Martin Luther College - WELS - The Same College That Loved Party in the MLC, Now Singing in the Shower!

 

Inherit the stupid II: when a Martin Luther College homecoming video infected WELS with the gay

The reporting and reaction continue to Josh Moniz's story in the New Ulm Journal about the cancellation of a production of "Inherit the Wind." Dan Linehan supplies more details in Saturday's Mankato Free Press article, New Ulm theater cancels play after controversy, while free-thinking Christophobe and science professor P.Z. Myers takes it up in Martin Luther College looks like a total waste of time and money.

Not surprisingly, this isn't the first time that Martin Luther College  (MLC) students' self-expression ran into disapproval by the WELS faithful.

Party in the MLC

Rummaging through MLC closets, Bluestem has stumbled over an old social media tale that involves student self-censorship after a popular dorm homecoming video hit YouTube.  The September 18, 2009 MLC Update High School edition reported in Dorm Videos:

For Homecoming festivities, the four dorms put together a video to entertain the student body. (Well, not Augustana— they must have forgotten.) Concord, the frosh and sophomore men, starred NateWordell(West) in a series of misadventures to arrive at chapel on time. Centennial, the frosh and sophomore women, featured Claire Czaplewski (KML) and a team of students on a missionto conquer the Swine Flu Sprite. By far the crowd favorite was the Summit men’s video rendition(pictured)  of “Party in the USA” by Miley Cyrus.

That sounds innocent enough in the pre-twerking days of 2009.

Here's the video preserved on the Facebook page Bring back the MLC version of party in the USA!!!!!! :

Why did the video--which received over 80,000 hits before its makers pulled it--need to come back?

The Martin Luther College  (MLC) parody of a Fire Island Pines (FIP) parody

The "Party in the MLC video was based on the Fire Island Pines (FIP) parody tribune video of the Miley Cyrus music video for "Party in the USA."   Fire Island Pines:

. . .has been a jewel in the gay community for over 60 years, and continues to be the premier vacation destination for residents and vacationers. Located just 50 miles east of New York City, The Pines is home to the most expensive real estate in Fire Island.

Here's the FIP version:

While both videos are silly rather than sexy, the fact that the MLC version was based on a gay-friendly video didn't escape notice long from either the LGBT community online nor from the WELS faithful.

Queerty posted about the video in WATCH: What Miley Cyrus Hath Wrought: Party In the … MLC?

To what cultural aspersions do we owe the phenomenon of remaking the remakes of music videos? The Fire Island Pines boys, who created the Miley Cyrus send-up “Party In The F.I.P,” receive their own homage with “Party In The MLC” from a bunch of dormmates at a “homecoming summit.” At, uh, Midland Lutheran College [sic]?

Keep watching, ’cause there’s a blooper reel.

Those commenting are divided about whether the video is homage to the FIP video, insulting to gay men because of the fem stereotypes that the schoolboys prance around, or totally inappropriate because the young Lutherans just aren't cute enough to be in front of a video camera.

A rather oddball Lutheran blogger posted about the video a few days later in October 2009  in Mary Lou College's Own Flock of Seagulls--or-- Girls Gone Wild:

A WELS member sent me the link to this video, which makes the previous one (the statue fight) look positively confessional in comparison.

Familiar names like Huebner and Krause star in this travesty, which includes prissy lip-synching and crotch grabbing. I thought Michael Jackson was sick when he felt compelled to do the same, but this is worse and comes from the WELS "College of Ministry."

Read the comments on the video and notice the great impression made on the audience.

The sound and the fury signifying whatever

Oh the outrage! The attention from both communities lead to the creators of the video to remove it, the blogger notes in a mid-November post, Wisconsin Lutheran College Paper Defends "Party in the MLC" Video On Its Front Page! As Wise As Doves, As Innocent As Serpents:

The Wisconsin Lutheran College (WELS when raising funds) student newspaper, "The Sword," ran a Front Page! editorial / story on the MLC video, quoted in part (blue type in original):

But once the video left the context of the MLC campus, it came under unforeseen criticism from some who failed to see the humor in the video.

The most pronounced critic of the video was independent Lutheran pastor and blogger Gregory Jackson. Posts from Jackson, as well as comments left by the blog's readers, labeled the actions of the MLC students featured in the video unbecoming to future WELS pastors and teachers.

These claims were based on the video from which the creators of "Party in the MLC" took their inspiration--a previous YouTube video known as "Party in the FIP." Set to the tune of "Party in the USA" by Miley Cyrus, "Party in the FIP" shows a group of men performing choreographed routines on a beach while lip-synching the lyrics of the song."

"Party in the MLC" is a parody of the video, using the same soundtrack and many of the same routines.

The controversy over MLC students parodying "Party in the FIP" is derived from the lifestyle associated with "the FIP."

But makers of the "Party in the MLC" agree with other viewers that none of the actions in the "Party in the FIP" video would be considered blatant homosexuality. They also admit no previous knowledge of the reputation of Fire Island Pines. Ben Reichel, MLC student and video contributor, revealed, "We didn't find out until two or three days after we posted it that that's what it stood for. After we learned that we were kind of taken aback."

After learning of the offense caused by the video, the students decided to remove the video "out of Christian love" for those who found the video inappropriate. The decision to remove the video was a personal decision made by the creators of the video.

Reichel stated, "We all got together as a group --the guys who were in the video--and we realized that this caused way too much commotion and way too much negativity, and we all decided together that we were going to take it down."

After meeting amongst (sic) themselves, the students sought the advice of college administration. Reichel continued, "We went and talked to the administration here at MLC--the president and vice-president--and we got their thoughts on it too. But we knew before we even talked to them that we were going to take it down."

Matt Rothe, classmate of Reichel and video contributor, along with the rest of the students involved with the video, are ready to put "Party in the MLC" and the attention it has received in the past; "The group of guys who made this video only wished for good to come out of this video, and I must express firmly we wish for no more negative attention from it."

GJ - The WLC student newspaper has a lot of facts wrong. They did not make any effort to seek clarification. They are now drawing even more attention to the video and revealing that the students were not at all repentant, just resentful they got caught.

First of all, a WELS layman was furious over the video, which was posted on You Tube for all the world to see. Many people provide information to this blog so the rest of Lutherdom can see it. This layman was unable to watch more than a minute of it. I posted the video so people could see for themselves, as he wished.

The MLC students jumped in to defend the video right away, and now WLC has joined them. Their defense is to attack me, but the video stands on its own as a dubious production, whether I like it or not.

The defense of the video was so ridiculous that I did a little more research and found the original, "Party in the FIP." They knew what they were copying, and they acknowledged it rather quietly in the notes. Apparently the original went viral right away, thanks to various homosexual websites.

College students know how to use Google. Where else would they copy their homework from? Kelm, Parlow, and Limmer have shown that slavish copying is a good career move in WELS. To plead ignorance about Fire Island Pines is a bit absurd. All of the sudden these guys just fell off the haywagon when they landed in Metropolitan New Ulm.

And they thought the FIP video was straight? They should be on SNL, in a skit about their lack of gaydar. . . .

Bluestem is left to ponder what it means that "Party in the MLC" was the overwhelming favorite of Homecoming Dorm Videos at Martin Luther College.  We couldn't possibly comment on that.

Some really good comments on Party in the MLC here.

A Party in the MLC  Video had some comments here 14 years ago.

Denominations - Especially The Big Five - ELCA-LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC (sic) - Are Pursuing and Scattering Their Dwindling Members.

 

The faithful Christians were slaughtered by predator beasts. Their peaceful  and prayerful acceptance shook the pagan audience to their very souls, and this began the conversion of the pagan West.

The tide has reversed. Now the denominations - especially The Big Five - ELCA-LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC (sic) - are murdering the souls of their own members, driving them away and engorging themselves with the loot of foreclosed church buildings and endowments.

One church expert told a large crowd, "The prune churches, which used to be plums, are the easiest to lead. They have nothing to do!" I have seen that in church closures where the clergy staff hung onto their salaries until the end, trying to be busy with their social activism. For every 300 year old church (like the one next to the Philadelphia ELCA Seminary) there is another, like Historic St. John in Milwaukee, independent but grabbed by WELS and the Jeske posse. They changed the name a bit - "on the Hillside" - yuk, yuk.

ELCA planted their flag with the 2009 visit, which was soon followed by an effort to make each shrinking seminary into La Cage aux Folles.

The Big Five have repudiated their beginnings in the Reformation, a rejection proved with gusto in the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation, 2017. Instead of shaking off the doom of Pietism, they pursued the toxins of Calvinism, Bogus Bibles, silly worship, and Druckerism.

"Am I cute? Or what!"

If Baylor University Is Not Baptist - Is Baylor's Truett Seminary Not Gay Affirming?

 

Truett Theological Seminary Hosts Gay-Affirming Speakers, Panelists

Protestia

George W. Truett Theological Seminary, or ‘Truett’ for short, is a Texas-based seminary operated by Baylor University (The World’s largest Baptist university) and associated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas. [GJ -Truett was late in starting, so they avoided affirming Biblical inerrancy.]

With nearly 400 students, they describe themselves as an “orthodox, evangelical school in the historic Baptist tradition” with a mission to “equip God-called people for gospel ministry in and alongside Christ’s Church by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

We recently wrote about Baylor after Greg Garrett, their pro-choice, gay-affirming, trans-affirming professor of Literature and Culture who called a centuries-old hymn “sexist” for containing the word “brethren,” and after he chastised author J.K Rowling for posting a lengthy Twitter thread where she repeatedly called a bunch of trans-women “men” on Trans Day of Visibility, something he found intolerable. 

Garrett also appears to be a key organizer in the new annual “racism” conference at Truett Seminary. Whereas last year’s featured Jemar Tisby and Beth Moore talking about racism in the white church, this year’s “Racism in the world church” includes a bunch of antinomians lecturing believers about how to be better Christians.

As part of the conference “Racism In The World Church” 2024, Truett/Baylor’s held a panel that was composed of pastors at affirming churches (at least 2 of 3 speakers). Woke Preacher TV explains:

Sean Palmer, an Enneagram guru and teaching pastor at Ecclesia Houston, proudly declared in a 2018 speech that his church has accepted transgender individuals and same-sex couples into membership.

Timothy Peoples is senior pastor of Wilshire Baptist Church, which advertises its affirming stance and is a member of the Association Of Welcoming + Affirming Baptists and participated in Dallas Pride last year.

(The third panel member, famed musician Jimi Calhoun, doesn’t really counter-balance the other men’s stances, as his “church,” Bridging Austin, appears to just be him, his wife, and a friend who have streamed a handful of brief “online liturgies” and held “meetups” advertised as “Taizé Contemplative Services” in the past few months.)

At the end of their conversation, titled “Black Pastors In White Spaces,” Palmer alludes to the objection of @NeilShenvi and agrees that adopting a critical social justice frame towards race will inevitably lead to compromise on “a whole constellation of other issues and topics that I also have to treat similarly.”

[From Wikipedia - Seminary faculty at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and other SBC seminaries were being required to sign documents indicating agreement with Scriptural inerrancy. The board of regents and trustees were able to avoid this requirement at Truett. Truett Seminary was and is more accepting of moderate theology.]

One Must Pay Taxes And Yet a Reward Comes Back

 

 Enchanted Peace is budding already.

Duties abound in life, requirements that can be delayed and yet they must be fulfilled. Taxes will soon be demanded. The Post Office will line up cars near midnight on the right date. This act of oblation strikes me as funny each year, because the returns arrive at the tax centers as mountains of paper. I asked one pro, "Do you mark returns which are officially late by a day, days, a week?" He responded, "No, we are too busy sorting them as they arrive." The imaginary late penalty brings in the sheaves.

So there are always chores like this, and we enjoy complaining about them. I enjoy rewards that overshadow such burdens as taxes, tax preparation, license bureau lines, and county taxes. However, the rewards of life easily counterbalance the chores. 

I went outside to check on Charlie Sue's playtime. We played catch, which I imagined was "Fetch!" but she understands it as "Take away!" She seldom brings back the ball but loves to leave it somewhere else or even hide it. I make aggressive moves at her to inspire leaps and runs. Doggy Day Care clients get concerned and makes a racket. They all want those orange balls. The large and small dogs on the south fence, Porchi and Dustmop, stay quiet and hope for some action. Dustmop sits between the front legs of the Great White Great Pyrenees. Porchi wants a finger combing. Dustmop wants to chase Charlie's ball along the fence.

Porchi likes to stand up at the fence so we can have some positive discussions. He loves to be praised for being so good, so handsome, so intelligent. He responds and tries to hug me at shoulder level, above the fence. He adopted the noise-making hard ball that I donated to one of the children. He loves that ball, just as the little boy did (but not Charlie Sue, who favors them small and orange). Today he let Dustmop sit between his enormous front legs. 

The gardens are the most fun when they are just starting to wake up. The last cluster of daffodils bloomed in a group, to decorate someone's house. Roses are already budding (Enchanted Peace) so the blooms will be on the altar and in cul-de-sac homes, in two weeks. 

Mints are rampant already, because they provide food for the bees, spreading in many directions. 

Some people talked me into teaching Greek again. I am looking forward to it on Zoom. I enjoy what most seminarians fear and loathe. Did I fall out of the high chair when reaching for Gerber's? I do not know, but Greek has always been a source of great happiness. My first Greek New Testament was a used Westcott and Hort, my second the Augustana College's United Bible Society GNT. My third and best is the Traditional Text, often named the Stephanus, available online from the NIV's website, Bible Gateway. 

I am going to post Greek New Testament lessons without having a precise schedule. I like having Reformation Seminary lectures on Tuesday and Thursday, 11 AM, but adding a third appointed Zoom seems risky for schedules and time. What's a seminary without Greek?

Due to Mushroom Management, kept in the dark, I do not know the future about Old Testament classes. But who does? I think higher education people will scare one another to death, and they will see significant declines based on overdoing online and traditional classroom degrees. I have two classes now and another one scheduled, which is very good. As people might imagine, I enjoy those courses and get great responses from dedicated Christians, more than a few grandparents.

 Veterans Honor

Daily Luther Sermon Quote - Second Sunday after Easter - "Nevertheless, Christ would not have even such dealt with rigorously. He would not have his kingdom narrowed down so as to include only such as are strong and healthy and perfect."

 

John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress is the most read book in the English language, after the Bible.

  My high school English teacher said, "If you haven't read this book, you are IGNORANT!"

Complete Sermon -> Misericordias Domini. Second Sunday After Easter. John 10:11-16. Christ’s Office and Kingdom; or How Christ is the True Shepherd

16. Thirdly: “Neither have ye bound up that which was broken.” To be broken is as though one had a bone fractured or were otherwise wounded.

As when a Christian is not only weak and infirm, so that he makes a misstep at times, but when he falls into such great temptation that he breaks his leg; for instance, if he should fall and deny the Gospel, as St. Peter did, when he denied Christ. Well, even though one should make such a misstep as to be impeded or overthrown — even then you should not cast him away, as though he no more belonged to this kingdom. For you must not rob Christ of his characteristic, that in his kingdom abounding grace and mercy alone prevail, so that he helps those who realize their misery and wretchedness, and desire to be helped, and that his kingdom is wholly one of consolation, and that he is a comforting, friendly shepherd, who tenderly invites, and would induce, all men to come unto him.

17. Now, all this is effected through the Gospel alone, by means of which we are to strengthen all the weak and heal all the sick; for this Word will satisfy every want of those whose consciences are troubled, and will give full consolation to all, so that no one, no matter how great a sinner he has been, need despair. Hence, Christ alone is the good shepherd, who heals all our infirmities and raises up again those who have fallen. He who does not do that is no shepherd.

18. Fourthly, the prophet says: “Neither have ye brought back that which was driven away.” What is meant by “that which was driven away”? It is that despised soul that is fallen so low that all efforts to reclaim it seem to be in vain. Nevertheless, Christ would not have even such dealt with rigorously. He would not have his kingdom narrowed down so as to include only such as are strong and healthy and perfect. That will be the case in the future kingdom that follows this life, as has been said: Now, because he reigns, pure grace and bliss only shall prevail. Even as God promised the children of Israel (Exodus 3:8) that the promised land would be a land flowing with milk and honey. Likewise St. Paul says that our uncomely parts shall have more abundant comeliness (1 Corinthians 12:23).

19. Fifthly, he concludes: “Neither have ye sought that which was lost.” That which was lost is that which is given up as already condemned, so that there is no expectation that it ever will return; as the publicans and harlots mentioned in the Gospel, and as the dissolute and intractable in our day, were and are. And yet, even these he would not have us pass by, but would have everything possible done to reclaim them. This was done by St. Paul, on different occasions; as, for example, when he delivered two men unto Satan, as he said to Timothy (1 Timothy 1:20): “Whom I delivered unto Satan that they might be taught not to blaspheme.” And, again, to the Corinthians he said (1 Corinthians 5:5): “I have concluded to deliver such a one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” He had cast these away as condemned, and yet he goes after them again.

The New King James Version - Who Published It? Bad Dreams Are Made of This!

 

"Thomas Nelson commissions 130 scholars, pastors, and lay Christians to create the New King James Version (NKJV) of the Bible, aiming to “retain the purity and stylistic beauty” of the original King James produced in 1611. The New Testament is released in 1979, and the entire Bible follows in 1982. The NKJV becomes one of the top three bestselling Bibles, alongside the NIV and KJV."

Timelin above

                                                                        +++

"In the mid-1970s, Bible publisher Thomas Nelson found itself with extra capital and decided to channel these profits into the New King James Version of the Bible.

The new version strove to revise the King James Version (KJV) with updated language. The seven-year project drew on the skills of 130 respected Bible scholars and church leaders. The New Testament was released in 1979, and the entire Bible followed in 1982. The NKJV went on to become one of the top three bestselling Bibles, alongside the NIV and the KJV.

Harper & Row acquired Zondervan and the NIV in 1988, and 23 years later, HarperCollins purchased Thomas Nelson and with it, the NKJV. The move shocked many in the industry because Nelson and Zondervan, the two largest Christian publishers in the world, had long been direct competitors. Despite initial concerns about the viability of the transaction, the two Bible versions continue to flourish as part of what is now HarperCollins Christian Publishing."

Stories above

+++

The History of the NKJV Bible

In 1611, the King James Version of the Holy Bible was published in England. No other book has had as much impact on the world as this historic translation. Earlier century scholars maintained the translation by modifying grammar, spelling and word usage to keep the biblical language alive and relevant for each new generation. In 1769, updates to the King James Version ceased, and its words continue to be cherished today. In the last thirty years, more than forty modern translations of the Bible have been published, and the King James Version continues to be the overwhelmingly favorite translation.

In 1975, more than two-hundred years since the King James Version’s last update, the boldest and most extensive revision in the history of modern Bible publishing began. With a 130-person team of Greek, Hebrew, and English scholars, editors, church leaders, and Christian laity Thomas Nelson Publishers sought to preserve the accuracy and poetry of the King James Version, but in a language that the everyday person could understand. In 1979 the NKJV New Testament was finished, releasing only the Book of Psalms in 1980. In 1982, the New King James Version was released in its entirety, seven years after its commission, making it the fifth major revision to the beloved King James Version.

Above - Thomas Nelson, aka TAN, which publishes Roman Catholic polemics

***

GJ - King James himself did not want a lot of footnotes, which steadfastly change the message of the Bible. The KJV is stingy with notes. The New KJV employs new edits and footnote$, which help to $how that they own the copyright for the every-changing New KJV. Ditto the NIV and the rest.

The Westcott-Hort Greek New Testament, which I own, has no footnotes to explain why they changed the text, erasing such words and phrases as "the Son of God" Mark 1 - and Mark 16:9-20. Didja notice that Presiding ELCA Bishop Liz Eaton said in her Easter 2024 message that Mark's Gospel ended at Mark 16:8 ("for they were afraid")? The Bogus Beck Bible from Christian News does the same.