Hypocritical Fellowship Rules for the Cultish WELS and Superior LCMS

 WELS-ELS favorites: Andy Stanley below promotes homosexual unions; Archbishop Weakland, beanie, known homosexual, spoke at Wisconsin Lutheran College - public program, including priests; Hybels at Willow Creek, above Andy, retired early for chasing women staff members around; McGavran, above left of Hybels, was a mainline liberal, Disciples of Christ; Leonard Sweet, upper right off McGavran's ear, Leftie weirdo mainline guru; Stetzer, dead center, Fulleroid Babtist; C. Peter Wagner, right of Stetzer, Pentecostal Fuller faculty and always behind true flapdoodle snake oil ministers; 12 o'clock, Mark Driscoll, Ski-Glende fave - failed but retreaded cult minister known for his violent language; left at 11 o'clock, another Ski-Glende fave, Craig Groeschel, mainline producer of much-copied themes, sermons, graphics, as found at The CORE.

Note the above experts - WELS has been heavily involved with them for decades, which is why the sect is no longer Lutheran. Their teachers and leaders are trained by the Enthusiasts above, most of whom have made a shipwreck of their faith.

Comment:

People at the WELS church I used to attend (and readers of my blog at the time) became UNHINGED (emphasis in the original) when I provided details of Thrivent funding Planned Parenthood and by application, WELS responsibility for funding abortion.  There was no argument with the facts, just what they meant.

 When I said that WELS gave to the United Nations, some went bonkers and demanded proof. Do they demand proof for WELS-LCMS lies? Never. So I provided the year and page number of the Michigan District grant to a UN program, about $5,000, as I recall. No apologies followed, of course.

Thrivent gives LCMS $50 to $60 million a year, so ELCA probably gets $100 million for promoting a rather drab insurance company. Thrivent dollar-matched abortion fans on the staff (charity, you know). ELCA is one big abortion lobby and actually hires lobbyists with World Hunger Fund donations. They are all in it together, trotters in the trough - pennies for the local church, millions for abortion on demand and doctrinal apostasy. Herman Otten applied for and received a Thrivent grant. 

 But wait, there's more. Jeske uses his Thrivent board membership to fund his favorite charities, often involving Mark and Avoid Jeske. He gathers ELCA women pastors to lecture LCMS and WELS-ELS pastors on how to be Change or Die! ministers.

 I have played Whac-A-Mole many times, except I was always the mole.

Sears-KMart Collapse Foreshadows WELS-LCMS Merger

 Lutherans who do not trust the Word imagine they will do better in a cardboard tank manufactured by the Calvinists and improved by the Pentecostals.

The Sears-KMart merger combined the power of two retail giants, one very old, one somewhat new. The latest bailout failed and Sears will liquidate.

WELS and Missouri are negotiating a peace, brokered through Thrivent and ELCA. The obvious issue is redundancy. They threw tons of money at buildings while local teaching on a campus was giving way to online. The Schwan money built a lot of gee-gaws that everyone could have lived without. Meanwhile, the tuition was hiked to gobble as money loan money as possible.

Nimble businesses plan to darken under-used properties or move to more prosperous locations.

The apostate Lutheran leaders looked backwards rather than forward, proving once again that they ignored the Parable of the Unrighteous Steward. They are as wise as doves, as innocent as serpents.

They coveted the hyped growth of certain congregations that focused on no confessions and plenty of entertainment. As one local Evangelical minister said to others, "The worship leader is the key." They nodded their heads collectively. That built Community of Joy and liquidated the parish when the pastor came to his senses.

The aging, sclerotic, sagging Boomers that lead WELS-LCMS are spectacular failures who have grabbed power, spent money like Congress, and hollowed out their sects. Their parishes are bad copies of CG-Missional ones, mockeries of Lutheran, Biblical, Means of Grace worshiping congregations. One can aim at material success or Biblical fidelity. The first brings the religion editor to marvel at the numbers. The second brings the cross.

I lost track of how many years we have broadcast services over the Net, - King James readings, The Lutheran Hymnal, Mr. Bose on the pipe organ. We are in our 10th year broadcasting from a spare room in a rented house. Too bad we did not adopt the name Bethlehem Lutheran, which might have spared us the wrath of Paul the Plagiarist. Before that we were in a mortgaged house, that is, rented from the bank.

We had a group of people who wanted to participate, so the service was for traditional Lutherans. No one expected much, except to continue faithful worship, about 60 Means of Grace services a year. In the last two years, quite a few have joined us part of them (because they have good local congregations) or joined us for good (since a traditional service is almost impossible to find). We spent very little money since the place and equipment were part of my normal online teaching.

A lot has happened in the last few years. I will add to this later today.

The Fuller Seminary faculty recently met, "Why have we stopped growing?"

Luther's Household Sermons - Our Next Publication

 Jesus declared the true nature of God - exegesis - John 1.
The wealthy omnivores only want wealth and food in abundance.

From the Lutheran Library Publishing Ministry -
Just read the following in Luther’s House Postil for Epiphany. In the earlier sections of the sermon, Luther compares Herod with spiritual leaders who emphasize the Law and believe that their following of that Law makes faith superfluous and unnecessary.

Do you see any parallels with Lutheranism and/or modern Evangelicalism today?

[Emphasis added]

[135] Human works and doctrines at all times yield much revenue and carnal gain, while the doctrines of God and the work of Christ bring the cross, poverty, ignominy, and all kinds of calamity, which the holiness of Herod can not endure. Thus it happens always, that they who have ensnared and oppressed the poor with an erring conscience and with human doctrines, do not like to hear that poor, miserable consciences receive instruction, attain a right understanding, and seek the simple, pure Word of God and faith. Many say that they want a new king, and have seen his star; for thus the pope, bishops, holy fathers and lords could not indulge their carnal desires.

[136] Therefore, it is not at all agreeable nor serviceable to the reign of Herod that the wise men, the learned, the laity, who know nothing, should begin to speak of the light of the Gospel, and to inquire about another matter in the midst of Jerusalem, paying no attention to spiritual pomp of the rulers. This must indeed have frightened Herod and his associates because it concerned their purses and their belly. Yes, it also frightened all Jerusalem; for many pious people, though they hated the reign of Herod and wished that it were not thus, also were afraid that the truth might be brought to light at an unpropitious time, that through it a tumult and confusion might be caused in the world, that the government might be attacked, and that perhaps this tumult could not without great detriment, be suppressed. Therefore they thought that it might be better to withhold the truth for a time, or to bring it forth in such a manner as not to frighten Herod, and arouse him to some desperate action.

 Cat: "Cute, but I need a fire."

Todd Wilken Retweets

 Wilken meeting with the Confraternity of Matt Immaculatus:
1- "That alb will not stretch another millimeter!"
2 - "He's applying to be a fit model for Friar Tuck clergy apparel."
3 - "Shh. He is composing The Ballad of Herman Otten. Top Secret."

Did Wilken retweet this because he has seen the error of his ways? He chuckled about Justification by Faith and called it "Calvinism."

 "Yes, Todd, I have a complete set of worn out Luther's Sermons. They make quite an impression on the hoi polloi."

Comment from a Reader

Ichabod: "WELS followed LCMS over to Fuller and down the drain."

Reader: "They did and look where we are. We passed the drain and are now at the sewage treatment facility."

 "I hate, I mean, LOVE the NIV, our official living Bible 
paraphrase."