Daily Luther Sermon Quote - Trinity 22 - "For, as St. Bernhard says, ingratitude is an evil damnable and pernicious enough to quench all the springs of grace and blessing known to God and men; it is like a poison-laden, burning, destructive wind. Human nature will not tolerate it."

 

Melanchthon - "Remember me from last year's Reformation?"

13. The world permits the very devil to saddle and ride it as he pleases. It seems to be characteristic of every phase of life that one will not yield to another — will not submit to any demand. Everyone is disposed to force his arrogant authority. The presumption is that supreme honor and final success depend upon an unyielding, unforgiving disposition, and that to seek to retain our possessions by peaceable means will prove our ruin.

Even the two remaining cows in the stall must be brought into requisition, and war waged to the last stick, until when the mutineer comes and we have neither cow nor stall, nor house nor stick, we are obliged to cease.

RETRIBUTION FOLLOWS INGRATITUDE.

Oh, had we but grace enough to reflect on how it would be with us did God require us, as he has a perfect right to do, to pay our whole indebtedness, none being forgiven! grace enough to think whether we would not this very moment be in the abyss of hell! But so must it finally be with those who disregard the question and continually heap to themselves the wrath of God, being at the same time unwilling for him to deal otherwise with them than he did with the servant he forgave. But against that servant was finally passed the irrevocable sentence which, without mercy, delivered him to the tormentor till he should pay the debt, something he could never do.

14. Nor is there any wrong or injustice in this ruling. For, as St. Bernhard says, ingratitude is an evil damnable and pernicious enough to quench all the springs of grace and blessing known to God and men; it is like a poison-laden, burning, destructive wind. Human nature will not tolerate it.

Nor can God permit you, upon whom he has bestowed all grace and goodness, all spiritual and temporal blessing, to go on continually in wickedness, defiantly abusing his benevolence and dishonoring him; you thus recklessly bring upon yourself his wrath. For God cannot bless you if you are ungrateful, if you reject his goodness and give it no place in your heart.

In such case the fountain of grace and mercy that continually springs for all who sincerely desire it, must be quenched for you. You cannot enjoy it. It would afford you an abundant and unceasing supply of water did you not yourself dry it up by the deadly wind of your ingratitude; by shamefully forgetting the ineffable goodness God bestows upon you; and by failing to honor the blood of Christ the Lord, wherewith he purchased us and reconciled us to God — failing to honor it enough to forgive your neighbor, for Christ’s sake, a single wrong word.

15. What heavy burden is there for the individual who, in submission and gratitude to his God, and in honor to Christ, would conduct himself something like a Christian? It will cost him no great effort nor trouble. It will not break any bones nor injure him in property or honor. Even were it to affect him to some trifling extent, to incur for him some slight injustice, he should remember what God has given him, and will still give, of his grace and goodness.

Yes, why complain even were you, in some measure, to endanger body and life? What did not the Son of God incur for you? It was not pleasure for him to take upon himself the wrath of God, to bear the curse for you. It cost him bloody sweat and unspeakable anguish of heart, as well as the sacrifice of his body, the shedding of his blood, when he bore for you the wrath and curse of God, which would have rested upon you forever. Yet he did it cheerfully and with fervent love. Should you not, then, be ashamed in your own heart, and humiliated before all creatures, to be so slow and dull, so stock-and-stone-hardened, about enduring and forgiving an occasional unkind word — something to be suffered in token of honor and gratitude to him? What more noble than, for the sake of Christ, to incur danger, to suffer injury, to aid the poor and needy? in particular to further the Word of God and to support the ministry, the pulpit and the schools?

16. It would be no marvel had Germany long ago sunk to ruin, or had it been razed to its very foundations by Turks and Tartars, because of its diabolical forgetfulness, its damnable rejection, of God’s unspeakable grace. Indeed, it is a wonder the earth continues to support us and the sun still gives us light. Because of our ingratitude, well might the heavens become dark and the earth be perverted — as the Scriptures teach (Psalm 106) — and suffer the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah, no longer yielding a leaf nor a blade of grass, but completely turned from its course — well might it be so did not God, for the sake of the few godly Christians known and acknowledged of him, forbear and still delay.

EXAMPLES OF INGRATITUDE FOR THE GOSPEL.

17. Wherever we turn our eyes we see, in all conditions of life, a deluge of terrible examples of ingratitude for the precious Gospel.

Thrivent and the Faithless Five - "Nothing to eat, driven out, baited with dogs, and pelted with dung." The Faithless Five - ELCA-LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC (sic).

A Message for The Faithless Five - ELCA-LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC (sic) - Try To Get the Good Samaritan Right!

 

The Faithless Five - ELCA-LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC (sic) - cannot comprehend the Parable of the Good Samaritan because they are functional illiterates. They may plead to others that their Luther Sermons are worn out from constant study, but all they do is circle the drain of their fetid Objective Justification.

The Waltherian Four - LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC (sic) - boast and bray about their inerrancy of the Bible. Nota bene - the word inerrancy is not in the Bible. Their inerrancy claim is nothing more than a smokescreen. "We hold to the infallible inerrancy of the Scriptures!" they say, laughing up their sleeves. How can anyone deny their purity when they show so much authority? They promote safe sects, which allow them to do whatever they want.

The gaseous Waltherian Four love the worst Bible paraphrase, the fruit of Eugene Nida's Dynamic Equivalence - The NIV. The man and the plan made it possible to invent a New Testament that never existed, always changing, erasing the original text and adding obvious errors.

Has anyone told the Waltherian Four that the traditional Hebrew text of the Old Testament is welded into place by the strictest rules of text scholarship? No? - of course not, because the Jewish scholars maintained that text, which Christians (excluding the Church of Rome) kept pure.

Matt the Fatt and Mirthless Mark Schroeder will soon be gone from their synods, a chance to see how much worse their sects are becoming under the tender, loving care of ELCA. 

ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton Says - If Hell Exists, ‘I Think It’s Empty’

 

“I think that doubt is just an intensifying of one’s relationship with God” — Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, in “Face to Faith” podcast. | Tim Boyle / Sun-Times

Top Lutheran bishop: If Hell exists, ‘I think it’s empty’

On the first day of 1988, ELCA officially consummated the merger of the Lutheran Church in America, the American Lutheran Church, and Seminex (AELC). Time flies but apostasy moves slowly, like a slug, munching on what is alive, chewing holes wherever possible, leaving a slime trail.

One must have served time before the merger - to realize the depravity of ELCA, each part welded into place before people could grasp the great swindle. We were gone from ELCA before it happened, but discovered that WELS, Missouri, and the ELS were kissing the cloven feet of ELCA. 

And why not? They got to share in the goodness of Thrivent Insurance (another merger - LB and AAL), the National Council of Gay Churches, Fuller Seminary, and Marvin Schwan's wife problems.

Each ELCA executive was worse than the previous one, each year dragging down the numbers (it's all about the numbers) and losing money.

Former Presiding Bishops

The Rev. Mark Hanson served as presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America from November 2001 to October 2013. 

Brief Biography






The Rev. H. George Anderson served as presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America from November 1995 to October 2001.

Brief Biography




The Rev. Herbert W. Chilstrom served as presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America from its inception in 1987 to October 1995. 

Brief Biography 

+++

These three are out-going, or rather going out, each one worse than the previous one. Are millions of Lutherans not able to support the efficacy of the Word in the Means of Grace?

Isn't it appropriate - with squeals, giggles, and belches - to blend openly with ELCA? As Chemnitz wrote in his Examination of the Council of Trent, "The devil always leaves a foul stench behind when he leaves the room."

 

Odors of the Upcoming Great Collapse - Clowns Already at Work

The Faithless Five - ELCA-LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC (sic) - they want everyone's gold, silver, and jewels, but they have no use for the Gospel of our Savior.

Every day, without fail, another large church emerges from its Stygian source to boast the efficacy of its Barnum and Bailey circus splendor. They have 5,000 members plus - and add to their boasting, "Watch us grow!"

KJV Exodus 32:6 And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

That happened when the people of Israel, after receiving the Ten Commandments, gathered their precious metals and jewels to fashion pagan idols. Aaron joined in the fun, until Moses appeared in his wrath.

The Faithless Five - ELCA-LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC (sic) - have gathered around Aaron and his golden calf for many decades. The analogy is clear - God has given us the Traditional Old Testament Hebrew text and the Traditional Greek New Testament text (in short, the KJV). But the Faithless Five worship the atheists at Fuller Seminary, Trinity Divinity, Willow Creek, and more - unified by their hatred of Jesus' Promise - Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My Words will never pass away.

KJV 24:34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. 35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. 36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

Going back a few decades, the mega-church concept was isolated and rare. Now there is a rush in all denominations: multi-campus, supersized, fun, food-courts, hip Bibles, and adulterous. One "growther" wrecked his LCMS congregation, moved his proclivities to WELS, and nestled into a big, old church, the blind leading the blind.

These Synagogues of Satan drive faithful members away. 

One ELS-LCMS pastor told me I should publish against the Church Growth Movement, but he never did. 

The greatest joke of all from these apostates is being very sensitive about ELCA, not wanting to offend those clowns who own so much real estate. They were sure - one expert told them - that the new ELCA would donate an enormous group of dissenters that would join LCMS (laughing), WELS (gagging), the mini's puking. They Four Waltherian Cults also declined because they drank from the same River Styx. Or perhaps - the real life Cloaca Maxima, the Roman Empire's sewer.

Cloaca Maxima

ELCA Presiding Bishop Liz Eaton canned the first tranny bishop, Megan Rohrer. ELCA seminaries have been producing gay women, men, and undecided since 1987 (and before - let's be honest). The Four Waltherian Cults - LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC (sic) only object to Justification by Faith and the Means of Grace.

Alt-Church Growth in the Missouri Synod - Games! Games! Games!They Sit Down To Eat And Rise Up To Play!

 

Covering topics on creation and stewardship, unity, perseverance, and overcoming obstacles, this series seeks to help congregants discover “how these games offer insights into faith, community, spiritual growth, and redemption.”

Notably, guests can also win one of two Xbox video game systems by entering a draw.

"Exploring Christian principles that can be found in Minecraft, Super Mario Kart, Tetris, and Frogger."

Snippet of Lutheran church (LCMS) pastor preaching during their video-game sermon series 'Game On'. See the story https://protestia.com/2024/08/15/lutheran-church-lcms-puts-on-video-games-themed-service/

Whee! Who needs the NIV when we can play games at church?
The Faithless Five - ELCA-LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC (sic)

They love being alt-ELCA and stealth Fuller.

Delays Continue in the Bathtube Renovation Project

 

I wonder if The Faithless Five - ELCA-LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC (sic), can spell Jakob Spener and explain how they fell into the Slough of Despond.

First I was hearing the schedule of Monday-Tuesday, which accomplished a lot. However, that was only half the project. Next is drywall and various other items, such as replacing some hardware. That is likely today, but not official. Likely things will be done today (drywall) and Friday (putting everything back together). I can put together two Reformation Seminary lectures on John either on Friday or Saturday, God willing.

I enjoy doing the lectures and appreciate your responses.

Fuerbringer - Walther's nephew - got it right. Notice that the date is five years before the disastrous Brief Statement of 1932, which included and welded Objective Justification into the Synodical Conference. Gausewitz' Small Catechism was published in 1927. 

"These presidential posts obviously received much attention when obituaries had to be written in 1927 for this outstanding leader in our Lutheran circles, who died suddenly in the Grace sacristy just before the Holy Communion service on Sept. 4. More important, however, then and especially later was the service Gausewitz rendered through work on the synodical Catechism. The first special Catechism project that engaged the attention of Carl Gausewitz was working on a Synodical Conference committee charged with the responsibility of editing Luther’s Small Catechism. The committee was busy at the turn of the century.13"

Carl Gausewitz: Church Man and Catechist
By Edward C. Fredrich

Two Kinds of Polls - Be Sure To Keep Them Straight

 

One of the political science guys explained polls this way, so listen up.

Published polls are broadcast solely to influence people. Any live poll-taker can ask questions like, "Does Trump frighten you?" In fact, one of these experts at Forbes did not even do any research. He made up the questions and the "votes."

Internal polls are the research the politicians have paid for. The internal polls are not given out to the media or the public, so the candidates do not get confused by their own dreams and the phony statistics.

The soi-disant Lutheran synods are exactly the same. The managers know what is going on, but they publish future statistics, dreams, and hopes to distract the members from the disaster. They caused it with Objective Faithless Justification and mocking the Augsburg Confession.

"Those lovable ELDONUTs!"

Would someone develop a simple list of The Faithless Five - ELCA-LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC (sic) numbers? A banker would not last long, if his numbers were as bad as the Lutherans for so many years. The poorly educated presidents/bishops/presiding bishops should be ashamed to grab so much money and fail to teach Biblical doctrine, faith in Jesus Christ and the efficacy of His Word.

The Word Is Faith, Not Growth, Rev. Drucker. The Faithless Five - ELCA-LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC (sic).

 

The Faithless Five are ELCA-LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC (sic). Pietism began their road to Perdition, setting aside the Means of Grace for a purer, more saintly, exquisitely proud life. Everything notched downward, a little bit at a time. 

I recall a fad from a few years - or decades - ago. That is when people began saying, "Grace alone" in various configurations, as many as five with grace. No one dared question something so positive in graces, so they snarled out the words they spoke, which seemed rather ungracious.

KJV Romans 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Romans 4 is dedicated to describing Justification by Faith, leaving no doubt about it, except to numbskulls and snake oil salesmen who quote Romans 4:25 alone, omitting the complete sentence Romans 4:22-25. Let's try that, which is immediately before Romans 5:1-2. (I am being helpful to the Faithless Five.)

KJV Romans 4:22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.

23 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him;

24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed [counted], if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;

25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

Righteousness is counted if we believe on God who raised our Lord Jesus from the dead. The fog machines of the Faithless Five do not like that, but the Greek is just as clear as the English. 

Therefore, grace comes only to individuals through faith in Jesus Christ, who was raised by God. 

Those magicians and necromancers who claim the entire world is righteous - Objective Justification, General Justification, Universal Objective Justification - are nothing more than antiquarian butchers of dogmatics. They cannot even discern some of the old Lutheran dogmatics with clarity or honesty. I will list them below, but I will first quote the damning accusation of them from Jesus Himself.

KJV John 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:

9 Of sin, because they believe not on me;

All the blowhards, tricksters, warlocks, synod presidents, bishops, and professors are sin. Some of them even say that their toxic Objective Justification is the Chief Articles of the Christian Faith - that is - all denominations.

Whac-A-Mole Continues To Serve the Faithless Five - ELCA-LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC (sic)

 

The scape-goat has been replaced by the Whac-A-Mole, a fun toy to teach the next leader on the path of getting-away-with-crimes. 

For instance, Matt the Fatt stirred up his entire sect by attacking one person and waving the bloody shirt of "alt-right." That came from the same SP wannabee who once serenaded the late Herman Otten in his first quest to become synod president. That worked so well that the target victim had already left that congregation but was excommunicated by the congregation after the fact. That should be counted as post-mortem disciple, ideal in pushing the sect president over the top.

The same "Dr." Harrison wrote and sang a song slandering the same person he once praised (Otten). Harrison's attack was covered by photos and the actual script, which included Matt's diagnosis that Otten was crazy. 

WELS is far more consistent - their managers lie all the time, the fruit of a system of hazing which begins at the "prep level" (high school), then the college level and  finally introduces students to seminary life. The primary tool is using both sides of every argument and denying the crime.

• "I drank a lot of beer with Larry in seminary."
• "My father is the second highest person in WELS."
  
• "Do you know who his father is?"
• "I don't know anything about this."
• "Are you saying our leaders are not trustworthy?"
• Synod President - "If we go over the $8 million to do this, we will pull the plug."
• Part 2 - "The bulldozers have already started so we can't stop." ($30 million)
• "That's the way we are."

They love every doctrine but their own.

They continue to sing their own praises while denying their fetid attachment to Fuller Seminary, Willow Creek Community Sex Scandals, Trinity Divinity, and other aberrations, funded by Thrivent and lining their pockets.

The Faithless Five have proved themselves to be utterly self-destructive. The more the bishops, district presidents, and circuit Jesuits run the show for their own benefit and rewards, the faster they will all go downhill.

The property is being consumed as a way to keep the sects afloat. A typical old congregation has a huge bank account and two extra large women pastors guiding the last 20 members into another congregation, calling it a merger. The Waltherians are adding women's ordination, step by step, so do not get your fellowship hackles up. Fuller Seminary only accepts those who agree with women's ordination, and they will soon openly endorse gay ordination.

Remember, Thrivent merged Lutheran Brotherhood and Aid Association for Lutherans. They were in trouble, ahead of the game. Now they are more ecumenical than ever.

Will the Wisconsin Synod, Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, And ELS Continue To Share Their Bed with ELCA? Ask MN Governor Tim Walz.

 

O Perfidious Lutheran Managers! 

O Fuller Seminary Students! 

KJV Luke 19:41 And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, 42 Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. 43 For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side,44 And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.

Thriventians Three - ELCA-LCMS-WELS - 

They have so much in common. 

Orthodox? - they do not agree with each other, but they share the same insurance loot and work hard at pulling grandma's estate into irrevocable trusts. But they are in fellowship with the Benjies, thanks to Mark Jeske (quasi-WELS, crypto-ELCA) sitting on the Thrivent board and organizing LCMS-ELCA-WELS events for and with women pastors from ELCA.

Evangelical? - That was Luther's label because they were the Gospel group courageously opposing the Church of Rome until the Pope excommunicated them. 

Pro-Life? - ELCA promotes abortion, and so does Thrivent, but that is an adiaphoron for WELS and LCMS.

Orthodox? - A better word would be ortho-apostate, because they agree 100% on Objective (Faithless) Justification.

Inerrant Bible? - Presiding Bishop Liz is opposed to inerrancy and welcomes every translation of the Bible except the King James Version. Mirthless Mark Schroeder and Matt the Fatt Harrison welcome all translations except the King James Version - and they hate Luther.

Confessional? - All three agree that they are confessional but the clear teaching of the Book of Concord opposes their pathetic, anti-Means of Grace clinging to Universalism. Everyone is forgiven and saved, even before birth, according to their experts.  They work together because they reject Justification by Faith together.

Mollie Hemingway, editor-in-chief of The Federalist, said that she, as a "confessional Lutheran," has been getting many questions about Walz being Lutheran. 

"FWIW, Walz is ELCA, an extremely left-wing sub-denomination," she wrote in an X post. "You may be familiar with the ELCA due to some of their congregations using the 'sparkle creed' or hosting drag shows."

The drag queens are in full make-up and costumes. These ELCA pastors share delightful agreement, except for one pastor on the far right.

WELS-LCMS pastors and managers have many years of self-destruction behind them. Their apostasy is so obvious that they brag about it to one another. They have already undermined the most basic doctrines in order to kiss up to ELCA, creating a deceptive magic mirror. WELS-LCMS tell their members that they have a felt-need for more Church Growth principles and Thrivent money.

Drowning in Drivel - Disloyal Lutherquest and Perfideous Ovaltines

 

The misnamed LutherQuesters studiously avoid the Scriptures and Luther. Their problem comes from being stuck on Stephan-Walther and their fervid opposition to the Scriptures. Currently, Rolf Preus is super-charged to counter any possible hint of Justification by Faith on an Australian Confession Lutheran Forum. If they let me into their enormous chat-circle, I would be eager to quote the Chief Article of the Christian Religion and hope they would respond.

I replaced the Statue of Liberty from Planet of the Apes, with a Luther statue from the LCMS. WELS has one Luther statue (for jesting about faity), and they all bow to the sainted Schwan.

The Ovaltines of ALPB Online Bore'em are even less interesting. They monopolize their little squabbles so only a few people can waste everyone's time with their chatter. I was enjoying a great run about David Benke's revelation that he was the real star of the Augsburg Confession's annual celebration, which is all about Luther, Melanchthon, the brave lay leaders, and Benke. Since then, Benke has been almost silent. I miss how everything nestles on his broad shoulders and celebrated personal history. He has been saying "It's OK to pray" ever since he gilded the wonderful Yankee Stadium pan-religious prayer circle with his personal thoughts. Before that moment, few accepted the efficacy of worshiping with every religion except Christianity. His Missouri Synod mentors declared, "One small step for a prayer circle, one giant leap for Benke."