The Intrepid Lutherans Blog - Hated by the WELS COP - Conference of Presidents - 2012 Post, Kelmed from Intrepid Lutherans (sic)

"Follow the money, boys."

Intrepid Lutherans:

We can only say, Church and Continuity was an enormous success, especially given that it was our first Conference – and we simply could not have pulled it off without the generous support of our donors, to whom we offer special thanks. As a result of this success, a second Conference is certainly in the works, which our readers can expect to hear about shortly after the turn of the New Year.

Of course, it will be asked, What has attracted our readership? What had attracted interest in attending our Conference in 2012? The answer: our content – substantive and compelling, and sometimes controversial. Over the past thirty months the following twenty posts have been the most popular:

	Page Title	Page Views	Date	Author	Comments	Observations
1.	Dear Pastors Jeske and Ski: You are clearly in the wrong	4830	02/15/11	Intrepid Lutherans	13	Juicy controversy – everybody was interested, relatively few had the courage to comment.
2.	Fraternal Dialogue on the Topic of "Objective Justification"	3681	09/26/11	Mr. Douglas Lindee	54	Rev. Webber (ELS) recommended “Fraternal Dialogue” on the topic, so we opened it with a position and a series of questions to debate, and attempted to keep the ensuing “dialogue” civil and centered on Scripture and the Confessions.
3.	The NNIV, the WELS Translation Evaluation Committee, and the Perspicuity of the Scriptures	3549	07/28/11	Mr. Douglas Lindee	71	The catch-phrase, “There is no perfect translation,” ultimately devolves into a denial of Scripture's clarity and an affirmation of the Roman position that the literate Christian still needs a “Priest” to explain it to him. The sufficiency and authority of Scripture being one of the planks of the Protestant Reformation, this will never happen among Protestant Christians. Not directly. Translators now take on this role in the Protestant world, under the translation ideology of Dynamic Equivalency.
4.	Change or Die – Update	3194	02/24/11	Intrepid Lutherans	13	The “juicy controversy” continues, as does both interest in the controversy and reluctance to become involved.
5.	Why I No Longer Attend My [WELS] Church	3148	02/06/11	Intrepid Lutherans	26	Cross-post from Mr. Ric Techlin's blog, Light from Light, publicly revealing difficulties he was having in his congregation, namely, the refusal of his congregation to address his concerns regarding error in doctrine and practice that was being promoted in his congregation. A handful of local pastors volunteered to work with Mr. Techlin, his congregation and district to resolve these difficulties...
6.	The WEB: A viable English Bible translation?	2746	09/19/11	Rev. Paul Rydecki	94	Discussion over an unsuitable version of the Bible degenerates into a melee over Universalism, and this version's mistranslation of certain sections which support it.
7.	Emmaus Conference – Recap	2607	05/10/11	Rev. Paul Rydecki	17	Were some people excitedly thinking that perhaps this event represented the reunion of Missouri and Wisconsin?
8.	Suspended from the WELS – Why?	2527	10/09/12	Rev. Paul Rydecki	0	More “juicy controversy...”
9.	The whole flock won't survive 'jumping the shark'	2448	02/02/12	Mr. Brian Heyer	42	Thoughtless and ridiculous last-ditch efforts to “save the congregation” by abusing the term evangelism are transparently pathetic acts of desperation, make the congregation a laughing stock in the community and bring shame upon the name of Christ. The methods of the Church Growth Movement are not methods, they are antics, and kill the church by trivializing Scriptures' teachings. Shame on Lutheran congregations who do such things!
10.	NNIV – the new standard for WELS?	2325	07/15/11	Mr. Douglas Lindee	62	Yup, it sure looks that way...
11.	Thoughts on Gender-Neutral Language in the NIV 2011	2310	09/15/11	Intrepid Lutherans	9	Intrepid Lutherans aren't the only ones in WELS concerned that whitewashing gender differences in the Bible, by way of imposing a feminist ideology of translation over the entire text, will lead not only to doctrinal error, but to a culture of thought among supposedly “conservative” Christians that is at war against the Nature of God itself and incompatible with His message to Man.
12.	The Silence Is Broken: An Appleton Update	2269	05/08/11	Rev. Paul Lidtke	17	An update on Mr. Techlin's difficulties, from one of the pastors personally involved in his defense. After formally objecting to what he was concerned were unscriptural practices and teachings in his congregation – and asking to be corrected where he might be in error– Mr. Techlin was simply removed from fellowship: no discussion with him over the issues he raised was entertained, no brotherly attempt was made to work with him through these issues, no example of Christian humility was displayed by his “brothers” which might have suggested they were themselves open to correction. Instead, without Mr. Techlin's or his family's knowledge, the congregation scheduled a meeting, and without even offering him the opportunity to defend himself, voted to remove him and members of his family from fellowship. To his surprise, he received a “Certified Letter” in the mail informing him of the congregation's action against him. Not so much as a phone call from a “concerned brother” or even from his pastor. Just certified mail. Furthermore, this letter made no mention of any doctrinal error to which he obstinately clung, regarding which the congregation collectively determined “further admonition would be of no avail.” To this day, Mr. Techlin has no idea what his error may have been, as no admonition has ever been attempted, certainly none by a “genuine brother” who was himself open to correction. Moreover, this congregation's action was openly defended by their Bishop, and formally approved by a committee he personally appointed to review Mr. Techlin's appeal, which found that “[his] congregation had Scriptural reasons for removing [him] from membership and, in doing so, acted in the spirit of Christian love.” Mr. Techlin's is not the only recent example of similar processes used to remove “undesirables” from WELS, but his is very well-documented and betrays what seems to not only be acceptable practice but one which Christian congregations are apparently not above employing.
13.	"Walking Together Sunday" - The Sermon	2255	09/25/10	Rev. Paul Rydecki	58	Walking together under Law, cooperating in evangelistic efforts because we are commanded to do so. From a commenter on this post: “The unfortunate thing about the 'Walking Together Sunday' sermon, and the entire event, is that Evangelism is the only emphasis. Yet, our 'walking together' is predicated on our standing together. Despite this, there was no emphasis given to our full agreement in all matters of doctrine and practice, nor any mention of our Confessions or Confessional Unity. No explanation or celebration of our 'togetherness' as fundamental to our walking in this togetherness. The clear and sole emphasis was the command of Evangelism followed by an appeal for money. This is entirely the wrong emphasis, in my opinion, leading to the wrong notion that our working rather than our confessing is the essence of our togetherness.”
14.	Issues with the NIV 2011: "The saints" are no more	2197	08/15/11	Rev. Paul Rydecki	12	Another example of Biblical and Ecclesiastical language being stripped from the Christian lexicon by liberal feminist and sectarian translators...
15.	What Part of the Word "Wrong" Don't We All Seem to Understand These Days?!	2180	12/10/10	Rev. Steven Spencer	47	Is someone who, or something which, is wrong, merely suffering from a misunderstanding? A fantastic series of thoughtful comments follows from this post.
16.	Ambivalent	2176	06/27/12	Rev. Steven Spencer	47	Does no one care about the threat of doctrinal error and sectarian practice? One might pardon the laity for not being informed, but what do we make of the silence and inaction of Lutheran clergy?
17.	Law and Gospel: What do they teach? – Part 1	2164	10/26/10	Mr. Douglas Lindee	79	The message of Law and Gospel teaches the saving message of Justification, a message which is central to all of Lutheran doctrine and practice, “affirming that, through faith, men obtain remission of sins, and through faith in Christ are justified (AC:IV:1-3).” Thus, Christ is the object of faith: “In order for Justification to be taught correctly, in order for man to make Christ the sole object of his faith... the Law must be stripped from [the Gospel] entirely. That isn’t to say that the Law is not to be taught. On the contrary, in order to understand Justification properly, it is necessary that the message of the Law precede it. In other words, Justification cannot be preached properly unless Law is distinguished and kept separate from the Gospel, and the Gospel has no application unless it follows the message of the Law.”
18.	Differences between Reformed and Lutheran Doctrines	2142	04/13/11	Mr. Douglas Lindee	4	The majority of hits on this post are from Reformed and Evangelical sources, as it has been passed around and discussed in a number of different forums.
19.	The NIV 2011 and the Importance of Translation Ideology	2049	08/02/11	Mr. Douglas Lindee	25	Functional Arminianism is at the root of observing “The Great Commission” so slavishly as to labour under it as “The Great Law.” As a result, the adoption of translation ideologies like Dynamic Equivalency, which are derived directly from dangerously anti-Truth and thus also anti-Christian post-Modern philosophies, are observed as equally imperative.
20.	C.F.W. Walther: Filching from sectarian worship resources equals "soul murder"	2017	03/23/11	Mr. Douglas Lindee	26	Practice and doctrine are not independent of one another. This post saw wide circulation and commentary on the internet, and opened the eyes of many people to the connection doctrine has with practice. They are not independent. They impact each other.

'via Blog this'

***

GJ - "Intrepid" is a fine example of hyperbole. They were silent when their own member was excommunicated by Ski, Glende, and DP Deputy Doug.

They were silent when Rydecki was kicked out of WELS. The WELS COP wants to shut them down NOW!

I expect they will silence themselves for good and blame me. I was never any part of Intrepid Lutherans. I suggested, when asked, a blog for discussion.

Paul Reveals Why the UOJ Hive Cannot Grasp Justification by Faith - From 2014

Many clergy slowly become unbelievers - and apostates - by allowing the weeds of Mammon and career advancement to choke and smother what little faith they had in the beginning. The result is not unlike a weed-choked plant, which still lives beneath the aggressive weed's foliage but produces no fruit.

This happens overtly in the WELS abusive sect, because every parson has to be a Kokomo cheerleader to exist. Just as publicly supporting Rauschenbusch was rewarded in the mainline denominations, so is bowing to the errors of JP Meyers and Sig Becker recompensed in WELS. The stupider the essay, the more likely the apostate will be teaching at The Sausage Factor in Mequon - where faith dies among the lies.

The process is subtler in the LCMS, because they no longer make an issue of UOJ. Being a Bronze Age Missourian, with heart-felt loyaty to F. Pieper, is no longer a selling point, now that the Bronzies are dead or retired.

Instead, the same effect is created when a pastor is punished for being fanatical about the Confessions (he actually reads them) or unionism - not wanting to march robed with ELCA women pastors. The entire ELCA-Thrivent-LWF-UN con game is really a victory for UOJ. No one can have any faith, discernment, or conscience left to work with any of those entities, let alone all four.

I can imagine the synodical responses:

"Do you recall that we voted overwhelmingly to continue work with ELCA? The synod convention - the ultimate authority, far more authoritative than the Scriptures?"

"If we don't spend all that Thrivent money, then ELCA will get it. Do you want that, you legalist?"

"We decided a long time ago that we can work with others in LWF to send relief to the poor in the Third World. I suppose that grieves you."

"What? You are in favor of malaria? I would love to tell all the dying masses that one."

But - as Grampaw used to say - "Lie down with dawgs, git up with fleas." The clergy who remain in the same stall with false teachers soon partake of the same Universal Salivation - thirsting for every god but the One True God. They handle the same warm asphalt that builds the road to perdition and think their hands are not stained and reeking.

Does St. Paul Contradict Himself?
The UOJ stylists have abandoned Romans 4:25 completely, because too many people opened their Bibles and read Romans 4:24. Sorry. Some of them ventured to read all of Romans 4 and saw that the theme of that chapter was not justification without faith, but Abraham counted as righteous because of faith. Instead of UOJ being as ancient as Stonehenge, it was re-discovered in Genesis in that citation about Abraham  - "he believed as it was counted as righteousness." Genesis 15:6

How can we believe that the Holy Spirit teaches justification by faith with utmost clarity in Romans 3 and 4, only to abandon that doctrine in favor of justification without faith in Romans 5 - if we only ignore Romans 5:1-2. The Mequon faculty is praying that you read Romans 5, minus the first two verses, with their guidance, of course.

Notify the NNIV committee, now meeting at the Gold Base of Scientology. They have a lot more additions and subtractions to make, in case people read past Romans 3.

Romans 10 KJV 
Here is another major section of Paul's inspired writing that demolishes UOJ. For now I am skipping over their thread-bare rants about reconciliation and "the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." I will get to them in a future post or two.

I would just like readers to consider Romans 10 and judge for themselves whether the dark shadowy dogmas of UOJ disappear completely in the bright light of that chapter.

Romans 10 follows Paul's lament in Romans 9 that his own Jewish people do not believe in Christ.

He disposed of righteousness through the Law and any other righteousness except the righteousness of faith. Note - there is no article in the Formula of Concord called Righteousness Without Faith, but there is a crucial article, III, on the Righteousness of Faith.

Romans 10 Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.

2 For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.

3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.

5 For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.

6 But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)

7 Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)

8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the Word of faith, which we preach;

9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.

13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?

17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.

18 But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.

19 But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you.

20 But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me.

21 But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.

This chapter clearly shows the Order of Salvation, in reverse. To put it in ABC order -

• Preachers must first be sent. As Luther emphasized, the pastoral office is the Preaching-Office, not the Entertainment-Office, not the Sheep-Counting-Office, not the Synod-PR-Office.
• The Gospel must be preached, because faith comes from hearing the proclaimed Word.
• The only righteousness that saves is the righteousness of faith, the effect of preaching the efficacious Gospel.
• The Gospel is expressed in Isaiah 53 - who shall believe our report (sermon) - an vivid account of the atoning death of Christ, the purpose of His death, and our sinful weak souls being redeemed by His suffering.
• Those who call on the Name of the Lord will be saved, and that happens only through faith, which is created by preaching the Gospel. Christ is the end of the Law, for those who believe.
• This is the salvation message (10:1) that Paul brings to Jews and Gentiles.

ELCA-WELS-LCMS-ELS - Why They Are Collapsing and Becoming the UCC

"Truth forever on the scaffold, Wrong forever on the throne,—
Yet that scaffold sways the future, and, behind the dim unknown,
Standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above His own." James Russsel Lowell The three parts of the Olde Synodical Conference have inched together, the friction alleviated by lavish Thrivent grants and one simple fact - they work with ELCA, covet ELCA, and agree with ELCA's dogma. Expect no fruits of the Spirit when the leaders teach and enforce unbelief as the foundation for forgiveness and salvation. Even the forgettable splinters have retained the worst DNA of their parents - CLC, ELDONUTs, LCR, OLCC. (The font shrinkage is a clue to their size and importance.) I saw a photo of an old friend, we are both old now, and remember having enjoyable conversations with him. WELS threw him out for teaching the truth and Missouri dutifully treated him as a deplorable. Synods demand obedience to them, not to the Scriptures or the Confessions, which they neither know nor comprehend. A WELS Synod Council member on why he would not teach anything from the Book of Concord - "The confessions are boring and irrelevant." The nastiness they practice, which crosses the synodical chalk-lines, is guaranteed to shrink the synods even faster, an excellent example of creative destruction. They are  now so corrupt and evil that their collapse is inevitable, and new entities will emerge. America is not better for having seminaries that promote an ever-changing text of the Bible, ever-worsening translations, eyes blind to anything related to the KJV. The Lutheran synods are just another branch of Fuller Seminary's odious, apostate, feminist influence, energized by the Marxist duo Barth and Kirschbaum. We say to the Boomers of today, "Maybe your children have church positions, but your laziness, greed, and indifference to the truth has guaranteed your grandchildren will not." More than Fuller, I blame Walther, the ultimate politician. He was the enforcer for a leader - Pastor Martin Stephan - who claimed ownership of the bodies of his female members. You think Keith Raniere and NXIUM are new, radical, and disgusting? Stephan gave syphilis to his wife, children, and mistresses. That was the scandal used to depose the bishop. Walther and his circle of Pietists followed the Pietist Stephan blindly, willingly, slavishly. One pastor had to apologize to Stephan before he was allowed to meet him. Walther waited until he could organize a riot in Perryville, Missouri, steal all of Stephan's land, gold, books, and personal possessions, and kidnap him at gunpoint to Illinois. Walther made himself leader of the cult, attached his group to the Loehe congregations, and made Loehe the enemy when the time was right. Walther forbade anyone writing an early history of the sex cult, and LCMS loyalists have told a basket of mythological lies about Walther ever since. Carthage, Missouri has a shrine to the Virgin Mary. Missouri has several shrines to the Great Walther. No one seems to wince at the creepiness of the St. Louis shrine. Walther's example has promoted the idea of synod leaders being the most agile and flexible politicians. Matt the Fatt was eager to lick Otten's shoes while stabbing him in the back. Now we know that he is not lacking in clownish viciousness any more than McCain is. When close to the editor, they were unctuous and flattering. When they were gathered with their lupine friends, they bared their slavering fangs.

"Truth forever on the scaffold, Wrong forever on the throne,—

Yet that scaffold sways the future, and, behind the dim unknown,

Standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above His own."
James Russsel Lowell

The three parts of the Olde Synodical Conference have inched together, the friction alleviated by lavish Thrivent grants and one simple fact - they work with ELCA, covet ELCA, and agree with ELCA's dogma.

Expect no fruits of the Spirit when the leaders teach and enforce unbelief as the foundation for forgiveness and salvation. Even the forgettable splinters have retained the worst DNA of their parents - CLC, ELDONUTs, LCR, OLCC. (The font shrinkage is a clue to their size and importance.)

I saw a photo of an old friend, we are both old now, and remember having enjoyable conversations with him. WELS threw him out for teaching the truth and Missouri dutifully treated him as a deplorable. Synods demand obedience to them, not to the Scriptures or the Confessions, which they neither know nor comprehend.

A WELS Synod Council member on why he would not teach anything from the Book of Concord - "The confessions are boring and irrelevant."

The nastiness they practice, which crosses the synodical chalk-lines, is guaranteed to shrink the synods even faster, an excellent example of creative destruction. They are  now so corrupt and evil that their collapse is inevitable, and new entities will emerge.

America is not better for having seminaries that promote an ever-changing text of the Bible, ever-worsening translations, eyes blind to anything related to the KJV. The Lutheran synods are just another branch of Fuller Seminary's odious, apostate, feminist influence, energized by the Marxist duo Barth and Kirschbaum.

We say to the Boomers of today, "Maybe your children have church positions, but your laziness, greed, and indifference to the truth has guaranteed your grandchildren will not."

More than Fuller, I blame Walther, the ultimate politician. He was the enforcer for a leader - Pastor Martin Stephan - who claimed ownership of the bodies of his female members. You think Keith Raniere and NXIUM are new, radical, and disgusting? Stephan gave syphilis to his wife, children, and mistresses. That was the scandal used to depose the bishop.

Walther and his circle of Pietists followed the Pietist Stephan blindly, willingly, slavishly. One pastor had to apologize to Stephan before he was allowed to meet him.

Walther waited until he could organize a riot in Perryville, Missouri, steal all of Stephan's land, gold, books, and personal possessions, and kidnap him at gunpoint to Illinois.

Walther made himself leader of the cult, attached his group to the Loehe congregations, and made Loehe the enemy when the time was right. Walther forbade anyone writing an early history of the sex cult, and LCMS loyalists have told a basket of mythological lies about Walther ever since.

Carthage, Missouri has a shrine to the Virgin Mary. Missouri has several shrines to the Great Walther. No one seems to wince at the creepiness of the St. Louis shrine.

Walther's example has promoted the idea of synod leaders being the most agile and flexible politicians. Matt the Fatt was eager to lick Otten's shoes while stabbing him in the back. Now we know that he is not lacking in clownish viciousness any more than McCain is. When close to the editor, they were unctuous and flattering. When they were gathered with their lupine friends, they bared their slavering fangs.

The Opposers Do Not Deal with the Scriptures

This post is a very important one, quoting Luther on the people who opposed his Biblical teaching but would not participate in a discussion of the Scriptures.

That was essentially the method of Fuller Seminary and other scams. They told the Lutherans and others, who were more traditional, "You are doing things all wrong. You must get rid of the pipe organs, the formal worship, the hymns, and the sermons." Following their guru Robert Schuller - a colossal failure and snake oil salesman - they denounced the church signs that named their denominations. No one told the Fulleroids they were selling cheap baloney. The executives took notes instead and sent their subordinates through the same brain-washing seminars.

Fuller indoctrination expert had no worries. The church executives were scared, and the numbers made them terrified. "Do not fear. Only believe." Jesus said that in Mark 5, but they were filled with Drucker's wisdom instead.