Saturday

 These three profess shock and dismay at the way ELCA carries on, but look carefully at the friends and enemies. They love to work with ELCA and scrape the pro-abortion Thrivent insurance dollars into their pockets. They abhor Justification by Faith and the Means of Grace.

Archbishop Weakland retired in disgrace after being the highly promoted lecturer - with his priests - at Wisconsin Lutheran College. No, he did not retire for that reason.



Friday, December 14, 2018

ChurchMouse Shocked? Try ELCA Luther Seminary's Drag Dance in the Chapel

Cover photo for Anders Nelson's Facebook page.


ChurchMouse shocked!

Source of story - Exposing the ELCA

https://www.facebook.com/anders.nelson.92/videos/10216933940076131/

Apparently an annual event -
Here’s Rhonda F’Plause’s debut performance at Luther’s Annual Lip Sync Battle! I think she did Dolly proud!"

 This is the opening of the video.
You can see the cross on the left of the photo.
He dances into the sparse audience, whose members love it.


 This storm happened after the 2009 ELCA vote.
Luther Seminary Is Selling Off Property To Remain Solvent?
Mrs. Ichabod and I visited the campus, to do research on WELS and LCMS working with ELCA via AAL/Lutheran Brotherhood. She found the crucial article and said, "Now I've got you, you fat little liar."

https://www.parkbugle.org/luther-seminary-to-sell-15-acres-of-buildings-land/

 Unlike Brian Williams, I was there.
Someone asked, "How did you know about Paul Tiefel's material?" I said, "We drove to Luther Seminary and looked it up." Mrs. I is a whiz in research, the best anywhere.
 We also found the proof that Cho was kicked out of the Assemblies of God for false doctrine - no small feat, getting kicked out of that sect.


Luther Seminary’s new “Campus of the Future” plan will bring big change to the school by offering free tuition to all incoming students starting this fall and to the St. Anthony Park neighborhood when it sheds 15 acres of land and buildings in the northwestern part of its campus.
In May, the seminary’s board of directors approved the sale of a parcel that includes Northwestern Hall, the administrative building at 1501 Fulham St.; Stub Hall, a dormitory at 2329 Hendon Ave.; several houses and the LDR apartments on Fulham Street; a vacant home in an alley off of Hoyt Avenue in Lauderdale; and the 7 acres of wooded land abutting the Lauderdale Nature Area, known as Breck Woods. Bockman Hall, what many consider the centerpiece to the St. Anthony Park campus at the top of the hill on 2400 block of Como Avenue, will also be sold.
Michael Morrow, Luther vice president of finance and administration, said the school is hoping to find an “outside partner” that would renovate Bockman Hall, which is on the National Registry of Historic Places, and create space that the seminary can use for short-term student housing.
“I know the noteworthy change for the neighborhood is the change to the campus, but we’re excited about the new vision we’ve adopted,” Morrow said. That “new vision” includes the new Jubilee Scholarships, which will give free tuition to all incoming students this fall and increased scholarships to current students.
“We are very concerned about the cost of higher education and people going into ministry with large levels of debt,” Morrow said. Student debt has hindered the number of people going into the ministry, he said. Students will still need to pay for room and board, transportation and books, but the Master of Divinity and Master of Arts students will get full tuition.
The land sale is all part of reshaping a seminary that no longer houses all of its students throughout the school year.
“We need a different campus,” Morrow said. “We have a much different student base. The campus we have was designed for larger enrollment with everyone here taking classes full time. Today we have 500 students. About half are in the distributed-learning program, which means they live all over the country [and] take most of their classes online. We don’t have that many people here.”
When students do come to campus, it’s for two to four weeks out of the year, he said.
“For us, it’s not what we are getting rid of; it’s what we are moving to,” he said. “We can meet our needs with Olson Campus Center and Gullixson Hall. Bockman would be a good housing place, but we don’t really need all of that.”
Olson will be the campus entrance and center and will remain open to community gatherings, Morrow said. For several years, the St. Anthony Park Community Sing has used the center on the third Monday of the month for a neighborhood sing. That should not be affected by the changes to the campus, he said.
The seminary properties will be offered as a package and put on the market in July, Morrow said. The price will be made public when it goes on the market, he said.
The seminary could sell Breck Woods separately if proposals were made, he said. “We know there are people interested in doing something with the woods, and if they want to make a proposal, we would be open to listening.”
A group of residents who live near Breck Woods have been looking at avenues to protect the woods from development.
“We have been advised that one of the nimblest resources for securing Breck Woods for the public is the Trust for Public Land,” said Cynthia Ahlgren in an email. “Trying to put together a consortium to buy the land requires a longer lead time and the seminary’s timeframe to sell is short.”
The group sent a letter to the city of Lauderdale, the Trust for Public Land and Luther Seminary on June 11 supporting conserving Breck Woods for public use and wildlife habitat. “Any decision to develop and change this valuable natural resource will be irreversible,” the letter said. “We support preserving the woods, recognizing the importance of green space not only for ourselves but for the wider community.”
Luther Seminary has slowly been selling under-used portions of its property for several years. In 2014, the seminary sold five apartment buildings on Eustis Street to Greenway Village. Senior housing developer Ecumen bought 1.6 acres at Luther Place and Como Avenue in 2015 to build Zvago, a 49-unit co-op currently under construction. HealthPartners purchased 4.5 acres of land across from its Como Avenue building in 2016 to build a replacement clinic. The date for the clinic groundbreaking has not been announced.
The large grassy lawn along Como Avenue will remain part of the seminary property for now. “It is not part of what we will be bringing forward [in July],” Morrow said, however, “we are not convinced that we have a long-term need for that property.”
As far as the current package that will be up for sale and any future sales, “we know that we are picking who our next neighbors are,” Morrow said. “We are real concerned about picking someone who is a good neighbor.”

 Robin Steinke is the recent Luther Seminary president,
the first lady president there.

---
United [sic?] Seminary has had free tuition for those in ELCA candidacy since it began operating, and Mt. Airy had been doing so for a year or two before the merger with Gettysburg.

spt+

Christina Jackson - Good News in Treatment Plan

Chris posed with Pastor Lawrence White in Little Rock, Arkansas. He spoke on Christians being involved in voting, 2013.

We spent some hours at the Highland Oncology Group (H.O.G.) today: great doctors and staff.

The cancer cells that lodged on her spine, a small spot, will be removed with 10 quick radiation treatments over 10 days. She took the first step in preparation today.

The pills did not work in stopping the growth of the cells, so Chris is getting hip shots for that.

All her medications are being reviewed and modified.

They were very interested in spiritual well-being. The pharmacist doctor prayed with her at the end of the appointment.


LutherQuest Question - Answered!

Cover designed by Norma A. Boeckler

The public domain (free to save, copy, send, translate) copy of Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant is here, with many others, including the complete Lenker Luther's Sermons set plus Gems.


Dick Rockenbach (Drock)
Senior Member
Username: Drock

Post Number: 2378
Registered: 11-2004
Posted on Thursday, December 13, 2018 - 5:41 am:   Edit Post Delete Post Print Post


is there a good resource that has a timeline for the changing early Catholic Church to the RC doctrine of Mary?

Steven Thomas Karp (Steven_karp)
Junior Member
Username: Steven_karp

Post Number: 31
Registered: 5-2015
Posted on Thursday, December 13, 2018 - 6:39 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post Print Post


Without going into a lot of reference works, try the chapter 6 "Doctrines Concerning the Virgin Mary" in Gregory Jackson's Catholic Lutheran Protestant, pages 193-229, and on pages 225 is a handy comparison chart, showing "Doctrine," "Church Action," and :Accepted By."

Free, public domain - at this link.
Someone could easily look up all the references to Mary by downloading the PDF and using control-f "Mary" and "virgin" for a secondary search.

The UOJists Are Acting Out 1 John 2

Webber finally got an STM - from an online school run by ELCA and Lutherans wedded to Church Growth and UOJ.ILT trains women for ordination in ELCA and boasts of their accomplishments.

I always go to LutherQueasy for humor breaks. Here is one - Jay Webber, endless spinner of tales about Luther teaching Justification without Faith (Objective Justification) has this quotation, without any citation. Concordia Ft. Wayne puffed up seminarians  without giving them academic skills: McCain, Webber, Cascione, Heiser, and many others.

Hermann Sasse wrote: 

...in the moment we set up a doctrine which the Scripture does not actually proclaim [GJ - like OJ?] we have crossed the dividing line between theology and philosophy, and have left the sola Scriptura (the Scripture alone). That is the danger which all Bible-believing and confessionally faithful theology must again and again guard against.

I chose 1 John to continue Greek lessons for our Internet audience. I am sure Ft. Wayne graduates would love to do the same, but they are Shakespearian, with "small Latin and less Greek."

I John 2:1-12 is an excellent lesson about those who do not teach the truth and hate the brothers, lying about their true affiliations.


I John 2:8 Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth. 9 He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. 10 He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. 11 But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.

What happens when someone confesses the truth of the Chief Article - that we are Justified by Faith Alone?

Answer - the UOJists jump on that person and indulge in the most hateful behavior. Their tools are:

  • Invoking Holy Mother Sect, because the UOJists think only of the sect and are truly in sects for the long haul.
  • Citing their wooden idols of OJ, such as Edward Preuss, who became a Roman Catholic leader; Rambach, 100% Halle Pietist; and Pietist CFW Walther, BA, who learned his OJ from his promiscuous, syphilitic bishop, Martin Stephan - Halle student.
  • Silencing the Gospel with all their meddling, back-biting, and shunning.
  • Spreading the hatred to friends and family members, so they try to defend the truth and get the same treatment.
  • Not confessing their hatred of the Chief Article, but claiming that status for the opposite - OJ - keeping the topic on "denying muh precious OJ." 
  • Proving heaven and earth will pass away before they admit their real creed, "We hate and reject Justification by Faith Alone."
 This Photoshop represents how the UOJists are united under Thrivent and ELCA Presiding Bishop Liz Eaton. No one of these is a Lutheran.
 From Webber's Facebook page, which promotes chasubles.
His partner in this venture was an ELCA pastor.
 Jack Kilcrease is an instructor at a Catholic college and at ILT. I suspect *Jack had much to do with Webber's STM paper, which became his Halleluia Chorus to OJ at Emmaus, a conference where people come to have their eyes blinded. Justification by Faith materials were banned there, too.
*Jack was born in a WELS parsonage, attended Luther College ELCA and Luther Seminary ELCA.

Thursday, December 13, 2018

Mid-Week Advent Service, 1 John 2

 Norma A. Boeckler's art books

Advent, December 13, 2018

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson



The Hymn # 240             Father Most Holy  
   
The Order of Vespers                                             p. 41
The Psalmody            Psalm   14                           p. 124
The Lection             
 
The Sermon Hymn #136   Angels from the Realms of Glory 
         

John the Apostle - Love and Faith


The Prayers and Lord’s Prayer                         p. 44
The Collect for Peace                                           p. 45
The Benediction                                                   p. 45
                

1 John 2 King James Version (KJV)

My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.
He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning.
Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.
He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.
10 He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.
11 But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.
12 I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake.







The Epistle of John the Apostle - Love and Faith
My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:

John's First Epistle is a masterpiece in the simplest language. In the first chapter, he established his special role as an Apostle who saw Jesus, heard Him, even touched Him with his own hands. Therefore, what follows is divinely powered because Jesus chose John and others to carry out this ministry. As Jesus was sent, so sent He the apostles, whose title means - sent.

Chapter 2, which we are reading in Greek tonight, is built upon the first chapter, the claim of apostolic authority and the truth of Jesus as the Savior. A major issue is sin. He is warning them not to sin, and this applies to an important issue raised later, about denying the true nature of Christ.

Lenski:

Cerinthus was active in Ephesus during this time. He taught that Jesus was the physical son of Joseph; that the "eon Christ" was united with Jesus at his baptism but left Jesus before his passion and his death. He rejected all the Gospels, all of Paul's letters, and accepted only parts of Matthew and of Mark. He was a former Jew from Egypt and combined Jewish ideas with what we may call the beginnings of Gnosticism and sought to produce a spiritualized Mosaism, which was to be a universal religion. He retained circum-

cision and the Sabbath. The Jewish conception of the millennium was attributed to him by the Alogi; hence those church fathers who opposed chiliasm and thought that Revelation taught this doctrine ascribed Revelation to Cerinthus and thus rejected this writing. This heretic left no writings, but Irenaeus {Adv. Haer. 1, 26;
3, 3, 4; etc.) and others supply a reliable account of him and of his teaching.

And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

The big word is "an offering to appease the anger of an offended party." This is still practiced in Catholicism. They call such things "reparation," literally repayment. However, the Gospels teach that Jesus alone is the Offering that atones for our sins. Thus John is emphasizing the basic Gospel received in faith, a constant renewal taking place as clergy and laity are reminded of forgiveness through Christ. This atonement for the sins of the whole world, so it is constantly a Gospel to teach to those who do not believe.

And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.

Faith and honoring the commandments go together with forgiveness and salvation. We keep them though we are weak, fallible, and struggle with temptations. This is not a command to be perfect but to show a high regard for the commands, for the Word, is an essential part of the Christian Faith.

He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

Jesus said, "They will know you are my disciples (learners) if you keep My Word." John 8. As we will see later, Cerinthus is laying claim to members (fellowship) while denying Jesus' own teaching. That should not surprise us these days, because the "conservative" Lutherans excommunicate those who teach Justification by Faith.

But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.

It is that harmony and love we feel from the Gospel of John that shows us we are part of His family through faith. It is not being "born a Christian" or one's parents or friends. It is individual. I know many who had the advantage of a K-Seminary private education - and yet do not believe and led many astray before they died. They have every claim and honor except one - knowing they are in Him. Their language gives it away.

He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked.

Note abiding in Christ (John 15) as the fruit abides on the True Vine. If we abide in Him, we also walk as He did.

Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning.

The old commandment is the Word Jesus taught. "From the beginning" is from the beginning of the public ministry of Christ. That is the real beginning. We know all about the Father-Son relationship from John's Gospel, an eye-witness. What is Cerinthus? He has no claims of being a witness of anything.

Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth. He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.
False teachers hate sincere believers. I am often reminded of Barth's comment about someone - he was a Lutheran, too good a Lutheran. That is subtle academic insult language. Those who reject Justification by Faith are so hateful that they will do anything to extinguish it. They excommunicate and trash anyone who stands up to their false doctrine. Yet these Gospel-haters robe up, spread the incense, use their stained glass voices, and make a pious impression on many. 

10 He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. 11 But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes. 12 I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake.

The contrast is important, because the normal form of expression in the New Testament is to state the positive and reject the negative. That is essential in confessing the Faith. To confess the Trinity means nothing to Mormons, who claim the same thing. But ask them about three separate gods, and they will agree. That is their dogma, and it is not Christian, though they kidnap the terms Christian and Trinity. 

We can test what people reject if we use the right questions. 
Is the entire world righteous? 
Was I born forgiven?
Do I only have to agree that the entire world is righteous?

To test one quasi-Unitarian almost-a-pastor, I asked, "Was Jesus actually born of a Virgin?" She said, "That is not an important doctrine anyway." (No direct answer, the same about the empty tomb.) I asked, "When someone dies, what will you say at the funeral?" She had nothing to say.

  Norma A. Boeckler's art books