Daily Luther Sermon Quote - "The devil does not rest yet, and hence he stirs up so many sects and factions. How many sects have we not already had? One has taken up the sword, another has attacked the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, others that of baptism."

 

TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.

SECOND SERMON: JOHN 4:46-54.

KJV John 4:46 So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum. 47 When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judaea into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his son: for he was at the point of death. 48 Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe. 49 The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my child die. 50 Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way. 51 And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, Thy son liveth. 52 Then enquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. 53 So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth: and himself believed, and his whole house. 54 This is again the second miracle that Jesus did, when he was come out of Judaea into Galilee.

Faith in General and in Detail

1. A beautiful example of faith is presented in this Gospel, exhibiting, as it does, the nature and character of faith, namely, that it is to increase and become perfect; and it portrays faith in a way as to show that it is not a quiet and idle, but a living, restless thing, that either retrogrades or advances, lives and moves; and where this does not occur, faith does not exist, but only a lifeless notion of the heart concerning God. For true, living faith, which the Holy Spirit pours into the heart, cannot be inactive. This I say for the purpose that no one may be sure, even if he has attained faith, that he now has everything; with this it shall not stop, for it is not sufficient to begin, but one must constantly grow and increase, and continue learning to know God better.

2. For, on the other hand, it is not the nature and custom of our enemy, the devil, to be idle, as 1 Peter, 5:8 says: “Be sober, be watchful; your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” If then the devil neither sleeps nor rests, it is not right for a Christian to be idle and fold his hands; but he is to consider how he may fortify himself against the power of the devil; for he is not called the prince of this world in vain, John 14:30, as to-day’s Epistle teaches, Ephesians 6:12: “For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” This prince rules the world, howls and rages, is mad and foolish, cannot bear that a Christian progresses; nor is it to be wondered at, for thereby a rupture is made in his kingdom and his net broken. Hence, wherever possible, he hinders the growth and development of the Christian life.

3. When, therefore, the fire of faith is kindled and burns, and the devil feels it and becomes aware of it, he immediately grasps it with all his cunning, for he knows how his kingdom is endangered by it. Therefore he endeavors with great zeal to protect his kingdom, and exerts himself to retain all under his obedience. Certain it is, therefore, that, when a person begins to believe, temptation and persecution will be sure closely to follow him; and if this does not occur, it is a sign his faith is not true and he has not tightly apprehended the Gospel. For that rogue, the devil, has a sharp vision and easily becomes conscious of the presence of a true Christian. Therefore he exerts himself to entrap him, and surrounds and attacks him on all sides; for he cannot bear that anyone should desert his kingdom.

4. Therefore it is dangerous to live heedlessly, for the devil is likely to take us by surprise. This happens even to the great ones among the saints, who rightly apprehend the Word of God. If they regard themselves as standing securely, this rogue is behind them, strikes them down and wrestles with them until they are vanquished. Behold, what happened to the great men of God, to Moses, to Aaron and to the princes of Judah. They had an excellent faith, when they led the people out of Egypt, and all the people went in faith through the Red Sea, through death, through the wilderness and through many other wonderful experiences, in which they manifested their faith; but at last they came to a point where everything was ruined; they feared that they would have to die of hunger and thirst in the parched wilderness. Is it not a pity that after manifesting their faith in so many great trials, going into and through death, wrestling with and overcoming it, when they regarded themselves at the very best, they should fall, allow themselves to be overcome by their belly and murmur against God, and be so fiercely attacked that they succumb and all be overthrown by Satan.

Hence no one is secure, unless his faith continues to grow stronger and stronger.

5. Moses, who had such an exceedingly strong faith, also fell; when he was to strike water out of the rock with his rod, he doubted and said to the people, Numbers 20:10: “Hear now, ye rebels; shall we bring ye forth water out of this rock?” [According to Luther’s translation, “Come here, let us see if we can bring forth water out of the rock for you.”] The good man, Moses, who had performed so many miracles, is tripped by reason and falls into carnal thoughts, fearing that the unbelief of the people would hinder the great miracle and sign. But he should have adhered firmly to the Word of God and esteemed that higher, greater, stronger and more efficacious than the unbelief of the people; but the good man was so severely tempted that he stumbled and fell.

6. We have similar examples in the New Testament. Peter was strong and confident in faith. When he saw Jesus walking on the water, he said, impelled by his strong faith, Matthew 14:28: “Lord, bid me come unto thee,” and stepped out of the ship into the water. He was confident that the water would bear him. Peter had a remarkable faith and a bold spirit, so that he ventured upon the water and danger, yea, even death, making the venture boldly and daringly by reason of his faith in Christ. But when he thought he was most secure, the wind and storm arose and he forgot the Word and lost faith; he fell, sank into the water and permitted Satan to tear faith out of his heart. Where was then his great faith? Faith is a tender, subtle thing, and we so easily make a mistake and are liable to stumble; but the devil is watchful, and unless men exercise watchfulness, he quickly gains his point.

7. How strongly the people were inclined toward Christ! They regarded him as a Prophet, followed him eagerly, defended him with a zeal that even the nobles of the people were amazed and did not dare to lay hands on him.

But when he had been seized and bound, and led away and crucified, the people forsook him. Alas! alas! he is no longer a Prophet; no one stands by him, yea, instead they cry out, Luke 23:21, “Crucify him, crucify him!” and what is still worse, his own Disciples forsake him. Where now was their faith and holiness?

8. So, also, we meet with similar occurrences in our day. At first, when the Gospel was proclaimed, it was a lovely sermon and all the world desired to become Christian, nobody opposed it. But when attacks were made on the monks, priests, and nuns, when the Mass was criticized; alas! they fell like leaves from the trees. Afterwards, when the nobles were also attacked, the Gospel was still more persecuted and its reception began more and more to abate. The devil does not rest yet, and hence he stirs up so many sects and factions. How many sects have we not already had? One has taken up the sword, another has attacked the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, others that of baptism. The devil does not sleep, he will do many more such things, he looks around and exerts himself to exterminate the pure doctrine in the Church and will finally, it is feared, bring it to this, that should one pass through all Germany he would find no pure pulpit, where the Word of God is preached as in former days. He tries with all his might to prevent the pure doctrine from being taught, for he cannot endure it.

Andy Stanley Should Give Acid Reflux to the Four Waltherian Cults - LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC (sic)

 

The LCMS is more like a buffer between ELCA and the Four Waltherian Cults - Missouri plus WELS, the ELS, and the CLC (sic). The little ones look up to the bigger ones. 

I often heard WELSian expressions of awe and wonder about the size of ELCA - 5.3 million members in 1988, compared to ELCA's 3 million today. Doubtless the numbers for all five are shrinking much faster than that. Honesty has never been a strong point for any of these fake Lutherans. They look down their noses at one another, grab their Thrivent loot, and run off to study with Andy Stanley and many other charlatans. 

The clergy of all five are close to worthless. I know some have retained knowledge of the Reformation and teach accordingly. Justification by Faith is almost completely lost, and the same people who took Biblical vows years ago are now much more inspired by the path to pagan excess. 

Watch and listen as "Lutheran" pastors ignore and mock the Biblical truths of Martin Luther, Melanchthon, and Chemnitz. The 500th anniversary of the Reformation was in 2017, and Missouri commemorated it with foolish, stupid merch (as they call it) from their Concordia Publishing House. I managed to save some graphics of their Reformation ideas, below.

Two fake doctors selling fake Reformations.

A coaster for your drinks.

Protestia - Will the Andy Stanley Fan Club - Wisconsin Synod - Please Explain Their Devotion to Him (Andy)!

 

Graphic of Andy Stanley - from Protestia

Not just Ski, but Tim Glende, Ski, Bishop Katy, and other WELS followers of Andy Stanley attended the conference and worshiped with their hero, Andy.

Andy Stanley Says Christians Don’t Have To Believe In All The Bible’s Miracles

"You’ll recall Stanley previously made waves for encouraging Christians to “unhitch” themselves from portions of Old Testament Scripture, denied the Genesis account, saying God only said it to ‘accommodate to our capacity,’ repeatedly told his congregants, ‘I’m not arguing that the bible is correct,’ told them it doesn’t matter if the bible is true, so long as it’s ‘mostly reliable,’ that they shouldn’t follow Jesus through the Old Testament but only through the gospels, and told his church the ‘foundation of our faith is not the whole bible.’"

Tim Glende and James Skorzewski no longer post their photos with Katy Perry
on their Facebook pages. That must have been such a thrill
for these overgrown teens.

Two WELS Pastors and Four Meritless Lawsuits

https://vdma.wordpress.com/2014/06/11/two-wels-pastors-and-four-meritless-lawsuits/

Recently, two WELS Pastors, Tim Glende and James Skorzewski, and two of their staff members filed four almost identical lawsuits against a WELS layman, Jonathan Donnan, a former member of their congregation.  Specifically, they asked a secular court to issue four restraining orders, ordering Jonathan Donnan to stop “harassing” them.

In the courthouse lobby before the first case was heard, a local attorney who handles a lot of cases in that court (and who had absolutely no connection to this case) looked at the court’s calender, and said, “When you see four restraining order petitions against one person, then usually that person did something extremely bad, or it’s a bunch of bullies ganging up on someone.”  Jonathan’s wife, Mara, who was sitting nearby, piped up and said, “It’s the second one.  It’s a bunch of bullies ganging up on someone.”

History

According to Jonathan Donnan’s wife, Mara, Pastor Skorzewski said numerous sexually inappropriate things to her over the course of months, and on at least one occasion, Pastor Glende also joined in with this disgusting behavior.  (At the time, Mara was a member of The CORE, a WELS church, and also Pastor Skorzewski’s executive assistant).

After a long ordeal involving the Circuit Pastor, District President, and even the Synod President, Pastor Skorzewski finally resigned.  However, Skorzewski almost immediately requested CRM status.  (CRM means that a man is deemed to be blameless, above reproach, and qualified to receive a call as a pastor).

Jonathan did not think the man who behaved so inappropriately toward his wife should become a pastor again, and he thought the WELS pastors from the district who would be asked to comment on Skorzewski’s CRM status should have more information.  So he wrote a letter to the pastors of the Northern Wisconsin District giving them information about Pastors Skorzewski’s and Glende’s behavior toward his wife.  This letter was signed by Jonathan, his wife Mara, and also concerned WELS pastors Lidtke and Suhr.

Having received comments regarding Skorzewski’s potential CRM status from other WELS pastors, District President Engelbrecht then also sought comments specifically from the membership of St. Peter & The CORE, which had been Skorzewski’s congregation before he resigned.  To this end, an informational meeting was scheduled at The CORE for August 13, 2013.

At the beginning of the meeting, Pastor Glende said the purpose of the meeting was so that the congregation could seek direction and make decisions about the ministry “specifically on this campus,” The CORE.  During this meeting, District President Engelbrecht summarized Skorzewski’s behavior and the Donnan’s reaction and the steps the District took to rehabilitate Skorzewski, he solicited questions, and then he gave the members of St. Peter & The CORE thirty days to submit comments to the district leadership regarding Skorzewski’s proposed CRM status.  During this meeting, District President Engelbrecht also said that he was an ardent supporter of Skorzewski and his ministry.

Jonathan Donnan showed up at this meeting because he wanted to protect his wife’s reputation and honor.  After DP Engelbrecht’s summary, Jonathan believed that DP Engelbrecht had portrayed Pastor Skorzewski’s behavior in the best possible light, while portraying his wife’s reaction in the worst possible light.  Therefore, Jonathan sat through much of the Q&A section with his hand raised waiting to be called upon.  Finally, Pastor Glende said that he would allow Jonathan to speak; however, he first informed the congregation that Jonathan was not invited to the meeting, had no legal right to be there, and that if Jonathan started attacking people, then he would be asked to leave.

Jonathan said that was a rude way to call upon him.  The entire exchange then quickly devolved into whether Jonathan had a right to be there because he was not a member of St. Peter & The CORE.  Jonathan believed that as a Christian husband he had a duty to try to defend his wife, and that St. Peter & The CORE’s constitution and bylaws could not overrule his moral obligations.  After a short period of time, Jonathan left the meeting, but announced that he was there to defend his wife, and would be outside to speak with anyone who wanted to hear the whole truth.

While Jonathan was outside, he could hear laughter and applause inside as the meeting continued without him.  While Jonathan was outside, he also received a lecture about forgiveness and about how he did not understand forgiveness.

A few days later, Pastors Glende and Skorzewski and two church staff members filed four almost identical lawsuits against Jonathan Donnan.  They asked the Outagamie County Family Court to issue four restraining orders telling Jonathan to not write any more letters to WELS pastors about Glende or Skorzewski, to not show up at any future meetings at St. Peter & The CORE where they would be discussing personnel issues, and to have no further contact with St. Peter & The CORE or its staff.

Pastor Glende’s case was heard first.  Pastor Glende spent about two hours presenting his case.  He himself testified extensively along with two laymen from his church.

Legal Issues

In order for a behavior to be harassment, it has to serve no legitimate purpose.  Does writing a letter to the men (WELS pastors) who would help decide Skorzewski’s CRM status serve no legitimate purpose?  And does showing up at a congregational meeting where they are discussing how your wife was treated, and where the District President is seeking comments and advice about whether that pastor should get CRM status, does that serve no legitimate purpose?

Is that inappropriate behavior?  Or could those be the behaviors of a man trying to protect and defend his wife?

The allegations Mara made against Skorzewski were not false.  A false allegation would serve no legitimate purpose, but a truthful allegation does.  If certain WELS pastors and a certain WELS congregation are going to be specifically asked to provide comments about whether Skorzewski should serve as a pastor again, is it legitimate that they should also hear from the victim or her representative?

The August 30 Court Hearing

Under oath, Pastor Glende testified that Jonathan’s behavior served no legitimate purpose because it hindered the ministry of St. Peter & The CORE, and it was just an attack.  (Court transcript, page 40).  According to Pastor Glende, Jonathan’s behavior served no legitimate purpose because the decision about whether Skorzewski would serve as a pastor was made back in January and April.  Pastor Glende stated this numerous times throughout his testimony.  Below is just one example.

Under oath, Pastor Glende said that Jonathan’s “behavior was disruptive in our congregation in a meeting.  It is — it attacks me personally.”  Attorney Maurer then asked Glende: “What’s wrong with that, pastor?  What’s wrong with a person attacking on how you handled the situation of allegations of sexual harassment by one of your pastors?  What’s wrong with that?”  To which Pastor Glende responded: “A group of my peers have said it’s been dealt with, addressed, move on.”  (Court transcript, page 39).

In summarizing all of the evidence presented by Pastor Glende, Pastor Glende’s attorney said:

There are statements that have been provided as evidence that … show that Mr. Donnan is not going to let this issue die.  He believes his purpose is to see this through.  The issue has absolutely been resolved, and for some reason Mr. Donnan refuses to come to grips with that.  So his conduct in sending the letters, continuing to contact people, showing up at the church and refusing to leave, clearly, in my opinion, falls within, engages in a course of conduct that has no legitimate purpose …

— Court Transcript, page 75.

Was the issue of Skorzewski’s CRM status absolutely resolved?  No.  This court hearing took place during the 30 day comment period in which members of St. Peter & The CORE were being asked to advise the District about Skorzewski’s CRM status.  And only a few months later, the District granted Skorzewski CRM status, he immediately received a call, and has already been installed as a WELS pastor in Texas.

Attorney Maurer tried to get Pastor Glende to admit that the August 13 meeting was about potentially reinstating Skorzewski to the pastoral office.  Attorney Maurer questioning Pastor Glende:

Q:   Okay, you testified earlier that the issue in the past had been resolved back in January, correct?

A:   There was an initial decision reached on it in January.

Q:   He resigned in April?

A:   Correct.

Q:   And you’re stating that the August 13, 2013 meeting had nothing to do with that whatsoever, with his disposition going forward with the church, correct?

A:   Pastor Ski resigned and is not currently a pastor.  He doesn’t have status to be a pastor.  The church has nothing to do with him going forward as a pastor.

Q:   That’s not entirely true, is it?  Isn’t it a fact that part of the purpose of this meeting was some specific members of the congregation wanted to reinstate the pastor to his previous position, correct?

A:   That’s not true.

Q:   If I have people come in and testify that there were people at that meeting that were petitioning the church to reinstate the pastor, that’s not the truth, they’re lying?

A:   Were there people there that their opinion was that the pastor should be reinstated?  Yes.

Q:   Were there people at the meeting that said that?

A:   There could have been people in the meeting that said that.  The purpose of the meeting; however, was not to reinstate him.

Q:   The purpose of the meeting was as it related to Jonathan’s wife, correct?

A:   To share information regarding the case.

Q:   So why would you think it’s inappropriate for the husband of the alleged victim to be present at the meeting to hear this?

A:   Mr. Donnan has heard all that information before, and from my knowledge, it was a meeting for the members of our congregation, which he is not one of.

Q:   Why didn’t you simply tell him to leave in the beginning?  Instead you gave him the opportunity to speak.

A:   I didn’t see him there at the beginning, I was up in the front.  I had not had a chance to do anything about it and I didn’t want to cause a scene to ask him to leave.  For two hours of the meeting Jonathan sat there.  From my position he looked agitated and upset when different things were said, which, as I have always said, Jonathan is entitled to his opinion in regards to this case.

Q:   Wouldn’t you be upset if you believed your wife was the victim of sexual harassment by a pastor and they were discussing that at a meeting?  Do you think that’s unreasonable?

A:   I guess I don’t know how to answer that question.

— Court Transcript, pages 35-37.

Attorney Maurer further questioning Pastor Glende:

Q:   Do you believe there was any merit to the allegations against the pastor?

A:   Do I believe it was sexual harassment?

Q:   Do you believe there was any merit to any of the allegations, factual allegations, alleged against the pastor?

A:   The pastor resigned.

Q:   That’s not an answer to my question.  Do you believe there was any factual basis for the allegations of harassment made by Jonathan’s wife towards the pastor?

A:   We have said, declared publicly, that lapses in judgment happened.

Q:   I’m just — yes or no, you personally?

ATTORNEY GILL:  Objection to the relevance, your Honor.

ATTORNEY MAURER:  It’s part of a harassment injunction, conduct that does not serve a legitimate purpose.  Making up allegations of harassment just to attack these people, then that doesn’t serve a legitimate purpose.

ATTORNEY GILL:  Your Honor, the continued behavior has no legitimate purpose.

THE COURT:  The objection is overruled, he can answer.

WITNESS [Pastor Glende]:  Can you repeat the question?

Q:   I’m asking you if you personally believe there was any merit to the factual allegations of harassment raised by Jonathan’s wife against the pastor?

A:   Are you asking me if there were —

Q:   Just yes or no.

A:   You’re asking me a yes or no to — I can’t agree with -­-

Q:   So you don’t believe there was any merit to the factual allegations of harassment?

ATTORNEY GILL:  I’m going to object.  There were eight or nine allegations, your Honor.

ATTORNEY MAURER:  I’m asking about any of them.

ATTORNEY GILL:  What specific allegations are we talking about, your Honor?

THE COURT:  Overruled, he can answer.

[Attorney Maurer questioning Pastor Glende]:

Q:   To any of them in general.  Yes?

A:   Sure, yes.

Q:   Okay, so would you personally condone that type of conduct by one of your pastors?

A:   No.

Q:   Okay, so you believe that there were indiscretions by the pastor directly towards Jonathan’s wife that occurred by the pastor, correct?

A:   Yes, which were addressed.  And then once he resigned, it was over because he is no longer a pastor.  That happened in the middle of April.

Q:   Okay, but again, the August 13 meeting was to address possibly the allegations that had happened in the past?

A:   It was to share the summary of everything that had gone on from the end of October, November to that point.

Q:   What precipitated that meeting?

A:   Because of the letter that Jonathan and Mara sent out.  Our district president said it was appropriate, at this time, to set it out.  Until that point, we had not shared publicly with anyone in our congregation that this involved Jonathan or Mara.

Q:   Your superiors told you, let’s have a meeting with the congregation on this to let everyone know what happened, and it’s your position you didn’t want him and his wife to be there?

A:   He wasn’t a member, he was an uninvited guest.

Q:   Okay.

A:   Wanted or not wanted, I wouldn’t have thought of inviting him, he wasn’t a member.

— Court Transcript, pages 40-43.

Also at issue during the hearing was whether the August 13 meeting at The CORE was about how Pastor Skorzewski treated Jonathan’s wife, and Pastor Glende admitted that was true.

After Pastor Glende finished presenting all his evidence, and before the defense called a single witness, the court ruled on the case.  The standard the court used was this:  It put the best construction on everything Pastor Glende and his witnesses said, it considered Pastor Glende’s case in the kindest possible light, and gave Pastor Glende the benefit of the doubt on everything.  Nonetheless, the court ruled that Pastor Glende’s case had no merit, and dismissed his case.

Pastor Glende’s case was dismissed even before the defense called a single witness or presented any evidence.  Glende had nothing.

Aftermath

Immediately after the court dismissed Pastor Glende’s case, Attorney Maurer suggested that Skorzewski and the two church staffers should voluntarily dismiss their own virtually identical cases.  (Because Pastor Glende’s case took so long, the other three cases were rescheduled to a later date).  However, Skorzewski and the two church staffers refused to dismiss their cases, and instead attempted to negotiate a settlement out of court.

However, Jonathan refused to give up any of his legal rights in return for them agreeing to dismiss their cases.  In response, Skorzewski and the two staffers waited until the very last hour to dismiss their cases, thereby forcing the Donnans to endure the maximum amount of stress, and to pay the maximum amount in legal (attorney) fees.

Soon after, the Northern Wisconsin District denied Skorzewski CRM status, but made no announcement.  In congregational meetings at both St. Peter & The CORE, Skorzewski then advised the congregation that they should move on without him.  (“Around the Council Table,” November 2013 church newsletter).  The November 2013 church newsletter also had a special section entitled: “MOVING FORWARD AT THE CORE” which stated:

The announcement has been made that Ski will not be returning to that position [pastor at The CORE].  Although he applied for it, his reinstatement to the pastoral office was not granted at this point.  In a special meeting at The CORE, Ski expressed his appreciation for the opportunity to serve in our midst, but encouraged all in attendance to move forward.  That is the intent of our leadership on both campuses.  We will continue to pray for Ski, his family, and his reinstatement.

Shortly after that, Skorzewski applied for CRM status a second time.  This time, the Northern Wisconsin District granted Skorzewski CRM status (under the condition that he not be a pastor in the Northern Wisconsin District), and almost immediately Skorzewski received a call to serve as a WELS pastor in Texas.  St. Peter & The CORE then announced in their church newsletter that they were holding a farewell party for Pastor Skorzewski to wish him God’s blessings as he prepared to leave for his new call.

So a WELS pastor resigned, for cause, because of sin, but before he left for his new call at another congregation, his former congregation threw him a farewell party.

On Sunday, April 27, 2014, Skorzewski was installed as pastor at Christ the Rock (a WELS) church in Texas, and Pastor Glende preached at Skorzewski’s installation service.  (Vimeo 93511608).  At 28:20 in the sermon, Pastor Glende said that Skorzewski was his best friend, and that he wished he could work with Skorzewski forever, but God had a different plan: to bring him to Texas.  At about 28 minutes into the sermon, Pastor Glende said, “I’m sure down the road or in the course of time, you’ll hear a great deal about what it is that God used to bring him here.  It’s an amazing story.”

June 11, 2014Rick Techlin 922 church, Appleton churches, bullying, clergy abuse, Doug Engelbrecht, James Skorzewski, Pastor Ski, sexual harassment, The CORE, Tim Glende, Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod

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