LutherQuest and the ALPB Ovaltines - Gloom Despair And Agony on Them

 

The CORE! Of what? 

I have to accept that LutherQuest has some interesting posts, in spite of their 100% Universalism. For instance, Steve Schmidt posted this YouTube link https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NwPriqNNNm0 about demographics - my favorite dead-end delicacy. I consider it cocaine for faithless followers of the numbers. As the president of Northwestern Mutual told me, "It's all about the numbers." 

The ALPB Ovaltines also get stuck on the numbers, so that is a good place to find how things are going in ELCA, the Church of Rome, and their joint activities. 

Today, LQ once again chanted the chorus about running out of Germans, a frequent song from Mark Jeske's pan-Lutheran wisdom. Enough of that at a time makes me laugh at their meticulous aversion to the truth.

Statistics, good or bad, are not efficacious.

Their gloriously overbuilt churches, large schools, and deluxe offices are not efficacious.

The true leaders of the past (excluding Walther, the pimp Calvinist) are never mentioned, because they are too ignorant to dwell on Biblical teachers of the past - especially the Reformation triumvirate (Luther, Melanchthon, Chemnitz) and American greats (Loy, Jacobs, Schmauk). Their teaching is completely against efficacy.

The concept of efficacy in the Bible begins with Creation, Genesis 1:1. That is another way of saying that the Holy Spirit is never without the Word, and the Word is never without the Spirit. That includes the invisible Word of preaching and teaching, the visible Word of the Sacraments.

Nothing they are yapping about in The Big Five - ELCA-LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC (sic) - is healthy or life-giving. If they trusted in the Gospel instead of Objective Faithless Justification, they would be doing well and enjoying the blessings of Biblical efficacy.

If they had something to say, which they don't, they could use Zoom and blogs to get the Word of God out. 

WELS and LCMS love to ape their elderly Church Growth leaders, by starting up such congregations as Illumine, The Way, The CORE, Pathfinder, and other gimmicks that scream terminal silliness. One key litmus test - merch church sales. They let go of the name "Lutheran" fast, to make room for their atheism, their embarrassment about the faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Savior and Good Shepherd.

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This Day Comes from Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. Dating back to 1865, Juneteenth Commemorates the Day When 250,000 Slaves in the State of Texas Were Set Free.

 

Emancipation Proclamation (1863)

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Citation: Emancipation Proclamation, January 1, 1863; Presidential Proclamations, 1791-1991; Record Group 11; General Records of the United States Government; National Archives.

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President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, announcing, "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious areas "are, and henceforward shall be free."

Initially, the Civil War between North and South was fought by the North to prevent the secession of the Southern states and preserve the Union. Even though sectional conflicts over slavery had been a major cause of the war, ending slavery was not a goal of the war.

That changed on September 22, 1862, when President Lincoln issued his Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, which stated that enslaved people in those states or parts of states still in rebellion as of January 1, 1863, would be declared free. One hundred days later, with the rebellion unabated, President issued the Emancipation Proclamation declaring "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious areas "are, and henceforward shall be free."

Lincoln’s bold step to change the goals of the war was a military measure and came just a few days after the Union’s victory in the Battle of Antietam. With this Proclamation he hoped to inspire all Black people, and enslaved people in the Confederacy in particular, to support the Union cause and to keep England and France from giving political recognition and military aid to the Confederacy.

Because it was a military measure, however, the Emancipation Proclamation was limited in many ways. It applied only to states that had seceded from the Union, leaving slavery untouched in the loyal border states. It also expressly exempted parts of the Confederacy that had already come under Union control. Most important, the freedom it promised depended upon Union military victory.

Although the Emancipation Proclamation did not end slavery in the nation, it did fundamentally transform the character of the war. After January 1, 1863, every advance of federal troops expanded the domain of freedom. Moreover, the Proclamation announced the acceptance of Black men into the Union Army and Navy, enabling the liberated to become liberators. By the end of the war, almost 200,000 Black soldiers and sailors had fought for the Union and freedom.

From the first days of the Civil War, enslaved people had acted to secure their own liberty. The Emancipation Proclamation confirmed their insistence that the war for the Union must become a war for freedom. It added moral force to the Union cause and strengthened the Union both militarily and politically. As a milestone along the road to slavery's final destruction, the Emancipation Proclamation has assumed a place among the great documents of human freedom.

https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/emancipation-proclamation

Dating back to 1865, Juneteenth commemorates the day when 250,000 slaves in the state of Texas, which became the last bastion for slavery during the final days of the Civil War, were declared free by the U.S. Army.

Daily Luther Sermon Quote - Trinity 4 - Second Sermon - "Dear sir, forgive and do not judge me, and then our Lord God will again forgive thee. No, my dear fellow, the officer of the law by virtue of his office will thus answer and say: It is not necessary that I should forgive you. I do what is right, and doing right needs no forgiveness, but is praiseworthy."

 

Two of my college students fell in love and were engaged to be married. I dropped off these  Falling in Love Roses. We attended their wedding, and now they have children.

Luther's Sermons - Luke 6:36-42.
Fourth Sunday after Trinity, Second Sermon

15. To this friendly admonition of Christ our Lord we Christians and especially we ministers should diligently give due heed, for we also have at the present day adversaries of our faith and doctrine, who are great and powerful, kings, princes, lords, Pope and bishops. To these our enemies according to this doctrine of Christ we show all mercy, and are not willing that a hair of their heads should be injured, or that they should be robbed of a cent. But this we wish them from our heart, that they may learn to know their errors and sins, and commit themselves to the grace of God and believe the Gospel. On this account they judge, condemn and persecute us, rob us of honor, goods, body and life, as though we were the worst rogues that tread the earth. Such things we do not to them in return, God be praised! but show them all love and kindness, and would willingly help them, if they would only permit it.

16. Yes, they say, you revile us nevertheless, both in writing and preaching, and condemn us as heretics, and will not permit us to be the Christian Church. Is such reproof and condemnation mercy? We answer: This is quite a different matter. Christ in this Gospel speaks of those who shall suffer injustice. And it would not be right to apply this to those who by virtue of their office are required to reprove what is wrong. For those who have the office to judge and condemn, do no wrong thereby, in so doing.

For as little as it agrees or is valid for a child to say to its father when he would punish it; father, be merciful, and God will then also be merciful to thee; so little is it valid against those who have the office of reproof. For it would be very inappropriate for a thief or evil doer to say to the officer of the law: Dear sir, forgive and do not judge me, and then our Lord God will again forgive thee. No, my dear fellow, the officer of the law by virtue of his office will thus answer and say: It is not necessary that I should forgive you. I do what is right, and doing right needs no forgiveness, but is praiseworthy. Thus also when father and mother punish their children, they do right, for this is called true punishment, when the office requires it. But beware, that you do not revenge yourself against him who must punish you, even if at times he treats you unjustly.

17. Wherefore it is not appropriate to twist this text, as though the Lord speaks of those who have the authority to punish the wrong, as ministers and all persons in authority, fathers, mothers, princes, lords, and finally also the executioner, who should not say to the evil doer, to whom he must administer justice, as however they are accustomed to do: “Dear Sir, forgive me, what I do to you today,” for why should he say this? As he does right, he needs no forgiveness, which pertains alone to sin and wrong; for. his office is to punish wrong. Just as it would be wrong if a father would say to his son when he would punish him: Dear son, forgive me, that I punish you. No, he does right, therefore the son should bear it, for thus God will have it...

21. Just as it is a great mercy not to allow young people to have their will and way, whether it be accomplished by threats or by the rod; it will still cost trouble and labor enough to oppose and prevent evil, even though we punish severely. If punishment were altogether omitted and mercy took the place of office, the country would be full of rogues, and the world become a mere den of murderers. Then one would say to another: If you steal from me, I will rob you; if you go with my wife, I will go with yours. No, this would never do; therefore the executioner is a very beneficial and even a merciful man, for he prevents the rogue from repeating his crime, and restrains others from committing crimes. He executes the one and thus threatens others that would do the like, that they may fear the sword and keep the peace. This is a magnificent grace and pure mercy.

Let's Be Open, Honest, and Transparent about ELCA, Which Announces New Bishops - But Omits Crucial Matters from the Press Release

An unsmiling smile looks diabolical - Newly elected Bishop Nathan D. Pipho

https://www.exposingtheelca.com/exposed-blog/gay-man-elected-bishop-of-the-elcas-new-england-synod#comments

"ELCA's New England Synod

6/8/2024

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The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has elected it's (sic) third homosexual bishop this year.  The ELCA has a total of six practicing homosexuals who currently are bishops. (likely to grow in number this summer)

ELCA pastor Nathan Pipho was elected bishop of the New England Synod. He is gay, as he explains in an article he wrote,

"It was the saints at Good Shepherd, North Quincy, who took a chance on a pastoral candidate who was gay. This was seven years before the 2009 Churchwide Assembly lifted prohibitions on partnered LGBT persons serving as ordained ministers.  It also coincided with the height of the clergy sexual abuse crisis that was hitting the Archdiocese of Boston at the time.  Some of my friends counseled me this was not the best time for me to be open with them about my sexuality, that it was none of their business, that I should stay in the closet …but I knew for the sake of authentic witness I needed to be open." (See here)

Rev. Nathan Pipho is a "...past chair of the New England Synod Team for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Inclusion." (See here)" 

 ELCA Proves the Love That Dare Not Speak Its Name - Because ELCA Is Silent

Nathan Pipho Elected Bishop of the ELCA New England Synod

https://www.elca.org/News-and-Events/8229

6/11/2024 8:55:00 AM

​CHICAGO — The Rev. Nathan D. Pipho, Worcester, Mass., was elected June 7 to serve a six-year term as bishop of the New England Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The election took place during the synod assembly, June 6-8, at the DCU Center in Worcester.

Pipho was elected on the fifth ballot, with 261 votes. The Rev. Sara J. Anderson, associate to the bishop of the New England Synod, received 164 votes.

The bishop-elect has served as pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, Worcester, since 2016. Previously he was pastor of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Quincy, Mass. (2002-2015).

Pipho earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology and political science from Wartburg College, Waverly, Iowa, in 1998; a Master of Divinity from the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (now United Lutheran Seminary) in 2002; and a Master in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge, Mass., in 2016. Wartburg is one of 26 ELCA colleges and universities; United is one of seven ELCA seminaries.

Bishop-elect Pipho begins his term on Aug. 1; he will be installed Sept. 7 at Trinity.

The Rev. James E. Hazelwood is retiring after serving as synod bishop since 2012.

Information about the New England Synod is hidden at nelutherans.org/.

 "What fools these mortals be!"