Synod Statistics Belong in the Fiction Section of the Seminary Library

 

The synod statistics group has its own room at headquarters. Holbein painting.

I was reading over some synod statistics, filled with awe and wonder. No names, please. They will just adjust their tables and make up new fables.

The Jackson Method involves a sampling of who is there on Sunday, among a group of congregations. Percentages of age groups matter as well. For instance, we have great-grandmothers, grandparents, parents, children, and babies. We also have a very large group of daily readers. Even if half of them are booing and throwing popcorn at the screen, we still have an impressive audience.

The infamous ELCA Sparkle congregation said they were packed with all the new people - so many age groups too! Their own videos show only a few dozen, mostly white-haired members.

I also look around at recent worship services, which are incredibly sparse in terms of numbers there - and in their truncated worship. We began Ustream so long ago that we used Roman numerals and yet had 32,000 views. We have used Vimeo and will use Zoom soon. We are also trying to improve in various ways.

When a congregation simply posts a video camera at the back to record the sermon, that is mighty stingy in terms of the Means of Grace. It also emphasizes who is NOT there, since the lens usually takes in the entire group. 

Like David Valleskey and Waldo Werning, Kent Hunter was the guiding light of his generation of Fuller Seminary failures. His Church Doctor Ministries is selling its properties at the moment. When will their sects apologize for the damage?

A Glimpse into the Lutheran High Church Movement

 

The Jesuit Pope lets me snip images from the Net, but WELS guards the sacred image of its president!

Pope gives Syro-Malabar Catholics Christmas deadline to end dispute

Here is a news note that tells me so much about the faux-Lutheran infatuation with Roman Catholic ritual -

After years of debate about tradition, Latinization and modernization of the liturgy, in 1999 the synod of bishops of the Syro-Malabar church issued uniform rubrics for the celebration of the Eucharist, called the Holy Qurbana by members of the Eastern-rite church. They were trying to end a situation in which some priests faced the altar during the entire liturgy, while others faced the congregation throughout the liturgy. The bishops' decision was to have the priest face the altar during the eucharistic prayer but face the congregation during the Liturgy of the Word and again after Communion.

Priests in most Syro-Malabar dioceses quickly complied with the bishops' decision, although dispensations were issued for the Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly and a few other territories. The bishops decided to end those dispensations in November 2021.

 

ELCA Managers love playing dress-up.

The alleged conservative Lutherans must study mixed Syro-Malabar traditions.
If ELDONA gets a bishop's hat, shouldn't Matt the Fatt get a mitre?
Having only three mitres makes this look like a CLC (sic) clergy gathering.

Never neglect the hair gel.

Daily Luther Sermon Quote - Advent 2 - "Therefore Christ would assure us and wake us up to look for the day when the signs appear. We are to realize that though the signs be uncertain, those are not in danger who look upon them as tokens, while those who despise them are in the greatest danger."

 

Complete Sermon -> Advent 2, Luke 21:25-36. Christ’s Second Coming: or the Signs of the Day of Judgment; and the Comfort Christians Have from Them

51. Pure words of comfort are these. He does not put forth a parable from the fall or winter season when all the trees are bare and the dreary days begin; but a parable from the spring and summer season, when everything is joyous, when all creation buds forth and rejoices. By this he clearly teaches that we are to look forward to the last day with as much joy and delight as all creation shows in spring and summer. What is the meaning of this parable if in it he does not teach us this? He could have found others that were not so joyous.

52. In applying it, he does not say your hell or condemnation is at hand, but the kingdom of God. What else does it signify that the kingdom of God is at hand than that our redemption is near? The kingdom of God is but ourselves, as Christ says, Luke 17:21, “For lo, the kingdom of God is within you ;” therefore, it draweth nigh when we are nearing our redemption from sin and evil. In this life it begins in the spirit; but since we must still battle with sin and suffer much evil, and since death is still before us, the kingdom of God is not yet perfect in us. But when once sin and death and all evil are taken away, then will it be perfect. This the last day will bring and not this life.

53. Therefore, my dear hearer, examine your life, probe your heart to ascertain how it is disposed toward this day. Do not put your trust in your own good life, for that would soon be put to shame; but think of and strengthen your faith in order that the day may not be a terror to you as to the damned, but be your joy as the day of your salvation and of the kingdom of God in you. Then when you think or hear of the same, your heart will leap for joy and earnestly long for its coming. If you do not wish to pronounce judgment upon yourself, then do not think that you would be able to stand in that day even with the meritorious deeds of all the saints. “Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all things be accomplished. Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.”

54. Why does the Lord so fortify his Word and confirm it beyond measure by parables, oaths, and tokens of the generation which shall remain though heaven and earth pass away? This all happens because, as was said above, all the world is so secure and with open eyes despises the signs to such a degree that perhaps no word of God has been so despised as this which foretells and characterizes the judgment day. It will appear to the world that there are no signs; and even though people should see them, they will still not believe. Even the very elect of God may doubt such words and tokens, in order that the day may come when the world is never so secure and thus be suddenly overwhelmed in its security, as St. Paul said above.

55. Therefore Christ would assure us and wake us up to look for the day when the signs appear. We are to realize that though the signs be uncertain, those are not in danger who look upon them as tokens, while those who despise them are in the greatest danger. Hence let us play with certainties and consider the above-named signs as truly such lest we run with the unspiritual. If we are mistaken, we have after all hit the mark; if they are mistaken, it is a mistake for eternity with them.

56. Jesus calls the Jews “this generation.” This passage, therefore, clearly indicates that the common saying is not true which holds that all the Jews will become Christians; and that the passage, John 10:16, “And they shall become one flock and one shepherd,” is not fulfilled when the Jews go over to the heathen, but when the heathen came to the Jews and became Christians at the time of the apostles, as St. Augustine often explains.

Christ’s words in John 10:16 indicate the same, “And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and they shall become one flock and one shepherd.” Note that he speaks clearly of the heathen who have come to the Jewish fold; therefore the passage has been long since fulfilled. But here he says, “This generation shall not pass away” till the end come; that is, the Jews who crucified Christ must remain as a token. And although many will be converted, the generation and Jewish character must remain.

57. Some have also been concerned about how heaven and earth will pass away, and they again call Aristotle to their aid. He must interpret the words of Christ for them, and he says, that heaven and earth will not pass away as to their essence but only as to their form. How much they think they are saying! If they so understood it that heaven and earth will continue to be something, they would indeed be right. But let us suffer the blind to go, and know that just as our bodies will be changed as to their essence, and yet be remade according to their essence, so heaven and earth at the last day with all the elements will be melted with fervent heat and turned to dust, together with the bodies of men, so that there will be nothing but fire everywhere. Then will everything be new-created in greatest beauty; our bodies will shine in brilliancy, and the sun be much more glorious than now. Peter speaks of this day, in 2 Peter 3:10-13, “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up. But, according to his promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness?

Paul also testifies to the same in 1 Corinthians 3:13, that “the last day shall be revealed in fire.” And Isaiah 30:26, “ The light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold as the light of seven days, in the day that Jehovah bindeth up the hurt of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.” Likewise Isaiah 65:17, “For, behold I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice forever in that which I create.” Therefore this passing away is not only according to form but also as to essence; unless it be that you do not want to call it a passing away, if things turn to dust until no trace of them can be found, as the burned body turns to ashes and passes away.

58. But where do our souls dwell when the abode of every creature is afire and there is no earthly dwelling place? Answer: My dear hearer, where is the soul now? Or where is it when we sleep and are not conscious of what is taking place in our bodies and in the world around us? Do you think that God cannot so preserve or hold the souls of men in his hand that they will never know how heaven and earth passed away? Or do you think that he must have a bodily home for the soul, just as a shepherd has a stable for his sheep? It is enough for you to know that they are in God’s hands and not in the care of any creature. Though you do not understand how it happens, do not be led astray. Since you have not yet learned what happens to you when you fall asleep or awaken, and can never know how near you are to waking or sleeping, though you daily do both, how do you expect to understand all about this question? The Scripture says, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit,” and so let it be. Meanwhile there will arise a new heaven and a new earth, and our bodies will be revived again to eternal salvation. Amen. If we knew just how the soul would be kept, faith would be at an end. But now we journey and know not just whither; yet we put our confidence in God, and rest in his keeping, and our faith abides in all its dignity.

III. THE SPIRITUAL INTERPRETATION OF THESE GOSPEL SIGNS.

59. Finally, we must find also a hidden or spiritual meaning in this Gospel.

The sun is Christ, the moon is the church, the stars are Christians, the powers of heaven are the prelates or planets of the church. Now these earthly signs surely signify what has long since taken place and is now taking place among Christians; for they follow the service of sin and threaten and manifest the punishment resting upon them.

60. That the sun is darkened no doubt signifies that Christ does not shine in the Christian church; that is, that the Gospel is not preached and that faith is expiring from the lack of divine service. This has come about through the teaching and works of men. The pope sits in the churches in the place of Christ and shines like dirt in a lantern — he with his bishops, priests, and monks. It is these that have darkened the sun for us, and instead of the true worship of God have set up idolatry and image worship with their tonsure and hoods and vestments and pipes and lutes and singing and playing etc.

Oh what darkness! What darkness!

61. From this it necessarily follows that neither the moon gives any light; that is, when faith died out, love had to die out also, so that no real Christian deeds are any more seen, no example is found in which one Christian serves another; but all the people have been led into idolatry, and .image worship, and there have been instituted mass, vigils, altars, chapels, purifications, bells, and impostures. Again what darkness!

62. I interpret the falling of the stars to mean the falling of man who has been baptized and become a Christian and then became a priest or monk.

Whoever wants to believe me, may; whoever does not want to, need not do so, but I know what I am talking about. I do not say that they will all be lost; God can save even from the fire whom he will. But this I say, whoever becomes a priest or monk in the belief that he is taking up a holy estate falls from Christian faith into unbelief; for the falling of the stars does not signify the gross forms of sin, murder, adultery, theft, but a falling from faith. Priests and monks (unless God does wonders) are by virtue of their position renegade and apostate Christians, worse than whom no people dwell on the earth.

63. The Turks also are no Christians; but in two senses they are better than the Papists: first, they have never been Christians or stars, therefore have not fallen from the faith; secondly, they do not sin against the sacrament of the Lord’s body and blood. But the Papists make a sacrifice out of the mass and a meritorious work and do it daily and continually. This is certainly the most sacrilegious perversion upon which the sun has yet shined. In short he who desires to become holy and be saved by works and holy orders, falls from the faith, falls from heaven; for the blood of Jesus Christ alone is able to save us. Therefore, whenever you see a star fall, then know that it signifies some one has become a priest, a monk, or a nun.

64. That men’s hearts failed them for fear signifies the torments which the pope’s saints and fallen stars suffer, for while they do great things their consciences are never at rest. The Scriptures say they are weary and heavy laden.

65. The roaring winds and seas are the worldly estates, both high and low.

There is no ruler or land at peace with the other, no faith or trust in one another, everyone is looking only to his own interests. Neither is there reproof or discipline or fear upon the earth; and the whole world is so engaged in eating, drinking, unchastity, and the lusts of the flesh, that it moans and roars.

66. The powers of heaven are our planets, our spiritual squires and tyrants, popes, bishops, and their companions, the universities, which are all so deeply sunk in worldly affairs, property, honor, and pleasures, that they think they are not planets, that is, errorists, for planeta in Greek means an errorist, one who does not travel on the right way, but travels backward and to both sides as the planets also do in the heavens. This the Germans express in a proverb, the more learned, the more perverse; in other words, the spiritual government is only planets. But now when the Gospel shines forth and shows them their virtue and colors it with its own hue, and shows that they are unlearned idolators and soul-deceivers, they get angry, begin to move, and form a constellation. They gather together, try to shelter themselves behind bulls and edicts, and threateningly predict a great flood.

But it will do them no good, the day will come and its light cannot be placed under a bushel like a candle.

67. The parable of the fig tree seems to me to signify that the fig tree is the Holy Scriptures which have so long been hidden in obscurity. They are now budding forth and taking leaves, their word is breaking forth into fruitage. For twelve centuries it has not been so well known, nor have its languages been so well known. There is no doubt in my mind, however, that the Scriptures are a fig tree which is easily preserved. It was fig leaves with which Adam and Eve covered their nakedness; for the old Adam always uses the Scriptures to adorn himself. Therefore the book must come forth, its leaves must become green, in spite of all the movements of the planets. The summer is not far distant — would to God that the fruit would also follow the leaves. I fear that there will be nothing but leaves, for we talk much about true faith but bring forth no fruit.

68. Enough has now been said concerning these signs; if anyone desires to consider the matter further, to him has been given here the impulse and a start. But the planets with their factious spirit will not believe in them, in order that the Scriptures may still be true in this, that they give these people great security and contempt for the word, works, and signs of God.

Various Items - Including a New Cell Phone Number

The Lively cell phone I was using lost its zeal to accept spam messages. I am setting up a new cell phone tomorrow and will work on Magic Jack as my main phone. 

Zoom confessed that the charitable exemption does not apply to churches unless they have an orphanage or a food distribution service. That should move us ahead in using Zoom when that is ready and practiced a bit. 

I am in a techno-storm with new phones and new video conferences. But wait, there's more.

I have changed my exercise routine to 7 days a week because that is good for lowering blood pressure. The Mayo Clinic says: 

"Regular physical activity can lower high blood pressure by about 5 to 8 mm Hg . It's important to keep exercising to keep blood pressure from rising again. As a general goal, aim for at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity every day." 

Extra weight makes a difference too, since that puts a strain on the heart and the blood system.

I am producing lectures for our Reformation Seminary and expect to do a lot of this teaching throughout the year, as my primary activity in addition to the blog. Therefore, my work with GCU is doubtful. Like UOP, GCU hopped on the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion bandwagon, a bizarre response to -

KJV Galatians 3:26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

I will have more information soon. The scheduler was very pleasant, as always. Some classes may be coming up soon.

Pity the Church Managers Who Will Be Remembered for the Debacles

 

One member cautioned me to stop saying "church leaders" because they are not leaders, but managers (at best). The managers attain their richly endowed palaces of spiritual poverty by following rather than by leading. They took their inheritance, like the Prodigal Son, and wasted it on slow horses and fast women, as the parable suggests. However, there is no repentance, only scapegoating. 

The son of one synod president, who was noted for covering up at least one felony, told another person, "Greg Jackson almost destroyed WELS." That seemed a bit harsh to me, but it explained the difference between the Chief Article of Christianity - Justification by Faith - and their mindless devotion to universal forgiveness without faith, Objective Justification.

What is the one quality needed in those managers? They lack faith in Jesus Christ and spread their poison as much as they can. They live in fear, which is why they spend so much time covering up crimes and absolving the guilty who give them political power. Because they have no grasp of the Christian Faith, they only do their work by deceit. Whether wasting away or ready to explode in fat, they look miserable. 

ELCA was so deviously choreographed at its 1987 conception that the shrieking hens of lesbian dominance had to come out of their covens and take over in 2009. Some demi-semi-conservative male bishops were alarmed, but Liz Eaton knew their warnings would only weaken male tradition. She moved from being podunk local bishop in Ohio in 2007 to ELCA Presiding Bishop in 2013. She no longer looks gleeful about her overwhelming win and her messianic delusions.

As a student of essential details in biographies I continue to be curious about male bishops having wives and children, while women bishops have... No one seems to know. When a new female bishop is placed on her ecclesiastical throne, no one seems to be included. I thought inclusion and belong were "the thing". Liz Eaton is married, but the female bishop majority appears to be solitary.

The intellectual strength of the women bishops seems to be zero, perhaps even less. A group of them chanted for a journalist that the Holy Spirit was locked in the closet and ready to come out. 

The irony is that the so-called conservative synod managers pretend to be distant from the bird cage of crazies, La Cage aux Folles. They have been huddled together with ELCA since I do not know when. I enjoyed forcing out the story about the WELS and LCMS managers "conferring" with the ELCA manager at Snowbird. Curiously, ELCA's The Lutheran covered this accurately while WELS and Missouri were wet-their-pants frightened. Otten reproduced The Lutheran's article. All references to ELCA-LCMS-WELS Snowbird have been scrubbed from the Internet. 

ELCA Women Bishops - Let the Holy Spirit Out of the Closet!

Party in the MLC article - hilariously deceitful.

If the reader thinks ELCA is gayer than lavender hose, then look at WELS videos and synod support for them. "Party in the MLC (Martin Luther College)" was uploaded to YouTube and favored by many inside WELS and outside as well.

What do the ELCA-WELS-ELS-LCMS-CLC managers have brewing?

Their higher education schools represent tons of buildings that are no longer needed.

The perks of managing are very expensive and so it the cost of medical insurance.

The clergy do not have faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and therefore turn to secure, gimmicky plans that consume money while shrinking their base even more. 

Any group can gather and form a congregation more faithful than the atrocities promoted by the apostates synods.

 Liz Eaton and her cohorts won the 2009 ELCA vote at this Twin City congregation.
A ferocious storm knock the cross over.

Daily Luther Sermon Quote - Advent 2 - "Pure words of comfort are these. He does not put forth a parable from the fall or winter season when all the trees are bare and the dreary days begin; but a parable from the spring and summer season, when everything is joyous, when all creation buds forth and rejoices."

 

Complete Sermon -> Advent 2, Luke 21:25-36. Christ’s Second Coming: or the Signs of the Day of Judgment; and the Comfort Christians Have from Them

II. THE COMFORT CHRISTIANS HAVE WHEN THESE SIGNS APPEAR.

“And when these things begin to come to pass, look up, and lift up your heads; because your redemption draweth nigh

37. Here you may say, who can lift up his head in the face of such terrible wrath and judgment? If the whole world is filled with fear at that day, and lets fall its head and countenance out of terror and anxiety; how shall we look up and lift up our heads, which evidently means, how shall we manifest any joy in and longing for these signs? In answer I would say that all this is spoken only to those who are really Christians and not to heathen and Jews. True Christians are so afflicted with all manner of temptations and persecutions that in this life they are miserable. Therefore they wait and long and pray for redemption from sin and all evil; as we also pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy kingdom come”, and “Deliver us from evil.” If we are true Christians we will earnestly and heartily join in this prayer. If we do not so pray, we are not yet true Christians.

38. If we pray aright, our condition must truly be such that, however terrible these signs may be, we will look up to them with joy and earnest desire, as Christ admonishes: “When these things begin to come to pass, look up.” He does not say, Be filled with fear or drop your heads; for there is coming that for which we have been so earnestly praying. If we really wish to be freed from sin and death and hell, we must look forward to this coming of the Lord with joy and pleasure.

St. Paul also says, in 2 Timothy 4:8, “Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give to me at that day: and not only to me, but also to all them that have loved his appearing.” If he gives the crown to those who love his appearing, what will he give to those who hate and dread it? Without doubt, to enemies, eternal condemnation. Titus 2:13 says, “ Looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of the Great God and our Savior Jesus Christ.”

And Luke 12:36, “And be ye yourselves like unto men looking for their lord, when he shall return from the marriage feast.”

39. But what do those do who are filled with fear and do not desire to have him come, when they pray, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done .... deliver us from the evil one?” Do they not stand in the presence of God and lie to their own hurt? Do they not strive against the will of God who will have this day for the redemption of the saints? It is necessary, therefore, that we exercise great care lest we be found to hate and to dread that day. Such dread is a bad omen and belongs to the damned, whose cold minds and hard hearts must be terrified and broken, if perchance they might reform.

40. But to believers that day will be comforting and sweet. That day will be the highest joy and safety to the believer, and the deepest terror and anguish to the unbeliever; just as also in this life the truths of the Gospel are exceedingly sweet to the godly and exceedingly hateful to the wicked.

Why should the believer fear and not rather exceedingly rejoice, since he trusts in Christ who comes as judge to redeem him and to be his everlasting portion.

41. But you say I would indeed await his coming with joy, if I were holy and without sin. I should answer, what relief do you find in fear and flight?

It would not redeem you from sin if you were to be filled with terror for a thousand years. The damned are eternally filled with fear of that day, but this does not take away their sin; yea, this fear rather increases sin and renders man unfit to appear without sin on that day when it comes. Fear must pass out of the soul and there must enter in a desire for righteousness and for that day. But if you really desire to be free from sin and to be holy, then give thanks to God and continue to desire to be more free from sin.

Would to God that such desire were so sincere and powerful in you as to bring you to your death.

42. There is no one so well prepared for the judgment day as he who longs to be without sin. If you have such desire, what do you fear? You are then in perfect accord with the purpose of that day. It comes to set free from sin all who desire it, and you belong to that number. Return thanks to God and abide in that desire. Christ says his coming is for our redemption. But do not deceive yourself and be satisfied, perhaps, with the simple desire to be free from sin and to await the coming of the day without fear. Perhaps your heart is false and you are filled with fear, not because you would be free from sin, but because in the face of that day you cannot sin free and untrammeled. See to it that the light within you be not darkness. For a heart that would be truly free from sin will certainly rejoice in the day that fulfills its desire. If the heart does not so rejoice there is no true desire to be loosed from its sin.

43. Therefore we must above all things lay aside all hatred and abhorrence of this day, and exercise diligence that we may really desire to have our sins taken away. When this is done, we may not only calmly await the day, but with heartfelt desire and joy pray for it and say, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.” In this you must cast aside all feelings and conceit, hold fast to the comforting words of Christ, and rest in them alone.

44. Could he admonish, comfort, and strengthen you in a more delicate and loving manner? In the first place he says, You will hear of wars, but you should have no fears. And when he tells you to have no fears, what else does he mean than that he commands you to be of good cheer and to discern the signs with joy? Secondly, he tells you to look up; thirdly, to lift up your heads; and fourthly, he speaks of your redemption. What can comfort and strengthen you if such a word does not? Do you think he would deceive you and try to lead you into a false confidence? My dear hearer, let such a word not have been said in vain: thank God and trust in it — there is no other comfort or advice if you cast this to the winds. It is not your condemnation but your redemption of which Christ speaks. Will you turn his words around and say, It is not your redemption but your condemnation? Will you flee from your own salvation? Will you not greet and thank your God who comes out to meet and to greet you?

45. He has no doubt also spoken this word for the faint hearted who, although they are devout and prepared for the last day, are yet filled with great anxiety and are hindered in taking part in his coming with that desire which should be found at the end of the world; therefore he calls attention to their redemption. For when at the end of the world sin will hold such sway, and by the side of sin the punishment for sin with pestilence, war and famine, it will be necessary to give to believers strength and comfort against both evils, sin and its punishment. Therefore he uses the sweet and comforting word redemption which is so dear to the heart of man. What is redemption? Who would not be redeemed? Who would have a desire to abide in the desert of sin and punishment? Who would not wish an end to such miser)-and woe, such perils for souls, such ruin for man? Especially should this be the case when the Savior allures, invites and comforts us in such an endearing way.

46. The godless fanatical preachers are to be censured who in their sermons deprive people of these words of Christ and faith in them, who desire to make people devout by terrifying them and who teach them to prepare for the last day by relying upon their good works as satisfaction for their sins. Here despair, fear and terror must remain and grow and with it hatred, aversion and abhorrence for the coming of the Lord, and enmity against God be established in the heart; for they picture Christ as nothing but a stern judge whose wrath must be appeased by works, and they never present him as the Redeemer, as he calls and offers himself, of whom we are to expect that out of pure grace he will redeem us from sin and evil.

47. Such is always the result where the Gospel is not rightly proclaimed.

When hearts are only driven by commands and threats, they will only be estranged from God and be led to abhor him. We ought to terrify, but only the obstinate and hardened; and when these have become terrified and dejected also, we ought to strengthen and comfort.

48. From all this we learn how few there are who pray the Lord’s Prayer acceptably even though it is prayed unceasingly in all the world. There are few who would not rather that the day would never come. This is nothing else than to desire that the kingdom of God may not come. Therefore the heart prays contrary to the lips, and while God judges according to the heart, they judge according to the lips. For this reason they institute so many prayers, fill all the churches with their bawling and think they pray aright when in reality their prayer is: “May thy kingdom not come, or not just yet.” Tell me, is not such a prayer blasphemy? Is it not of such a prayer that the Psalmist speaks in Psalm 109:7, “Let his prayer be turned into sin.” How men are applying all the wealth of the world to fill every nook and corner of it with such blasphemy, and then are calling it a divine service!

49. Yet he who feels such fear must not despair, but rather use it wisely.

He uses it wisely who permits such fear to urge and admonish him to pray for grace that this fear might be taken away and he be given joy and delight in that day. Christ has promised, Matthew 7:8, “Everyone that asketh receiveth.” Therefore those who are fearful are nearer their salvation than the hard-hearted and reprobate, who neither fear nor find comfort in that day. For though they do not have a desire for it, they have a something within which admonishes them to pray for such a desire.

50. On the other hand, he uses fear unwisely who allows it to increase and abides in the same, as though he could thereby be cleansed from sin. This leads to nothing good. Not fear, which, as John says, 1 John 4:18, must be cast out, will remain in that day, but love which, St. Paul says in Corinthians 13:8, must abide. Fear is to be a power to drive us to seek such love and pray for it. Where fear is not cast out it opposes the will of God and antagonizes your own salvation; it thus becomes a sin against the Holy Spirit. It is, however, not necessary to say that the individual must be altogether without fear, for we still have human nature abiding in us. This is weak and cannot exist altogether without the fear of death and the judgment; but the spirit must be uppermost in the mind, as Christ says, Matthew 26:41, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” “And he spake to them a parable: Behold the fig tree, and all the trees: when they now shoot forth, ye see it and know of your own selves that the summer is now nigh. Even so ye also, when ye see these things coming to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh.”

51. Pure words of comfort are these. He does not put forth a parable from the fall or winter season when all the trees are bare and the dreary days begin; but a parable from the spring and summer season, when everything is joyous, when all creation buds forth and rejoices. By this he clearly teaches that we are to look forward to the last day with as much joy and delight as all creation shows in spring and summer. What is the meaning of this parable if in it he does not teach us this? He could have found others that were not so joyous.

Daily Luther Sermon Quote - Advent 2 - "But his last coming will be such that all must see him as Revelation 1:7 says, “And every eye shall see him.” And they shall see that he is none other than the man Christ Jesus, in bodily form, as he was born of the virgin Mary and walked upon this earth."

 

Complete Sermon -> Advent 2, Luke 21:25-36. Christ’s Second Coming: or the Signs of the Day of Judgment; and the Comfort Christians Have from Them

28. I am not yet able to say who these people are, unless it be those who are exposed to and have to do with the temptations of death and hell, concerning whom Tauler writes. For such temptations consume flesh and blood, yea, bone and marrow, and are death itself. No one can endure them except he be miraculously sustained. A number of patriarchs have tasted them, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David; but near the end of the world they will be more common. This token will then greatly increase, although it is present now more than is generally known. There are individuals who are in the perils of death and are wrestling with him; they feel that which will come over the whole world and fear that it will come upon and abide with them. It is to be hoped, however, that such people are in a state of grace. For Christ speaks as if he would separate the fear and the thing which they fear; and so divides these that he gives to them the fear and to the world that which they fear. It is to be presumed that by this fear and anxiety, they are to have their hell and death here, while the world, which fears nothing, will have death and hell hereafter. “For the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.”

29. By the powers of heaven some understand the angels of heaven. But since Christ speaks of signs, and says we shall see them and in them recognize the coming of the last day, they must surely be visible tokens and be perceived with the bodily senses. For those people whose consciences are in distress and whose hearts are failing from fear, though this be an affection of the soul, yet manifest it by word and countenance. Therefore these powers of heaven must be such as can be really shaken and so perceived.

30. But the Scriptures speak in a two-fold way concerning the powers of heaven. At one time they are spoken of as the powerful heavens or the heavens which are among all creatures the most powerful, as is written, Genesis 1:8, “And God called the firmament” — that is, expanse or fortress — ”heaven”; for every creature under heaven is ruled and strengthened by the light, heat and movements of the heavens. What would the earth be without the heavens but a dark and desert waste? Like princes and nobles in the world, the Scriptures call the heavens powerful because they rule over the bodies beneath them.

31. At another time the powers of heaven signify the hosts of heaven, as Psalm 83:6 says: “By the word of Jehovah were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.” And Genesis 2:1: “And the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.” It is the common custom of the Scriptures to speak in this way of the powers of heaven. And it is clear from these passages that the hosts or powers of heaven include all that is in them; in the heavens, the sun, moon, stars, and other heavenly bodies; on earth, man and beast, birds and fish, trees, herbs and whatever else lives upon it.

32. The passage before us may therefore mean the powers of heaven in both senses, probably chiefly the hosts of heaven. Christ would say that all creatures shall be shaken and shall serve as tokens of that day; sun and moon with darkening, the stars with falling, the nations with wars, men with hearts failing from fear, the earth with earthquakes, the waters with winds and roaring, the air with infection and pestilence, and the heavens with ‘their hosts.

33. I do not know just what is meant by the moving of the hosts of heaven unless it be manifestations like those of the great constellation of the planets in 1524. For the planets are certainly among the most important of the powers and hosts of heaven, and their remarkable gathering together into one constellation is surely a token for the world. Christ does not say that all the hosts of heaven will be moved, but some of them only; for not all stars shall fall from their places, nor all men be overcome with fear, nor all waters at the same time be in noisy commotion, nor sun and moon be every day darkened; for these are to be but signs, which can only occur at particular times and in a few places, that they may be something special, and singled out as tokens from the great mass which are not such. It is quite probable, therefore, that these movements of the powers of heaven are such movements of the constellations of the planets. Astrologers interpret them to signify the coming of another flood; God grant that they may rather presage the coming of the last day.

34. Let us not be mistaken, however, and think that these constellations are the product of the natural course of the heavenly bodies. As such Christ calls them signs and desires us to take special note of them, appearing, as they do, not alone but with a multitude of other tokens. Let the unbeliever doubt and despise God’s tokens and speak of them as simply natural; but let us hold fast to the Gospel.

35. There are many other signs elsewhere described in the Scriptures, such as earthquakes, famine, pestilence, and wars as in Luke 17:20 and Matthew 24:7. We have seen much of these for they have been common at all times. Still they are tokens appearing by the side of others.

It is a known fact also that wars at the present time are of such a character as to make former wars appear as mere child’s play. But since our Gospel of today does not speak of these, let us not consider them further. Only let us consider them as signs, great signs, signifying great things; alas, they are already despised and forgotten! “And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.”

36. Here power may again signify the hosts of angels, saints, and all creatures that will come with Christ to judgment (I believe this is the correct interpretation); or it may mean the special power and might which will characterize this coming of Christ in contradistinction to his first coming. He says not only that he will come, but that they shall see him come. At his birth he came also, but men did not recognize him. He comes now through the Gospel in a spiritual manner, into the hearts of believers.

This also is not by observation. But his last coming will be such that all must see him as Revelation 1:7 says, “And every eye shall see him.” And they shall see that he is none other than the man Christ Jesus, in bodily form, as he was born of the virgin Mary and walked upon this earth.

He might have said they shall see me, but that would not have clearly indicated his bodily form. But when he says: “They shall see the Son of man,” he dearly indicates that it will be a bodily coming, a bodily seeing in bodily form; a corning in great power and glory, accompanied by the hosts of heaven. He shall sit upon the clouds and be accompanied by all the saints. The Scriptures speak much of that day and everywhere point to the same. This, then, is said concerning the signs. The Savior adds words of comfort for Christians in the presence of these signs.

Failed Methods of WELS - Blue Writing Came from a Former WELS Member

"Did you ever notice the tactics used by those who are desperate? Not to minimize the importance of this, but the use of shabby translations is one of many measures employed by the rats on a sinking ship. The abhorrence of the KJV by WELS leadership most likely marked the beginning of the end of Confessional Lutheranism for the WELS. The venerable 1941 TLH was replaced starting in 1993. This was a year after Wayne Mueller’s official church growth denial and Corky Koeplin’s stern warning titled Whither WELS? in CN. 

[GJ - I sent Corky's essay to CN, and Timid Tim B. excoriated me for doing so. It was supposed to be Top Secret, Eyes Only! - but the anonymous sender never told me.]

 Let's just hope Scott Barefoot didn't pray with the LCMS leaders.

Thank you for re-posting some articles from the Ichabod archives. It helps to connect the dots. It also shows the progression or more accurately, the regression, in the WELS. The abuse of members by the called workers can leave permanent scars. I have witnessed firsthand families who were members of the same congregation for several generations. Then, because of a pastor’s arrogance, they left and never came back.

 This is a very good description of WELS, the CLC (sic), etc.

These desperation tactics clearly exhibit that they are an exercise in futility. Plus, there is also a little bit of damage control going on by the WELS leadership. But it is not much. The leaders still must save face. They certainly will not be held accountable for hoodwinking the members. Imagine if a DP got in front of a congregation and apologized for promoting Enthusiasm. Pinch me, I am dreaming.

GJ - My introduction to WELS "Evangelism" was the Kelm-Valleskey workshop where Cho's work was praised to high heaven (before his embezzling was revealed, of course). I stood up to criticize the use of an occult phony like Cho. I previously met Cho and shook hands with him. Do not criticize - I listened, read his atrocious books, and met him. That is called research.

 Here is a verbatim example of Cho using Asian occult methods. American leaders ate it up like chocolate ice cream with sprinkles.

Even the membership numbers are deceiving. WELS baptized membership peaked at about 420,000. Today, it is about 354,000. That comes out to be slightly more than 84% of the peak. Those are official numbers based upon what congregations send to WELS HQ. I believe that congregations also submit attendance numbers. As head usher, I take a head count at every service and write it down on a spreadsheet in the ushers’ room. It is further broken down into a total number, number of visitors, and communion attendance. I count the offerings with the financial secretary. He just distributed the new offering envelopes for 2020. What is significant about that are the sets of offering envelopes that are never picked during the entire year. Some are members who are “still on the books” but have not been around, sometimes for several years.

 Are these two skirt-chasers comparing notes? In WELS, Willow Creek was considered the place to study success methods. They gave scholarships to go there, even though many did not need to study womanizing. Hybels was forced out early. Didja know he insisted on feminist Bibles? 

These sordid details tell the true story of WELS membership. I understand the synod apologists will claim that as an aggregate number, membership in Christian denominations has declined everywhere in this country. There is no disputing this. But these apologists have just made the rather obvious point that the CGM never works, no matter who uses it, the WELS included. This is contrary to what was promised when the WELS leadership boasted about spoiling the Egyptians.

Here is a brief sample of what has been tried: Leadership training seminars (church growth training), participating in School Choice programs for the parochial schools, retaining the services of a consultant (like Cornerstone Ministries), a new hymnal, new Bible translations, worship supplements, “blended” worship services also known as contemptible worship, staff ministers (when proposed, they could not articulate what it was, but they wanted it).

Here is not what has been tried for true church growth: Promotion of the Means of Grace solely because of the Efficacy of the Word.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I will keep you and Mrs. Jackson in my prayers. God’s blessings for the new year.

In Christ,

WELS Layman"

Another WELS Layman Responded to This Post - This One is "WELS No More"

"Dear Pastor Jackson,

Another great post on Ichabod “WELS Layman on WELS Failed Methods” it was very much appreciated. At some point WELS must begin to notice that their members realize the truth and are leaving in droves. WELS has a culture of abuse, lying, and false doctrine, what a sad little denomination. I thought the recent meeting in Florida where they all (WELS-ELS-LCMS) jumped on the UOJ bandwagon was nothing more than defense of a very clear error in doctrine. Why would they make such a big deal of their doctrinal agreement of UOJ if they didn’t know people like me know it is not Biblical? Nobody reads Ichabod (sarcasm) and the UOJ they are selling is rotting on the shelf.    

I try to read Ichabod every day if possible, and really appreciate the sermons on Sunday.

Thank you for all you do!

God bless you,"