ICHABOD, THE GLORY HAS DEPARTED - explores the Age of Apostasy, predicted in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, to attack Objective Faithless Justification, Church Growth Clowns, and their ringmasters. The antidote to these poisons is trusting the efficacious Word in the Means of Grace. John 16:8. Isaiah 55:8ff. Romans 10. Most readers are WELS, LCMS, ELS, or ELCA. This blog also covers the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, and the Left-wing, National Council of Churches denominations.
1. The Two-Source Theory. This has Mark as the most primitive and earliest of the Four Gospels. The "other source" was made up of sayings parallel to Matthew and Luke.
2. No one can really say all the things that the modern liberals claim to be true. Authority piles up on authority and theological faculties claim this or that perspective - all speculation. The foundation was their unbelief, or rationalism, or bias.
3. Left alone is the text itself. That is what we need to study thoroughly. A Yale PhD was given to someone who translated a German work by Rudolph Bultmann, doubtless to make many more people gush over Bultmann's personal statements. On the resurrection of Christ - "Any schoolboy knows that a dead body cannot raise himself from the dead." So that was not even research, just a fan eager to translate. I saw the book at the Yale Divinity library.
4. We have relatively little knowledge about the individual writers because the New Testament and the Old Testament are about Jesus Christ the Savior, not the Biblical Theory Fanclub.
5. To this day, even at a LCMS church (remember Seminex? I do) - a pastor can say "The Gospel of John was written 300 years after Christ." Some facts:
He was denying the truth of the Fourth Gospel
He removed the Apostle John from the Gospel.
He was making John a Gnostic - that is - false Gospel.
He was against the divinity Christ.
He mocked faith in Jesus in the Fourth Gospel.
He was mocking the faith of the believers in that group. Someone did oppose him and he backtracked.
6. The Greek New Testament has also been a means to make people question the Gospel.
I always sit up straight and murmur something profound when I see that someone has earned a D.Min. at Fuller Seminary, which is as popular as Bud Lite. A Budweiser chemist told me that Bud Lite was simply Budweiser with water added. Years later, he denied that fact with some authority, but then conceded the truth.
Fuller Seminary is pondering its future with pansexual pastors, where the demographics are headed. WWII Baby Boomers have seen their grandchildren grow up, so that supply is running low. Long ago, Fuller Seminary had its own kill squad to discipline any student who denied women's ordination. The school's warning was part of their official description. Fuller opened up the mainline minister demographic for women pastors and denominational staffers.
"What's NEXT!?" my vicar supervisor often said with fury, upon hearing about the latest cool fad. Now the same church - being refitted for low-cost house apartments - is saying "What's next!"
Those who pay for a D. Min. degree insist on the title "Dr." - which is odd considering that two years of study are good only for an STM. They dropped the STD because nobody wanted to say "I got my STD at our seminary."
Fuller sold the D.Min. designation to draw in pastors for a quick, easy, but costly superficial degree. They paraded their Bachelor of Gimmicks degree as worthy of velvet stripes on the arms of their Geneva gowns.
Fuller and its clones (Concordia St. Louis and Concordia Ft. Wayne) both market their D.Min. degrees and Church Growth.
They are all engaged in business practices which have proven to be complete and devastating losses of membership. Why are no Church Growth Enthusiasts
deprived of food
driven out of town
baited by dogs
pelted with dung?
God's Word is the master of more than 100,000 arts, far more than Satan can attempt. The problems are compounded in the Walther Four - LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC (sic) - because they teach against faith, as they argue with pride. Wayne Mueller bragged at the WELS youth gathering in Columbus - "Evangelism is easy. All you have to do is to tell them - you are already forgiven."
Fuller Seminary’s current president, David Goatley, came to the nondenominational school in 2022 from Duke Divinity School, where he served as associate dean for academic and vocational formation, research professor of theology and Christian ministry, and director of the Office of Black Church Studies.
Recently, Goatley appointed a task force of administrators and faculty to facilitate “the community’s consideration of issues related to human sexuality.”
In 2019 and 2020, two former students sued Fuller, alleging they were expelled for being in same-sex marriages. In October 2020, courts affirmed Fuller’s right to uphold its sexual standards policy.
Fuller’s website describes the school as “an evangelical, multidenominational graduate institution committed to providing indispensable, formational education for diverse Christian leaders everywhere.”
Jack Kilcrease, trained by Jesuits, is consistently anti-faith.
7. From this now follows the other sin, that he forgets to exercise love toward his neighbor; for there he lets poor Lazarus lie at his door, and offers him not the least assistance. And if he had not wished to help him personally, he should have commanded his servants to take him in and care for him. It may have been, he knew nothing of God and had never experienced his goodness. For whoever feels the goodness of God, feels also for the misfortune of his neighbor; but whoever is not conscious of the goodness of God, sympathizes not in the misfortune of his neighbor. Therefore as he has no pleasure in God, he has no heart for his neighbor.
8. For the nature of faith is that it expects all good from God, and relies only on God. For from this faith man knows God, how he is good and gracious, that by reason of such knowledge his heart becomes so tender and merciful, that he wishes cheerfully to do to every one, as he experiences God has done to him. Therefore he breaks forth with love and serves his neighbor out of his whole heart, with his body and life, with his means and honor, with his soul and spirit, and makes him partaker of all he has, just like God did to him. Therefore he does not look after the healthy, the high, the strong, the rich, the noble, the holy persons, who do not need his care; but he looks after the sick, the weak, the poor, the despised, the sinful people, to whom he can be of benefit, and among whom he can exercise his tender heart, and do to them as God has done to him.
9. But the nature of unbelief is that it does not expect any good from God. By which unbelief the heart is blinded so that it neither feels nor knows how good and gracious God is; but as Psalm 14:2 says: he cares not for God, seeks not after him. Out of this blindness follows further that his heart becomes so hard, obdurate and unmerciful that he has no desire to do a kindness to his fellow man; yea, he would rather harm and offend everybody. For as he is insensible to the goodness of God, so he takes no pleasure in doing good to his neighbor. Consequently it follows that he does not look after the sick, poor and despised people, to whom he could and should be helpful and profitable; but he casts his eyes upward and sees only the high, rich and influential, from whom he himself may receive advantage, gain, pleasure and honor.
10. So we see now in the example of the rich man that it is impossible to love, where no faith exists, and impossible to believe, where there is no love; for both will and must be together, so that a believer loves everybody and serves everybody; but an unbeliever at heart is an enemy of everybody and wishes to be served by every person and yet he covers all such horrible, perverted sins with the little show of his hypocritical works as with a sheep’s skin; just as that large bird, the ostrich, which is so stupid that when it sticks its head into a bush, it thinks its entire body is concealed. Yea, here you see that there is nothing blinder and more unmerciful than unbelief. For here the dogs, the most irascible animals, are more merciful to poor Lazarus than this rich man, and they recognize the need of the poor man and lick his sores; while the obdurate, blinded hypocrite is so hard hearted that he does not wish him to have the crumbs that fell from his table.
11. Now all unbelieving people are like this rich hypocrite. Unbelief cannot do nor be different than this rich man is pictured and set forth by his life. And especially is this the character of the clergy - as we see before our eyes, who never do a truly good work, but only seek a good time, never serving nor profiting any one; but reversing the order they want everybody to serve them. Like harpies they only claw everything into their own pockets; and like the old adage runs they “rob the poor of his purse.” They are not moved in the least by the poverty of others. And although some have not expensive food and raiment, yet they do not lack will power and the spirit of action; for they imitate the rich, the princes and the lords, and do many hypocritically good works by founding institutions and building churches, with which they conceal the great rogue, the wolf of unbelief; so that they become obdurate and hardened and are of no use to anybody. These are the rich man.
In 2019 and 2020, two former students sued Fuller, alleging they were being expelled for being in same-sex marriages. In October 2020, courts upheld Fuller’s right to enforce its sexual standards policy. Its standards prohibit “homosexual forms of explicit sexual conduct” and hold that sexual intimacy is reserved for a marriage between a man and a woman.
They should be pondering how to please God............
I have thought that Fuller Seminary was a bit on the liberal side. Like other infiltrators into the evangelical church, they are using word salad about a “third way” to justify defying Biblical standards.
The apostasy is prophesied in the Bible.
Fuller, seemingly once conservative.
I heard some stuff from one of their graduates back in the mid-1990s.
From another guy - we knew this other guy - he came out with less Faith than when he went in.
Phase 1: In the name of "diversity," allow openly LGBTQ+ students and faculty.
Phase 2: In the name of "diversity," ban students and faculty who adhere to traditional, Biblical views of marriage and sexuality.
Such a decision would carry Fuller into uncharted territory, Hawthorne said. “It’s a bold step.....
..straight into the pit of Hell. The heck with what God says. Hail Satan!”
If the board votes to approve these revisions, Fuller could become the first evangelical seminary in the country to adopt standards acknowledging the diversity of thought among Christians pertaining to human sexuality, according to retired professor John Hawthorne, an expert on Christian colleges.
WELS college students were so proud of plagiarizing Party in Fire Island Pines that they uploaded it to YouTube and bragged out how popular it was, many years ago.
Such a decision would carry Fuller into uncharted territory, Hawthorne said. “It’s a bold step for a school that fought off lawsuits on this very issue a few years ago.”
At the same time, several current and former students and faculty believe this move would preserve Fuller’s existing status as a “third space” where Christians with diverse views on sexuality are welcome — a space that has been shrinking nationally amid increasing political polarization on the issue.
No one seemed to be offended by a WELS congregation cross-dressing at a public congregational party, with Wayne Mueller's son participating. The sect, like LCMS and ELCA, loved to fund Fuller Seminary for oh-so-great Church Growth insights - and denied that too.
Fuller issued a statement Thursday saying the deliberations on this topic are ongoing and drafts of possible revisions have been created solely for discussion and reflection. It says no proposals have been submitted to trustees for a vote and it is unclear when the board might even consider the matter.
Hawthorne, whose upcoming book argues that Christian colleges should put students front and center instead of worrying about critics, anticipates “significant blowback” from conservative Christians should Fuller move forward with the revisions.
“I hope they have a plan on how to manage the aftermath, the storm, when it comes,” he said.
Don't ask what they did with to sprinter statue during hazing at Northwestern College, the statue moved to Martin Luther College to continue that tradition. "Nothing happened!" is the theme song of hazing in WELS.
Men in cheerleading uniforms? That's Michigan Lutheran Seminary, which is neither a seminary nor Lutheran.
1. We have hitherto heard in our Gospel lessons of various examples of faith and of love; for as they all teach faith and love, I hope you are abundantly and sufficiently informed that no human being can be pleasing to God unless he believes and loves. Now in this Gospel text the Lord presents to us at the same time an example of faith and of unbelief or of the state of the godless, in order that we also may abhor the contrary and the opposite of faith and love, and that we may cleave to faith and love more diligently.
For here we see the judgment of God upon the believers and the unbelievers, which is both dreadful and comforting. Dreadful to the faithless and comforting to the faithful. But in order that we may the better grasp the meaning of this text we must picture to ourselves both the rich man and poor Lazarus. In the rich man we see the nature of unbelief and in Lazarus the nature of belief.
PART I. THE RICH MAN.
2. We must not view the rich man according to his outward conduct; for he is in sheep’s clothing, his life glitters and shines beautifully, while he tactfully conceals the wolf. For this Gospel text does not accuse him of adultery, of murder, or robbery, of violence or of having done anything that the world or reason would censure. Yea, he has been as honorable and respectable in his life as that Pharisee who fasted twice a week and was not as other men, of whom Luke 18:11f. speaks. For had he committed such glaring sins the Gospel would have mentioned them since it examines him so particularly that it describes even the purple robe he wore and the food he ate, which are only external matters and God does not judge according to them. Therefore he must have led outwardly an exemplary, holy life; and according to his own opinion and that of others, he must have kept the whole law of Moses.
3. But we must look into his heart and judge his spirit. For the Gospel has penetrating eyes and sees deep into the secret recesses of the soul; reproves also the works which reason cannot reprove, and looks not at the sheep’s clothing, but at the true fruit of the tree to learn whether it is good or not, as the Lord teaches in Matthew 7:17. Hence if we judge this rich man according to the fruits of faith, we will find a heart and a tree of unbelief. For the Gospel chastises him that he fares sumptuously every day and clothes himself so richly, which reason never considers as especially great sins. Besides, the work-righteous people think it is right, and that they are worthy of it, and have merited it by virtue of their holy lives, and they do not see how they thus sin by their unbelief.
4. For this rich man is not punished because he indulged in sumptuous fare and fine clothes; since many saints, kings and queens in ancient times wore costly apparel, as Solomon, Esther, David, Daniel and others; but because his heart was attached to them, sought them, trusted in and chose them, and because he found in them all his joy, delight and pleasure; and made them in fact his idols. This Christ indicates by the words “every day,” that he lived thus sumptuously daily, continuously. From this is seen that he diligently sought and chose such a life, was not forced to it nor was he in it by accident, or because of his office or to serve his neighbor; but he only thereby gratified his own lust, and lived to himself and served only himself.
5. Here one traces the secret sins of his heart as the evil fruit. For where faith is, there is no anxiety for fine clothing and sumptuous feasting, yea, there is no longing for riches, honor, pleasure, influence and all that is not God himself; but there is a seeking and a striving for and a cleaving to nothing except to God, the highest good alone; it is the same to him whether his food be dainty or plain, whether his clothing be fine or homespun. For although they even do wear costly clothes, possess great influence and honor, yet they esteem none of these things; but are forced to them, or come to them by accident, or they are compelled to use them in the service of others.
Thus queen Esther says, that she bore the royal crown against her will, and that she had to wear it for the sake of the King. David also would rather have lived a private life; but for the sake of God and of his people he had to become king. In like manner all the saints considered that they were constrained to fill their stations of influence, honor and glory; and their hearts were never entangled by them, and labored in these external things to be helpful to their neighbor, as Psalm 62:10 says: “Trust not in oppression and become not vain in robbery; if riches increase set not your heart thereon.”
6. But where unbelief reigns man is absorbed by these vanities, he cleaves to them, seeks them and has no rest until he has acquired them, and after he possesses them, he feeds and fattens himself with them as the swine wallow in the mire, and finds at the same time his happiness and felicity there. He never inquires how his heart stands with his God and what he possesses in God and may expect from him; but his belly is his God; and if he cannot get what he wants, he imagines things are going wrong. And lo, these dreadful and wicked fruits of unbelief the rich man does not see, he covers them over, and blinds his own eyes by the good works of his pharisaical life, and hardens himself until no teaching, exhortation, threatening nor promise can help him. Behold, this is the secret sin which to-day’s Gospel punishes and condemns.
From Planet of the Apes - George Taylor finds out that the Planet of the Apes is Earth, not a distant discovery where he landed, very much like the Lutherans of today.
To Yale’s Lutheran Historian Jaroslav Pelikan, the Reformation was a “tragic necessity”—tragic in that it shattered the unity of Christendom, necessary in that it cleansed the church and restored man’s faith in God to its Scriptural roots. It is equally true that the Reformation is an unrealized hope and unfinished ideal. Today, says Dr. Wilhelm Pauck of Union Theological Seminary, “one could characterize the spirit of our epoch as pre-Reformation. The old order is in a process of dissolution, but there is also a great positive religious expectancy.”
One leading Lutheran scholar, Dr. Carl Braaten of Chicago’s Lutheran School of Theology, insists that Protestant union with Rome is precisely in accord with the reformer’s wishes. “The Reformation was always meant to be a temporary movement,” he contends. “When the Roman Catholic Church is reformed, there will be no justification for a separate Protestant church.”
The Confession of Sins The Absolution The Introit p. 16
Introit
Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts:
of Him and through Him and to Him are all things.
Psalm. O Lord, our Lord:
how excellent is Thy name in all the earth!
The Gloria Patri The Kyrie p. 17 The Gloria in Excelsis The Salutation and Collect p. 19
Collect
Almighty and everlasting God, who hast given unto us, Thy servants, grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity and in the power of the Divine Majesty to worship the Unity, we beseech Thee that Thou wouldst lump us steadfast in this faith and evermore defend us from all adversities; who liveth, etc.
The Epistle and Gradual
Gradual
Blessed art Thou, O Lord, who beholdest the deep;
and who dwellest between the cherubim.
V. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, in the firmament of heaven:
and greatly to be praised forever. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
V. Blessed art Thou, O Lord God of our fathers:
and greatly to be praised and glorified forever. Hallelujah!
The Sanctus p. 26 The Lord's Prayer p. 27 The Words of Institution The Agnus Dei p. 28 The Nunc Dimittis p. 29 The Benediction p. 31 The Hymn #249Isaiah Mighty Prophet
Prayers and Announcements
Tomorrow marks the day in which we honor our soldiers who died in battle, and we honor all those who have served our country.
Diagnosis and treatment - Sarah Buck, Pastor Jim Shrader and Chris, Kermit Way; Lori Howell. Doc Lito and his son were both in the hospital.
Bible John will receive a Super Giant Print Bible with the cover inscription Bible John KJV.
KJV Romans 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! 34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? 35 Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? 36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.
KJV John 3:1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. 3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? 5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. 8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. 9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? 10 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? 11 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. 12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? 13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
How Excellent Is Thy Name Psalm 8:1
KJV John 3:1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
This is a great discussion between Jesus and a Jewish leader. Nicodemus was just beginning to have faith, but he was still captive to Pharisaical Judaism, human reason, and living in a region occupied by Rome. There is plenty of fear in his visit to Jesus, because he came at night when he would not easily be identified by others and condemned. He had some confidence in Jesus and spoke about the miracles, but he was still tentative.
3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Instead of arguing Nicodemus into fellowship, Jesus began with His divinity majesty, not persuading but leaving Nicodemus confidence and bewildered. Saying truly truly for emphasis, Jesus lays down an absolute. "Born again" is literally "born from above." Nicodemus knows nothing, in spite of all his knowledge. He thinks he is very much in God's realm but his confusion reveals that he really knows nothing. The term "born from above" has a secondary meaning of "born again." Nicodemus is so stuck in reason and tradition that he cannot understand the divine meaning from Jesus, not only as a teacher, but The Teacher, the Son of God declaring - not explaining or persuading, as in sales. The power of the Gospel turns unbelief and shallow belief into being joined with the True Vine (John 15).
4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
This shows that Nicodemus has made a small effort to connect with the Savior, but by asking such nonsense, he shows that he does not have the basics. The disciples were often stunned and confused, because Jesus was teaching what they needed to know and they could only imagine the future of being lords over the world. Nicodemus is an excellent example of those academics who speak very boldly in some respects but are dark in their own spiritual grasp, ashamed to become like a small child, trusting in the Savior. The academics offer some tidbits of faith, enough to show the importance of Jesus, but not enough to trust in Him. They do not want child-like faith but rest on (instead of wearing) the laurels of academe. They are filled with "problems, contradictions, and doubts." Nicodemus wants to make Jesus step back in suggesting something impossible, perhaps ask for a correction or modification. The term "from above" is very much like "a little while" - a simple term but filled with divine wisdom. Jesus is the example of being "from above," from heaven, the Son of God.
KJV James 3:17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
KJV Romans 10: 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:)
5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
This is where people brush right by Holy Baptism and deny infant baptism. When my neighbor unwrapped her newborn baby at Walmart, the little girl turned toward me, fixed her eyes on me and my voice, and responded with coos and smiles. The grammar of this passage means - A man must be water-born and Spirit-born to enter the Kingdom of God. Those people enchanted by all our earthly values (even though provided by God) often though Jesus teaches being Spirit-born, receiving the Word of God energized by the Spirit always, never apart from the Word.
7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. 8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. 9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? 10 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?
The earth and all stars were created by the Lord, and the Spirit teaches us. We are the only country that has tornadoes and the prime areas for them form in the Great Plains (which were devoid of trees, even though the eastern states were packed with trees originally. Who figured that out?)
We know that the winds are powerful and yet invisible. We can see power of the winds, the debris, but not the wind itself. In Hebrew, wind and Spirit are the same, in Greek wind and Spirit are also the same. Even our human language reflects God's Creation.
Believers are the true Pentecostals because believe that the Holy Spirit is always at work in the Word. They also know the Spirit is very powerful and easily experienced through the Word.
11 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. 12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?
Nicodemus represents the wise men of the world. Jesus is saying, "These are just the basics. There is so much more to learn, understand, and believe. If someone does not know the foundational truths, how can know anything about heaven, which is so far beyond us?"
13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
I see the climax of the very next verse as proof of the planning of God, because John 3:16 depends on the metal serpents, and the bronze figures declared the future Christ teaching, healing, and rising to everlasting life.
KJV Numbers 21:6 And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. 7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee; pray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. 8 And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. 9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
Always remember - the New Testament is a series of sermons about the Old Testament. John's Gospel is very clear about the Five Books of Moses. The serpent story is very strange but it only made sense when Jesus explained it. John even called Jesus the Exegete (Explainer) of God, John 1.
"From 1991 through 2002 he served on the faculty of Bethany Lutheran College (ELS) in Mankato, and thereafter at St. Olaf College (ELCA), The University of the South, and the University of Kansas. From 2013 through 2022 he served as pastor at St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Topeka, Kansas."
John Bruss has been hired to be the next president of Concordia Seminary, Ft. Wayne. One must say "Concordia Theological Seminary" to avoid being corrected by a Ft. Wayne seminarian. The St. Louis version does not require the word theological in its title. A seminary in the good old days was often a girls school, so that must be the issue for Ft. Wayne.
The big talking point - at LutherQuest - is Bruss' former membership in the schismatic Little Norwegian Synod, aka the Evangelical Lutheran Synod. The Preus brothers, Robert and Jack, spoke against the ELS at a LCMS convention - and then joined the ELS. They were Biblical, grafting the ELS onto the LCMS tree.
Jack and Robert were Ft. Wayne presidents, Robert a few years later than Jack. I knew Robert fairly well and talked to Jack several times, the last time just before his death.
I would like to ask any of the LCMS-WELS-ELS presidents why they gloried in extraordinary spending when they knew their graduates were shrinking as fast as the executives were spending. Marvin Schwan, my favorite ice cream vendor, had much to do with the spending, and the federal government generously allowed for monumental student loans.
I served a church where the members wanted to build an addition but did not want to refinance. They decided to raise the cash and build it themselves. Now church buildings can be bought cheap, though they are more likely to changed into a business of some sort.
The Big Five - ELCA-LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC (sic) should merge because:
They teach Objective Faithless Justification;
They are shrinking faster than a cheap suit in the rain;
They can do the math - some of them schools have to go;
Thrivent is wooing non-Lutherans!
They are guided and encouraged by their Father Below.
II. EXPLANATION OF THIS GOSPEL; CHRIST’ S CONVERSATION WITH NICODEMUS.
I. THE CONVERSATION IN GENERAL.
1. In this Gospel you see clearly what reason and free-will can do. You may see it distinctly in Nicodemus, who was the best of the best, a prince and leader of the Pharisees, and the Pharisees held first place in their day.
They were, however, in the highest things — in spiritual life — altogether blind and dead before God, however holy, wise, good and mighty they may have been considered by men. The longer Nicodemus associates with Christ, the less he understands Christ, although he is expected to understand only earthly things and the manner of Christ’s death. Reason is so blind that it can neither perceive nor understand the things of God, nor all things which properly belong to its own sphere. This is a blow to nature and human reason, which have been rated so high by philosophy and the wise men of this world; the wise ones have said that reason always strives to attain the best.
2. God has here given us an example showing that even the best in nature must fail. In instances where human nature is at its best it is blind, not to speak of its envy and hatred. "Christ has here demonstrated by examples, words and deeds that human reason is altogether blind and dead before God, Hence, it cannot appreciate divine things nor desire them."
3. Now, Nicodemus, who is a pious and well-meaning man, cannot grasp the work and Word of God; how then would Annas and Caiaphas? He comes to the Lord at night, which he did from fear, not desiring to be called a heretic by others. From this we may conclude that he was in nature an old Adam, cowardly seeking Christ by night, and that he did not yet possess the true light. If he had been a “new man,” he would have come in the bright light of day, fearing no one. Because of his hypocrisy, the Lord deals sharply with him, cutting off his salutation and all further speech, as we shall see. Nicodemus approaches the Lord with these words: “Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that thou doest, except God be with him.”
II. THE CONVERSATION IN DETAIL.
4. He thinks that he has uttered these words in all sincerity; but there is still the old life and nothing but hypocrisy. For this reason Christ will not accept his salutation, but will take from Nicodemus everything in which he feels secure and will make a “new” man of him, giving him a new heart and enabling him to walk by faith. He says to him: “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except one be born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
5. Christ’s words are as if to say: No, my dear Nicodemus, I am not moved by your beautiful words. You must give up your old life and become a new man. You have not the faith which you say you have; you are still afraid. Although the natural man hears the Word of God, the Gospel, and delights in it, yet it does not enter the heart. Therefore, we must slay reason and experience the new birth. This is what Christ means when he says that we must be born anew. Reason cannot understand this, wherefore Nicodemus replies: “How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?”
6. Thus reason takes offense at the Spirit, imagines unreality’s and conceives of this new birth as a natural birth. Therefore Christ proceeds, explaining this birth to him to clear his misunderstanding, and says: “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except one be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”
7. In other words: The new birth of which I speak must be otherwise explained. I do not abolish the natural birth but I speak of a birth which is of water and the Spirit. Then he continues: “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is borne of the Spirit is spirit.”
8. These words cannot be grasped by reason, which seeks to explain the words “Spirit” and “water,” speculating how such birth may be. Here it sees nothing in the nature of a birth and therefore plays the part of a fool by saying: How can a man be born of water and the Spirit? Indeed, such a source would produce but water-bubbles.
9. Now, Christ speaks and destroys reason, saying: “Art thou the teacher of Israel, and understandest not these things?” You should teach others the spiritual birth, that they might become righteous, but you yourself do not understand it. He defeats reason and the whole law and says: My friend, do you not know how these things can be? It is plain to me, as it was also to the prophets, who corroborate my words. Renounce your reason and close your eyes; cling only to my Word and believe it. Again he says: “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born anew. The wind bloweth where it will, and thou hearest the voice thereof, but knowest not whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.”
10. As if to say: You presume to judge spiritual things by your reason, and at the same time you cannot understand the simple things of nature. He calls Nicodemus’ attention to the wind. No philosopher or scientist has ever been able to comprehend and describe the nature of the wind — where it has its beginning or where it ends. We cannot see where the wind comes from, or how it blows past us, or how far it goes. Now, if we cannot by our reason fathom those things which we see daily in nature, much less will we be able to fathom with our reason the divine works which God accomplishes within us.
11. How a man is born anew may easily be told in words. When, however, it is a question of experience, as it was here with Nicodemus, then it is a hard matter to understand and it requires effort to attain the experience. It is easy to say: We must blind our reason, disregard our feelings, close our eyes and only cling to the Word — finally die and yet live. But to persevere in this, when it becomes a matter of experience and when we are really tested, requires pains and labor. It is a very bitter experience.
12. An example of this new birth we have in Abraham, whose son was to inherit the world and whose seed was to be like the stars in heaven, as was promised him in Genesis 15:5 Then God came and commanded him to slay his son. Now had Abraham acted as reason dictated, he would have concluded thus: Aye, God has given me this seed, by which he has promised to increase my family, and now he commands me to offer him up as a sacrifice. Surely, God cannot command this; it must be the devil. But Abraham slays reason and honors God, thinking: God is so powerful that he can raise my son from death and increase my family through him. or he can give me another son, or effect his purpose in some other way, which I do not know. So Abraham commends all to God. Here Abraham leaves his old life and surrenders himself to God, believes in him and becomes a new man. Then the angel comes and says to him: “Abraham, Abraham, lay not thy hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him,: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me,” Genesis 22:11-12. Abraham could not have imagined that God would thus come to his rescue; nay, he had already in his heart slain his son.
13. Now, the beginning of this birth was in baptism. The water is baptism; the Spirit is that grace which is given to us in baptism. The result of this birth is clearly seen in the hour of death or in times of test by poverty and temptation. He who is born of the flesh fights to defend himself, looks hither and thither, employs his reason to make his living. But he who is born anew reasons thus: I am in God’s hands, who has preserved and nourished me before in a wonderful manner: he will also feed and preserve me in the future and save me from, all sorrow and misfortune.
14. When we are about to die we feel that we must depart and we know not whither; the house of shelter is not ready and we know not whether it will be a white or a black house. For where there is flesh and blood, there is still the old Adam, who does not know where he shall go, whether below or above, to the left or to the right; on what he should rest his soul and depart. Then there is anxiety and misery in the nature of a real hell; for the torment of hell is nothing but fear, terror. dread and despair. But if I believe in God and am born anew, I close my eyes and do not grope about.
I am willing that the condition of the soul be changed entirely, and I think:
O God, my soul is in thy hands; thou hast preserved it during my life and I have never known where thou hast put it. neither do I wish to know, to which place thou wilt now assign it. I only know that it is in thy hands and thou wilt take care of it. Thus we must abandon the life of the flesh and enter into a new life, being dead to the old. This is a real dying and not merely a painful sensation, like the scratching off of a scab, as the philosophers have said; and they have compared the entering upon the new life with the rinsing of a pot by the cook. There must be a real change and an entire transformation of nature, for the natural state and natural feeling must be completely overthrown.
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