A Reader Found Another WELS Fad - Which I Visited - By Browser - Nine Years Ago

The Appleton Alcoholics were hotter than Georgia asphalt for the Andy Stanley Treatment, which has blossomed among the Babtists and others for years now. 

Previously I posted about the Unstuck fad in WELS, which may have sputtered.

They adored Paul Y. Cho in South Korea, until he was found guilty and tossed into the slammer.

David Valleskey's lopsided smile, half regret, half triumphant, reminds everyone that Mark Jeske often does the same in photos. 

The accounting has already started for these buddies from the same seminary class in Mordor, Wisconsin. 

Kent Reeder - Illumine - WELS

Eight years ago, WELS Pastor Kent Reeder, did his best to out-Kelm Paul Kelm, birthing Illumine, like one of those lab experiments from a midnight monster movie channel. Reeder is on LinkedIn, a good way to find out what individuals say about themselves. One famous LCMS star did that and soon erased his own basic facts - too much revealed.

Luther and the Concordists did not say -

1. Come to my church
2. Find a friend here
3. Embrace the love, have some popcorn and soda
4. Coin a cool name for our (name the sect)  church, and hide the denomination.

The Reformation taught the Bible (Traditional Text, not the Tischendorf-Westcott-Hort) to explain its meaning and to refute errors.

Seductive marketing gimmicks are not effective. They claim the concept but reject the truth - 

The Holy Spirit is always at work in the Word and never apart from the Word.

"Kent Reeder makes Mark and Avoid Jeske look confessional." Aye, and they have so much to confess.

LinkedIn - 

"Started Illumine Church in Rock Hill, SC in 2013. Planting a new church in Seattle, WA as of May, 2019. Distributing resources through Illumine Content. Led the Hearts & Hands Workshop in 2018, and continuing to encourage creativity through the Community of WELS Creatives. Former director of Camp South and the Amazing Race."

"Though much of my time in city ministry has been affected by pandemic realities, one of the things I’ve observed is that there’s a lot of listening to do in a city context. In suburban and rural spaces, it’s a lot easier for an organization to have an influential voice simply by speaking - there aren’t that many voices trying to be heard. Cities are bigger, more complex, and (certainly) louder - so listening and finding the right moments to participate in existing conversations becomes more important. (So far, at least!)"

Some say, in whispers, that Reeder is Paul Kelm II!

In the WELS and Missouri Sects - All Truths Are God's Truths - Except Biblical Truths - Luther and the Book of Concord

 

Only Paul Kelm could encapsulate the errors of Calvinism in so few ill-chosen words. WELS made him appear to be the Second Coming - "When the Son of Man returns, will He find faith?"

 

Tis strange how Ski - a Jeske follower - pretended to have a separate church in a deluxe but broke movie theater. Another Jeske follower replaced Ski and landed on St. Mark's Hour of Power. Kelm briefly sojourned there.

TELL turned into an expensive propaganda tool. The late Robert Hartman just had to boast.

Eight years ago, WELS Pastor Kent Reeder, did his best to out-Kelm Paul Kelm, birthing Illumine, like one of those lab experiments from a midnight monster movie channel. Reeder is on LinkedIn, a good way to find out what individuals say about themselves. One famous LCMS star did that and soon erased his own basic facts - too much revealed.

Luther and the Concordists did not say -

1. Come to my church
2. Find a friend here
3. Embrace the love, have some popcorn and soda
4. Coin a cool name for our (name the sect)  church, and hide the denomination.

The Reformation taught the Bible (Traditional Text, not the Tischendorf-Westcott-Hort) to explain its meaning and to refute errors.

Seductive marketing gimmicks are not effective. They claim the concept but reject the truth - 

The Holy Spirit is always at work in the Word and never apart from the Word.

The Fear and the Rainstorm

One seminary student was about to graduate. He was filled with dread about all the things he was supposed to do. He listed them all. I went through my mental check list as I read it. Only one thing was missing - preaching and teaching faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 

The farmer at the dinner table said, "We need rain." I was aching to say, "I'm in sales, not management." It reminded me of the installation of an ELS pastor. The air was so heavy with thunderstorm implications that I said to Christina before the service, "Lightning and rains during the sermon." 

During the sermon, lightning began flashing with thunder breaking loose, sometimes far, sometimes directly over our heads. I was up front, robed, so I had a chance to look at her for every thunderclap. How many husbands have a chance to say, "I was right! I was right! I was right! I was right!" I did not miss a boom, crash, or explosion of energy.

One person said afterwards, during the reception, "That is a million-dollar storm."

On the way home from Minnesota, rain began to fall in stingy amounts, then more and more until the traffic added its own fog of tossed rain into the air. A McDonalds worker said, "We need that rain. The lawns are burning up." I added, "Not to mention the crops." 

Did anyone say, "The rain will not have any results at all"? No. Nor did anyone suggest buying something that really worked in Hoboken and that gimmick would surely work everywhere if used the right way. They knew in Minnesota and Iowa that they needed rain, not a sprinkle, not a cloud-burst, but a good old-fashioned gulley washer.

 "Please do not ask me about Gasoline - or anything else."

When someone quotes "Lord, Liar, Lunatic," I know he favors two out of three.

God is so patient with us that He established the parable (to stretch the term) of the snow and rain coming down, always having a three-fold effect, attaching that fact of Creation to the Word of God. Like the rain and snow, God's Word will

1. Never return to Him void;
2. Always accomplish His purpose;
3. Prosper His will.

Isaiah 53:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 For as (1) the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but (2) watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that (3) it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: 

11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: (1) it shall not return unto me void, but (2) it shall accomplish that which I please, and (3) it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

The entire Bible is filled with references and paraphrases about the effectiveness of the Word, the work of the Holy Spirit always effective through the Word. Remember that nitwit teaching Universalism to the LCMS youth? "Everyone! Everyone!" He put his adverb - always - in the wrong place. The Word of God is always effective, and nothing else is. Nothing! Nothing!

Nothing makes me more suspicious than a Universalist videotaping himself in front of 300 unread theology books. Borgwart is not the only one.

So put down your worn Fuller-Willow Creek-Church Growth manuals.

HERE I STAND SOCKS. Clearance price, CPH. Is this when you knew it was all over for Matt the Fatt?

The manuals are why the LCMS-ELCA-ELS-WELS-CLC-ELDONA fail so spectacularly. They would likely buy expensive umbrellas to jump out of airplanes, because they heard that works.

So I came home from my 1,400 mile round-trip north, finding the gardens at home watered but still wilting in the 105 degree days. Rain is coming soon, and I know exactly what will happen. 

Is this not a bonk-on-head reminder for all Gospel churches, all faithful congregations? We have a self-imposed drought - NOT RELYING ON GOD'S WORD - purchased for millions of dollars, cleverly exploited by apostates waving their magic wands and pocketing their commissions:

• Waldo Werning
• David Valleskey
• Paul Calvin Kelm
• Lawrence Otto-B Retired Olson
• And many more.

 When David Valleskey, Fuller student (depending on the audience) said we should use the treasures of Fuller Seminary, much like the Exodus escape, I said to the Ohio Conference group - "They stole the gold and precious gems, not the garbage." Valleskey became visibly angry. The entire (tiny and shrinking) conference shunned me from that moment on. The Word is indeed effective. 

Exciting New Statistics - For WELS - Evangelism (Marketing) A Big Success - Only 3,000+ Net Losses!

Can anyone read this out loud without laughing?
Paul Iscariot Kelm will never erase his legacy - smart-aleck, warmed-over Calvinism.

The false-teacher-leaders of WELS always have several buddies to back up their nonsense and cry "Fowl!" because they cannot spell.

Where are the statistics for Pastor Mike's church and Pastor Tim's work? It is all about the numbers, for these CPAs - Church Polluting Accountants. Ski's numbers are once again - in the dumps.

This is the Ur-Document of WELS infatuation with Fuller Seminary's marketing stink-bomb. Read below to discover their 45 years of spectacular results.

WELS has gone downhill in every possible way. They are like drunks wobbling along in the dark, grabbing street lights to give the impression of sobriety.

Last year, WELS lost another 3,000+ net members, which means the country is growing in numbers while WELS-LCMS-ELCA-ELS are losing members in droves.

Whatever numbers are posted, the real losses are hidden, ignored, omitted, or buffed up to a beautiful shine.

Valleskey's lop-sided smile is so much like Mark Jeske's ambiguous pose.

 Pieper, who came from WELS, was a genius at blending Justification by Faith and Justification without Faith, Calvinism and Luther, light and dark. Guess who won...for the moment, at least? 

The strange part is - they heatedly denied their false god worship while stealing synod money to attend Fuller Seminary, Trinity Divinity, and Willow Creek Community Church.

Why Are Lutherans Failing as Fast as Fuller Seminary? A Shorter Version on Apostasy

 Olson denied going to Fuller Seminary, as did Valleskey and Bivens. WELS GA hazing teaches seminarians how to lie and bully others as pastors.

 Only Olson could wear a church stole with a Geneva gown, sporting doctoral stripes he never earned. A DMin is an STM, not an academic doctorate.

This passage came up in a graphic by Norma A. Boeckler, and this explains the apostasy problem in a few verses. Because Fuller Seminary and Trinity Divinity and Willow Crick did not teach faith but success, they have created a generation of no-good-niks who should be selling bitcoin or miracle wart removal lotions.

KJV 4:1 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. 2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. 3 For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.

Lenski, Hebrews, Chapter IV.

The Attractive Promise: 

Those Who Believe Enter into God’s Rest, 

Chapter 4, The Rest Promised to Faith, 1-5. 

The passage quoted from the psalm (3:7-11) is full of threatening and thus serves as a warning; but in this very threat there lies the most blessed promise, which the writer uses with equal effect to make his readers firm and to stop their wavering. He thus uses both law and gospel in the true, evangelical way and becomes a model that we may well follow.

From Lenski's Hebrews, p. 128.

“But” the sad and tragic thing was that “the Word of the hearing (qualitative genitive: the Word they heard) did not profit them, not having mixed itself by faith with those who heard.” They had it but did not believe it. “It did not profit” is the historical aorist and summarizes 3 :7-19. The point stressed is the hearing: “the Word of the hearing,” “they who heard," reverting to the psalm (3:8) : “if you should hear his voice.” We should note that “promise” and “telling good tidings" (v. 1, 2) certainly involve the thought that both be heard. But not only heard: the voice of his Word heard, the promise and good tidings heard, must also be believed. Therein the Jews of the Exodus failed so tragically: they heard the promise of God’s rest, all that the glad tidings about this rest contained, but they hardened their hearts (3:8, etc.), they refused to believe and thus lost both the earthly and the heavenly Canaan.

1977! - and no apologies after 45 years of unfaith blundering?!

For Those WELS-ELS-LCMS Pastors and Executives Who Imagined Fuller Was Conservative

LCMS and WELS Church Shrinkers bragged that more of their seminary classmates went to Fuller Seminary for "graduate work" than attended their own seminaries. Maybe that was because the Fuller classes were even easier, though they cost more. 

After signing a letter expressing disappointment with the new administration, a pro-life evangelical scholar who voted for President Joe Biden said that while he would vote for Biden again if the 2020 presidential election were held today, he would not make his support public.

 

In 2020, Mouw retired from Fuller and returned to Calvin University, becoming a senior research fellow at the Paul B. Henry Institute for the Study of Christianity and Politics.^[3]

In 2007, Mouw, who sees Abraham Kuyper as a personal hero,^[4] was awarded the Abraham Kuyper Prize for Excellence in Reformed Theology and Public Life at Princeton Theological Seminary by the Abraham Kuyper Center for Public Theology.^{[5] (Wikipedia)}

Richard Mouw, president emeritus of Fuller Seminary in California and a member of Pro-Life Evangelicals for Biden, spoke to The Christian Post Tuesday, days after his group issued a statement in response to the president's support for a coronavirus relief package that did not include a longstanding provision that prevents the use of taxpayer dollars to fund abortions.

"We are very disappointed about the COVID-19 relief package's exclusion of the Hyde Amendment, a longstanding, bipartisan policy," they wrote. "We're even more upset that the Biden administration is supporting this bill."

As a result of Biden's support for the bill, the group contended that they feel "used and betrayed."

Mouw told CP that he and other members of Pro-Life Evangelicals for Biden group knew that Biden had been "shifting" his position on the Hyde Amendment when they released a statement in support of Biden's candidacy last October, one month before the 2020 presidential election.

He maintained that conversations they had with campaign officials who now help the administration with faith outreach were reassuring.

"We made ... clear that we would offer support with the understanding that they would urge the White House to have serious conversations with Catholics and evangelicals who are right-to-life people," he recalled. "The problem is that we haven't had those conversations, and leaving the Hyde Amendment out of this particular package, this latest COVID package, is a signal that ... there really ... is no room for that kind of conversation."

Mouw confirmed that an official from the Biden administration reached out to him on Monday.

"We're going to have a meeting later this week," he said.

Mouw and Ronald Sider, another member of Pro-Life Evangelicals for Biden, will sit down with two members of the White House faith outreach office to address their concerns.

When asked if he would vote for Biden again and issue a statement in support of his candidacy if the 2020 presidential election was still forthcoming and he knew that Biden would support a coronavirus relief bill that excluded Hyde Amendment protections, Mouw responded that he would "vote the same way" while adding, "I would not give my public support."

Mouw indicated that while he disagrees with Biden's position on abortion, there are other areas where he has found common ground with the new administration, specifically on the issues of global warming and immigration.

Acknowledging that he received "a lot of angry messages from right-to-life people," some of whom called him "naive" due to his support for Biden and subsequent feelings of betrayal, Mouw still defended the object of his previous remarks in support of Biden. He said they would be necessary to provide reassurance to the "many younger evangelicals who are not happy about ... the way in which their parents and grandparents have endorsed and defended the Trump administration."

"We ... don't want to lose them to evangelicalism because of what is perceived as a mean-spirited, highly partisan commitment on the part of the older generation of evangelicals who voted 81% ... in the presidential election before this last one for Mr. Trump," he said.

"We thought it was important to hold up the right to life position and at the same time, say it's OK to be concerned about a broader range of issues such as global warming and children at the border separated from their parents and those kinds of questions. And so, we wanted to use our own access through the Biden campaign people to at least get them to stay in conversation with people like us."

In addition to explaining that he was "less optimistic" about the possibility of Biden and the Democratic Party building a "bigger tent" to accommodate pro-lifers, Mouw expressed concern about the president's support for another major legislative initiative: The Equality Act.

According to Mouw, the legislation puts "the rights of Christian institutions to preserve commitments to traditional biblical teaching regarding sexuality without being penalized in terms of federal grants, federal loans for students" in jeopardy.

"A lot of Christian colleges and universities are well over 50% dependent in their tuition income on students getting federal loans," the Fuller Seminary president emeritus added.

Mouw warned that making "the sexuality issue" an eligibility requirement for "receiving students with federal loans" would deal a "huge blow" to faith-based schools.

Leading up to the 2020 presidential election, Biden had vowed to push for the Equality Act's passage within his first 100 days in office. Biden indicated that he would work to codify Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide, into law.

Biden's documented public support for policies widely opposed by evangelicals has led some conservatives, like former Trump attorney Jenna Ellis, to conclude that "'Evangelicals' for Biden are getting exactly what they voted for."

44 Years of Church Growth! - Don't tell Wayne Mueller.

Nothing Really Changes in WELS - From 2010 - The Stain of Kelm and Ski

Welcome to the media download section. Please select a file or choose a category below:

Year: (All Years) 2010

Category: (Select Category) (All Categories) Message Notes Sermons

 

Click on one of the following files to view the available options:

SORT BY: Title Speaker Text Date 

Wildcard - pt 2 - Answering Skeptics...with Truth

Pastor Paul Kelm 

8/8/2010 

Wildcard - pt 2 - Connection Group Questions

8/8/2010 

Wildcard - pt 1 - Who Do We Say Jesus Is?

Pastor Clark Schultz 

8/1/2010 

Miracles - Part 4 - Opening Blind Eyes

Pastor Jason 

7/25/2010 

Miracles - Part 3 - Water to Wine

Pastor Jason 

7/18/2010 

Miracles - Pt 2 - Poolside Miracle

Pastor Ski 

7/11/2010 

Miracles - Calming the Storm

Pastor Ski 

7/4/2010 

Jonah - Part 4 - Holier Than Thou

Pastor Jason 

6/27/2010 

Jonah - Part 3 - White Flag

Pastor Jason 

6/20/2010 

Jonah - Part 2 - Distress Call

Pastor Jason 

6/13/2010 

Jonah - Part 1 - Resistance is Futile

Pastor Jason 

6/6/2010 

 |  

***

Hope in Jesus is the website name.

GJ - I get the impression this is a Church and Money Changer congregation, with Ski and Kelm preaching, the links to Willowcreek's Little College, etc.

I would listen to the sermons, if someone held a shotgun against my head. Feel free and report back in the comments.

Ski began one with pet peeves. As the Belushi character said in Animal House - "Seven years of college down the drain."