A Photo Has Been Leaked from the WELS COP Meeting

This just in - for Icha-peekers.

Someone has leaked a photo from the recent WELS COP meeting.

It is encrypted, so it will take until morning to post.

Stay tuned.

Lame Doctrine of Law-Salesman Savaged Again Tonight

Awkward! Latte Lutheran Church (WELS) is a Church and Change franchise, bragged up in FICKLE
for its comfortable couches and gourmet coffee.

rlschultz has left a new comment on your post "Church and Changers - Small Potatoes":

"It is with the utmost humility as a recovering pew potato that I make
the attempt to serve Jesus daily."
This is a veiled, reverse type of condescension. Think of BUSY as an acronym (not my original idea):

Busy
Under
Satan's
Yoke

Notice the innuendo about Christians who merely just go to church. The Law says Do. The Gospel says Done. Also, buried in this lame comment is a wrong understanding of the doctrine of vocation. I wish that I would have counted how many times that I witnessed members neglecting their families because they were allegedly doing the Lord's Work. I speak from my own experience also. Besides fulfilling one's vocation, wherever you may be put, there is stewardship of your blessings. Most important of all is the chance to let the Lord serve you with diligent study of His Word.

We will always be given opportunities to serve our neighbor through acts of charity. If you think that endless attendance of workshops, meetings, conferences, seminars, etc is serving the Lord, you have been misled. What better way to keep a Christian from the Means of Grace than by wearing them out.

***

GJ - The unceasing gift of Pietism is to emphasize works as the foundation for justification, as Hoenecke observed. Church and Change has spawned a completely false view of the ministry, which allows Lampe to promote himself as a minister to all denominations and to hapless Lutherans, too. Needless to say, he supports Ski.

Bragging about one's humility is not the mark of a humble man. Instead, the practice reminds us of the Dickens character, Uriah Heep. "I am an 'umble man."

If pew potatoes are so bad that they need converting to hyper-activity, why are the WELS savants creating coach potato churches, popcorn and soda congregations? There is no butter better way to pack on lard than to eat popcorn and drink soda.

Victory of the Movie Screen, Latte, and the portable Popcorn Cathedral of Rock will have to start some diet programs to meet the felt needs of their members.

They promised Church Growth but delivered Girth Growth - that will be their epitaph.

Rogue Lutheran and Brett Meyer on the LCMS DP Suing a Congregation in His Own District

J-641.1 "Sixth, our false apostles justly reward us by smiting us in the face. That is, they consider us inferior to dogs; they abuse us, and treat us as foot-rags." Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, VII, p. 112. Second Sunday in Lent. 2 Corinthians 11:19-33; 12:1-9. Luther quotes ripped off from Ichabod, link


Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "LCMS DP Escorted from Voters Meeting - A Heartwarm...":

(W)ELS laity should take a good hard look at what is happening in Oakland!

Is the so-called Conservative LCMS President Harrison stepping in to stop this fraudulent and violent abuse? Is anyone in the Synod Administration? Nearly everyone has stepped aside to allow this to happen.

Is the (W)ELS any different. Charis, Church and Change, clergy and laity worshiping and training with Baptists, Willow Creek membership, Satanic Fuller Seminary training, Satan's Sex Ed promotions, clergy photo's with porn stars, Thrivent money supporting the United Nations and called worker abortions, Jeske's Time of Grace holding membership in (W)ELS and simultaneously in the LCMS, Women Pastors, perversion of the central doctrine of Justification by Faith Alone, denegration of the Means of Grace and Confessions of the Lutheran Church - and WHAT? Nothing. Synod President, District Presidents, curcuit Pastors, clergy, church elders etc. are doing nothing to stop these heinous practices. Will they step in when Synod sues you and your congregation? I don't think so. In fact, I know they won't because even those with enough calcium in their systems to tie their shoes will not go against Holy Mother Synod when she announces her divine decrees, when her position is questioned or when her wrath is stirred.

LCMS DP Escorted from Voters Meeting - A Heartwarming Episode

bruce-church (https://bruce-church.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "Parochial Education Has Failed - Time To Admit Its...":

The district is suing the congregation, costing them a ton of money, and yet the district president insists on giving them a pastoral letter. Then some 7 foot tall guy has to escort him out:

YouTube Shows LCMS District President Removed From Oakland CA Voters

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/reclaimnews/message/215

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnQJRUEJNeE

***

GJ - This DP--who is suing this congregation in his own district, to take away their property--insists on being at the meeting. He is voted out of the meeting but stands up to talk and pass out his letter anyway.

This reminds me of Faith (formerly ELCA) in Moline, warning the bishop that the Moline Police would arrest him if he showed up on the property.

More congregations should stand up to these popes, who live off the offering money of faithful Christians and deliver false doctrine to them in return. The time has come to turn off the spigot on all of them and make them work again. Let them earn a living as a pastor and volunteer as DP.

Heard on the Trepidation Site, Where They Speak Softly Lest They Be Heard on the Streets of Gath

Anonymous said...

To the Administrators of this site: Yes, you make a good point. But I don't understand why you do not point to specific examples. There are plenty of WELS churches who play mistress to the Church Growth Method. Why not expose them. Public sins need public rebuke, don't they? Pastors have been Called by God to the public ministry and are held to higher standard than the average layman, according to the pastoral Epistles. Paul made short work of condemning false teachers and if we think false teaching is happening in the WELS then I think we need to follow Paul's example. I don't want to see impeachments fly around for their own sake, but rather firstly for the laymen that are being led astray and secondly for those Called and Ordained men who are disowning the Efficacy of the Word. I would like to see this blog act as a positive force for warning laymen about Specific Pastors who offer the hollow and deceptive philosophies of Church Growth. I encourage the blog administrators to deal in specifics. Issue warning to laymen who might not understand or see what form such hollow and deceptive philosophy takes. I whole-heartedly believe that the folks running this blog have the Christian maturity to call the specific errant WELS Pastors to task. If there were no False Teachers in the WELS, why does this blog exist? Andy Groenwald

October 26, 2010 8:46 PM

Pastor Jeff Samelson said...

Pastor Spencer: The fourth example from a church website that you quoted was: " . . . relevant sermons with real-life applications . . . " Shall I assume there was more on that site that caused you concern? Because what you quoted there sounds unobjectionable, on its face at least. Don't you preach relevant sermons and don't you make real-life applications? Law and gospel are always relevant, and specific law and specific gospel always have real-life application. So wouldn't we consider any good law and gospel sermon to be "relevant" and have "real-life application"? So I guess what I'm saying is that I don't get what you find objectionable or contrary to confessional Lutheranism in that website quote. What am I missing?

October 26, 2010 9:24 PM

LutherRocks said...

I echo Andy's words. It all goes back to doctrine and if the doctrine is messed up it will affect how you approach ministry. There is a difference in approaching the sinful world from the perspective of the unbelievers are condemned and headed for hell, dead in their sin without hearing the Law and Gospel versus they are already forgiven, justified and righteous...they just don't know it yet. Joe Krohn

October 27, 2010 4:53 AM

Anonymous said...

I too echo Andy's words. It's time to gather the evidence and bring to light all those who mix the teaching of God's pure Word with the dreck of human ideas. (Church Growth comes to mind). It is time to call to repentance those teaching false doctrine, discipline and remove from the WELS those who do not repent. If this means the end of the WELS as we know it, so be it. The remaining confessional Lutherans will be much better off. It is time to take a stand. That's another reason why I became an Intrepid Lutheran. Scott E. Jungen

October 27, 2010 8:21 AM

Anonymous said...

If the WELS gets broken up and those Confessional Lutherans that are left there will be a church body of about 30 members. Bill Barley

Parochial Education Has Failed - Time To Admit Its Betrayal of Lutheran Doctrine

WELS Pastor Lillo said that one day I would admit that Ski was correct.
This misspelled, obnoxious ad is one example of Ski's copied work.
Ski, Glende, Parlow, Kelm, Lillo, and Deputy Doug Englebrecht
prove the failure of parochial education.

The closing of Martin Luther College, WELS, provides an excellent opportunity to start taking down a failed parochial system.

Ironically, Parlow is eager to build a big merged parochial school near his church, combining all the others and inviting all religions thereto. Can anyone name a bigger parochial school failure than Parlow? Ok, Don Patterson is close but Kudu Don did not list his church as part of the Willow Creek Association. Parlow and Kelm did. That qualified Kelm to be a perish consultant and to mislead poor, innocent college kids.

The original idea behind parochial schools was to provide a high quality education within the doctrinal norms of the denomination. Roman Catholics wanted their children praying to Mary and fretting about Purgatory, so they spent lavishly on parochial schools.

Lutherans wanted doctrinal loyalty and a foundation for church vocations within their synods. Many sacrificed to provide this, whether students or teachers or pastors.

WELS, Missouri, and the Little Sect cannot produce Lutherans from their own systems. I know there are genuine confessional Lutherans in those synods, because I hear from them. However, they are exceptions - not honored or respected, by harried and lacerated by their own synods.

Whatever I say about WELS is true of the other synods, with some variations. The WELS COP is just as much run by Church and Change as the Sausage Factory, two colleges, and preps are. The Changers I feature on Ichabod are paraded as heroes at Luther prep.

I tried to tell DP Bucholz how bad Mequon was for promoting Changers, but he went into instant denial. That reminded me of the elderly pastor who did not want to know how liberal the Canadian seminary was. Now that man's congregation is performing gay marriages. It only takes one generation of change.

Bucholz wanted to say the problem was with Boomers, laughing since I am one. I had to agree with that, but the deniers are the worst of all.

The very system which was set up to promote the Confessions, even if imperfect in execution, was also ideal in protecting the synod bloodlines - like Jeske and his fifth generation WELS claim.

Augustana Experience
I know how this can happen from another example. Augustana College in Rock Island grew out of the Swede's rejection of General Synod revivalism and unionism in the 19th century. The Swedish Pietists went along with it at first, and never gave it up entirely. When they chose to leave it behind, they chose the name Augustana to represent their loyalty to the Confessio Augustana, the Augsburg Confession.

There are many great experiences I can relate from those days, since being a member created an instant fellowship across the newly formed LCA. But it also meant that heretics were protected by their DNA.

Even in a large sect of 400,000, everyone seemed to be related. The man I studied for my dissertation was the brother of the seminary president, who was also related to Conrad Bergendoff, who lived past 100 and saw Mrs. Ichabod before he died. At Yale, we met a Youngdahl who was related to the other Youngdahls, including the former governor of Minnesota and the star of "A Time for Burning," who stopped by for a visit with his cuz.

WELS, LCMS, ELS
The Syn Conference sects have fallen into a state of paralysis because they no longer teach what they claim to believe. Their unity today comes from Fuller and Willow Creek, not the Book of Concord. They are more unified by their rejection of Lutheran doctrine than by their affinity for the Symbols.

What Might Have Been
The Lutherans could have provided a true classical education, where the students learned the foundational academic skills - writing, math, geography, science, Lutheran doctrine - along with Latin and Greek.

Some are trying to recreate this today, here and there. Meanwhile, the synods bleed off millions of dollars to prop up Fuller franchises on decaying campuses. If people took a realistic look at their seminaries, money would dry up altogether.

A genuinely Lutheran synod would make seminary education free of all tuition cost or provide a way of refunding costs for church work done. The Boomers take the money for "missions" and keep it for themselves...in the shoes of the fisherman.

WELS Church Lady Lady Drop Kicks Jeske and UOJ Over the Goal Post

WELS church lady has left a new comment on your post "Church and Changers - Small Potatoes":

Poor Mark Jeske! I will bet that he has night terrors. He has to recognize that he is not in control. God is in control. During his Concordia Mequon speech, Jeske was mocking close communion. An anonymous Christaian from Bailing Water Blog, quietly provided the link to the said speech. This "anonymous" person provided no other commentary. Strange! I thought the link was long-lost.

Jeske came across as seeming to be desperate as opposed to having a mean streak. Brother Mark needs some serious Spiritual guidance. I spoke in person with a seasoned WELS pastor who has no use for Mark Jeske.(this seasoned pastor also had some less than kind words pertaining to John Parlow) Be ware, it is NOT just the blogosphere that is upset with these Church and Change guys. Church and Change wants to learn from the New age gurus and remove all roads to Orthodox Lutheranism. We can learn much from the Reformation fathers. Belief in spirit guides is only serving the devil. The Reformation fathers stood against ALL opposition to preserve "saving justification" against a justification that is fulfilled by the law. UOJ C&Cer's are worse! They want to be saved without faith. The ONLY true saving faith is Faith in Jesus Christ. Muslims,Buddhists,and Hottentots have no faith in Jesus Christ. They have a faith that is NOT a saving faith. Therefore these people are not justified. Heresies such as Kokomo Justification would have you to believe otherwise. These false Lutherans have basically rewritten the Formula of Concord.

In Christ,
from WELS church lady

Lutheran churches in region look to consolidate schools | greenbaypressgazette.com | Green Bay Press Gazette

John Parlow at Babtist Drive Conference
All five locations being considered are near St Mark - DePere - John Parlow........

http://web.me.com/pastorski/Site/Drive_08_%26_Journal.html

Lutheran churches in region look to consolidate schools | greenbaypressgazette.com | Green Bay Press Gazette

Several local Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod congregations may close their current elementary schools to open a regional building.

The churches — Trinity Lutheran in Kaukauna, St. John's Lutheran Church in Wrightstown, St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Green Bay and St. Mark Lutheran Church in De Pere — have met with members to discuss the possibility of closing their church schools to open one that would serve pre-kindergarten to grade 8.

If the plan gets the go-ahead, Bock expects fundraising to take about a year with another year or so for engineering and construction. A new school could be open for the 2013-14 school year, he said, and the other schools would close.

"We want it to come across as a positive thing," said St. Mark school principal Jeremy Bock. "We can combine our resources to create a better school."

Combining resources could allow the school to hire a special education teacher or start music programs or programming for gifted and talented students, he said.

"Church schools are just too small to do some of those things, but that's what parents are looking for," Bock said.

The new regional school would sit on an independent campus and would not be tied to any congregation, nor would it be limited to just Wisconsin Synod, or WELS, families. Busing would be available.

Quips of the Day

"Now that's funny."


Scott E. Jungen has left a new comment on your post "A Lampe Unto Their Stumbling Feet":

Ahhh, so the COP has expressed concern over Intrepid Lutherans. With their track record, Intrepid Lutherans is safe for a long time. Maybe they're "working on it".

---

Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Bi-Sectsual Nominated For Ichaslang Lexicon: Synon...":

My wife would be thrilled if I was only Icha-peeking. I voluntarily admit that I'm guilty of I-champing. Pronounced [i-Camping].

In Some Synods - Grounds for Excommunication Too

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/105727948.html

 

Muslim claims Schneider trucking fired him for refusing to deliver Miller Lite.

By Bruce Vielmetti of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Oct. 26, 2010

A Muslim truck driver who says its against his religion to transport alcohol claims he was fired by Green Bay-based Schneider National, Inc. after refusing to haul a load of Miller Lite.

Though the trucking firm and the beer are based in Wisconsin, the lawsuit was filed in Pennsylvania. The Philadephia Daily News explains the basic story, and some lawyer types offer commentary here at the Legal Blog Watch and at the Volokh Conspiracy.

As Volokh nicely explains, the two main questions will be how sincerely the trucker holds his religious beliefs, and how costly it would be for Schneider to accommodate those beliefs by, say, having him only deliver loads that do not contain alcohol or tobacco.

Most Popular Polling

This drama queen was quoted at a recent synodical meeting.

Google Blogger has a widget that allows me to post the most popular post links for the last seven days, the last 30 days, and the period since June 1st of 2010, when this new statistical method began.

The left hand column has the last seven day list, which changes every day. The bottom of the blog has the most popular since June 1. Following the list will allow the reader to see what people are reading most.

One surprise is that people have made a post from 2007 one of the most popular. That means the readers are not bound by the first post at the moment, or even by the sticky posts I create on the left.

Ich-addicts have pushed the annual page reads to the 500,000 level. The only cost is coffee - grim news for those who spend a fortune to grind out a promotional piece for Fuller Seminary every month or so.

People have to open a page to count it in the statistics. The synodical magazines count as circulation those people who might actually take the periodical home because it was left in a pile at church, handed roughly to them as they left the pew, or stuffed in their mailbox.

Alone in the world (as the opponents claim about me), I took two long phone calls from laymen last night.

I said to one Ich-addict, "You are the reason I post multiple times during the day. You told me you look two or three times daily." He laughed about that.

The other layman always urges me to keep posting. He always adds, "Say hello to Mrs. Ichabod for me."

A Lampe Unto Their Stumbling Feet

Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Church and Changers - Small Potatoes":

Brian states, It's my personal opinion that Pastor Jeske isn't afraid of letting go of "control."

Based on what? Isn't it Pastor Jeske himself who willingly went through the process of becoming a Responsible Service Organization of the LCMS while still a member and listed as clergy of the (W)ELS? He purposefully broke fellowship with the (W)ELS in receiving RSO status with the LCMS in which he must submit to LCMS doctrine and practice. If that is not precise and exercised control then what is?

One example is the false doctrine and practice that is exercised in precise precision by the abhorent Church and Change group who are working to abolish and undermine the Lutheran Confessions and usher in the New Age Emergent religion into all (W)ELS churches.

http://ceo-ministries.com/home/brian-arthur-and-tracey-lampe-will-present-re-thinking-youth-ministry-at-the-2009-church-change-conference-regaining-momentum/

***

GJ - Arrogance breeds arrogance, but the Conference of Pussycats is working on it:

"The Time of Grace board has stated that the LC-MS has given them exemptions from the things that are required of other RSOs. They have not yet produced any documentation showing that. They ask that those who have concerns about their RSO status to contact them. The SEW District Praesidium continues to work with TOG to resolve the issue."

"Q: Should staff ministry always involve the use of the Means of Grace? Are some situations more aptly described as Christian vocation than staff ministry? We need to clarify what staff ministry is so that it is understood my (sic) all."

October, 2010 meeting.

I am going to go way out on a limb and quote this for Rev. Brian:

Article XIV: Of Ecclesiastical Order.

Of Ecclesiastical Order they teach that no one should publicly teach in the Church or administer the Sacraments unless he be regularly called. (Augsburg Confession)

When WELS and Missouri began spoiling the Egyptians at Fuller Seminary and Willow Creek, they adopted the anti-Confessional attitude of their favorite school.

When Brother Bob or Sister Brunhilda get the urge to preach, they tell everyone God has called them, so others lay hands on them and call them Rev. An education means nothing when the Holy Spirit calls directly. Spelling does not count. The church organization has no business getting involved.

District VP Kuske played this game with Stolzenburg, who was removed from the ministry for cause and ineligible for a call in the LCMS. He and Zehms were allowed to play the role of pastors. Zehms--now with Jeske--told a meeting of LPR that no one had any say over what he and Floyd did, because "we are called directly by the Holy Spirit."

ELS Pastor Jay Webber is the UOJ Advisor for the Intrepid Lutherans.

"The COP discussed the group calling themselves Intrepid Lutherans. A number of concerns were expressed."

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Church and Changers - Small Potatoes

Be thou continuously busy, pew potatoes and tater tots, making disciples who make disciples who make disciples, who...where was I?

Messages In This Digest (1 Message)

1.

Mocking the "Means of Grace?" From: brianandtracey tds.net

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Message

1.

Mocking the "Means of Grace?"

Posted by: "brianandtracey tds.net" brianandtracey@tds.net   brn_lmp

Sun Oct 24, 2010 2:40 pm (PDT)

It is with the utmost humility as a recovering pew potato that I make
the attempt to serve Jesus daily. Remembering my Baptism I take off
the old and put on the new. It is only God's Mean's of Grace that has
fueled, inspired, and strengthened my faith through my 11 years of
service to God on a lay-level.

Ephesians 2:15
For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good
works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Adding to the list of accusations like "self promoting, self ordained
will be added to the list. God knows what's in my heart, and test's my
efforts for lay driven ministry. It's my personal opinion that Pastor
Jeske isn't afraid of letting go of "control."

Psalm 139:23 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know
my anxious thoughts.

God Bless
Brian Arthur Lampe

***

GJ - Rev. Brian is guilty of Icha-peeking.

Bi-Sectsual Nominated For Ichaslang Lexicon: Synonym for Babtist/Lutheran Blended Worship

Healing the blind, by Norma Boeckler.


Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "So Little To Ask - Yet They Still Say No":

Outstanding post.

I vote to add "bi-sectsual" to the Ichaslang dictionary. It's at once precise and appropriate.

Few there seem to be that will see the debauchery in the Lutheran churches and flee from it, clinging to the Word purely taught and Sacraments rightly distributed, for their spiritual health and that of those they are responsible for.

It is a sign of the times. May Christ come quickly!

In Christ,
Brett Meyer

I for one am thankful that Pastor Jackson is unafraid to be clear, precise and carefully wields the Sword of the Word, rightly dividing Law and Gospel. The Law for those who blaspheme the Word and the Gospel for those who turn to Christ in contrition and faith. Christ's continued blessings to you as you carry your cross. May more experience the joy in Christ of doing so.

***

GJ - Brett, that was an Icha-peek.

So Little To Ask - Yet They Still Say No

The Great Physician, by Norma Boeckler

My friend in Milwaukee tells me that the WELS congregations are remodeling their churches so the front is a stage.

One WELS teacher went back to his home parish and found the pastor wandering into the congregation and explaining the lesson to the congregation before reading the Scriptures.

Entertainment, snacks during the service, and other gimmicks are not exclusive to Ski and the WELS Fox Valley gang. Nor are they limited to WELS.

Lutherans of all synods once sought a semblance of unity by using the historic liturgy--the General Synod leaving their revivalism behind--and Lutheran hymns. They erred on the side of Methodist hymns, in my opinion, but all synods in the 1960s were using the historic liturgy, hymns, creeds, the appointed readings, and a real sermon.

Chaos reigns among the Lutherans in the 21st century. The denomination label means nothing, even if it can be found on the sign outside. The Sunday service might be liturgical, pop Babtist, or a blend: bi-sectsual. The bi-sectsual service is designed as a holding device until the venue can be 100% pop.

I detest the word venue for worship, but the Shrinkers use it. I can hardly use worship for the blasphemies uttered by these illiterates, so please assume I am using venue as an expression of disgust and derision.

People would like to attend Lutheran liturgical services where the Creed, hymns, the liturgy, and the sermon are not an embarrassment to the pastor. That seems to be too much to ask, because the momentum is clearly toward removing the Lutheran name, mocking Biblical doctrine, eliminating the liturgy, and treating the Creed as an obstacle to spiritual growth.

Robes - even Geneva gowns - are better for hiding the fat tummies the ministers. Few want to go to church and see a slob speaking up front, reminding all the men of what they look like with too many beers and pizzas in their diet.

Are we all idiots? Are people so stupid that they cannot understand the clear, plain Word of God? The ministers should not assume that the members are as dense as they are. After all, the members have not spent countless mind-numbing hours at Fuller seminars and Willow Creek re-education centers.

For example, almost all the UOJ fanatics are clergy or laity who dropped out of seminary training. Almost none of the laity are confused about justification by faith. When people hear the pure Word of God, without any reference to Lutherdom, they become orthodox believers.

Must Lutheran congregations, in the name of mission, hide the Sacraments? What folly is that - to be ashamed of the Visible Word when Holy Baptism and Holy Communion are the treasures of the Lutheran Church, of historic Christianity?

Needless to say, the sanctimonious unbelievers of UOJ have no use for the Sacraments, and their spineless enablers have nothing to say about it. Muttering quietly about this anti-Sacrament travesty--over a coffee and danish at conference--is not the equivalent of in statu confessionis.

When clergy-bots get trained in Fuller doctrine, they become Fuller-bots. All the conservative seminaries have done that for the last 30 years. ELCA has also leavened their clergy with CG fads and fallacies.

If the Wisconsin and Missouri sects stopped trusting in Daddy Warbucks, Thrivent, and foundations, they could cut loose the heretics and the useful idiots financing them. Oh noes! Oh panic! How can we replace those millions? I believe the members--even in this Obama Depression--would make up the difference and then some.

This is an ideal time for Schroeder (WELS) and Harrison (LCMS) to cut loose ELCA entirely. What better time to say:
1. We abhor your abortion on demand lobbying and health insurance practices.
2. We reject your newly invented rationale for homosexual, lesbian, bi-sexual, and transexual clergy.
3. We condemn your Unitarian doctrine cloaked in Roman high churchism.

What better time to:
1. End all involvement with Thrivent, from the free napkins and calendars to the pan-Lutheran Leftist grants.
2. Create an alternative to Lutheran World Relief.
3. Stop worshiping the Golden Calf and trust in the Means of Grace.

The Word can do this, but two generations of clergy have tasted the cotton candy and hanker for it night and day.

United Church of Christ Shows Why They Are Shrinking So Fast

The UCC accepts all religious books as equal.

They are the product of many mergers - Congregational, Evanelical and Reformed, etc.

The UCC is so irrelevant and unknown today that they only make the news with this video and Rev. Jeremiah Wright's racist rants, not to mention his memorable sermon: "God bless America? No! God _____ America."

The UCC is the final step of Pietism, a radical atheism wrapped in sanctimony.

Will Tim Glende's Fake-O-Bod Denounce Katy Perry's Hindu Wedding?

My prophetic Photoshop showed WELS Pastor Tim Glende in India with apostate Katy Perry - a former Gospel singer.

Perry has married her British potty-mouth boyfriend in India - of all places!

She began her career as a Gospel singer, but insisted on a Christian friend performing the rites in a Hindu ceremony. Where is the angry post about unionism and syncretism, Tim? You were once so close to Katy. How can you let this pass without a comment?

Where have you gone, Ski and Tim Glende
A synod turns its longing eyes to you (Woo, woo, woo)
What's that you say, Ski and Tim Glende
Kissin' Kate has left and gone away
(Hey, hey, hey...hey, hey, hey).

WELS Conference of Pussycats Finds FICKLE Expensive and Hardly Read

The kid has no teeth, but he has a caffeine-sugar buzz going from dawn to sundown.

I was trolling the Net and found The Lutheran article about the first woman ordained, below.

The Lutheran was the name of the independent, conservative magazine among the Muhlenberg Lutherans, long ago. When publications were merged, they took the name of the better magazine rather than the synodical publication.

Two doctrinal issues in the old days were unionism and revivalism. Imagine that. I am so glad WELS, Missouri, and the Little Sect are not tainted by either one today. The conflict brought out the confessional side of that tradition and many fine theologians, still worth reading today, published in support of Luther's doctrine and the Book of Concord.

The WELS Conference of Pussycats realize that their sick, slick, synodical magazine, FICKLE*, is expensive and seldom read. Only 10% of the members receive it. My intuition tells me the FICKLE staff will be lined up against the wall, the next time a budget cuts are announced.

However, Change and Church has insisted on a full employment guarantee from the leaders. No Changer will ever by unemployed for more than ten minutes.


*FIC with a Lutheran subtitle = FICKLE. The content is the same, even though the packaging has changed somewhat.

The Lutheran - : First ordained woman says, 'Never underestimate the persistence of God'

 The Lutheran - : First ordained woman says, 'Never underestimate the persistence of God'

Still serving after all these years ...

First ordained woman says, 'Never underestimate the persistence of God'

For nearly 45 years, Elizabeth A. Platz has served at the University of Maryland, College Park, quietly influencing generations of Lutheran students to remain active in the church and serve others. Former students speak highly of Platz's influence on them, her dedication to the church and some wonderful home-cooked meals she serves to hungry collegians.

In 1970 the former Lutheran Church in America ordained Platz at the university's Memorial Chapel. The first woman ordained a Lutheran pastor in North America, Platz has served her entire ministry as UM Lutheran campus pastor. On Nov. 22, the ELCA marks the 40th anniversary of her ordination.

Before her ordination, she was assistant Lutheran chaplain at the university. Looking back, Platz, a native of Pittsburgh, said she couldn't have imagined becoming ordained. "I came to it slowly," she said. "Never underestimate the persistence of God."

Platz attended the Lutheran Seminary at Gettysburg for a bachelor of theology degree, thinking she would teach or serve as a Christian educator.

Elizabeth A. Platz

What finally nudged her to candidacy for ordination was the call to serve as a "steward of the Holy Mysteries," or communion. "The pastor is an instrument," she said. "The pastor's 'I-ness' is to be put aside ... for the total focus is on the altar and the cross."

Forty years later, she is still overwhelmed when the communion liturgy begins. Preaching and presiding remain her calling.

Others see it too

"What she brings to the church is the notion of church leadership as servanthood — both a servant of the gospel and the people of the church," said Richard H. Graham, bishop of the Metropolitan Washington, D.C., Synod, and her longtime friend.

One of the qualities that Veronica Weber, Middletown, Md., remembers is Platz's hospitality. "One of the wonderful things was how she opened up her home to us," Weber said. "She cooked wonderful meals for us."

And every spring, Platz blesses and sends the Lutheran students to the next stage of their lives by presenting each with a card containing a personalized message. "I still have mine," said Weber, one of 10 former students who have studied to become pastors during Platz's tenure.

Nick Asendorf, who was president of the Lutheran Student Association at Maryland last year, said it's the passion Platz brings to her calling, her love for the students and her calm demeanor that are among her finest qualities. "Countless times she tells us it's the students who make her job worthwhile," he said.

Platz was married in 1988 to Wofford K. Smith, an Episcopal Churchpastor, who died less than two years later from cancer. She remained at Maryland in part because of the energy she gets from interacting with students. "My congregation keeps changing. To be able to be with young people and watch them change over four years and mature—it's exciting," said Platz, adding that one of her most important roles is to see to it that when they leave "they are engaged and active Lutherans."

At age 69, Platz is pondering the transition to her next phase of life, which will likely come in the next year or two.

What will she do? "I was saying to my niece, 'This is a big question for me. I am what I do. The church always has something for you to do,' " she said.

***

GJ - WELS did this the easy way. First, a bunch of pastors published papers saying there was nothing in the Bible against women's ordination. Second, Brug endorsed the same opinion in The Popes Speak (aka Wisconsin Lutheran Quarterly).  Third, WELS began calling Mary Lou Correctional  their School of Ministry. Fourth, WELS began establishing women as pastors without calling them pastors, since "everyone is a minister." Fifth, to protect their feminist beachhead, Church and Change created additional parachurch organizations and a national feminazi conference endorsed by the SP.

Twenty-First Sunday after Trinity

The Twenty-First Sunday after Trinity


Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/bethany-lutheran-worship


Bethany Lutheran Church, 10 AM Central Time


The Hymn # 199 Jesus Christ Is Risen 1:83
The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual
The Gospel
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn # 261 Lord Keep Us Steadfast 1:93
The Whole Armor of God
The Communion Hymn # 308 Invited, Lord, by Boundless Grace 1:63
The Preface p. 24
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 # 49 Almighty God 1:81

KJV Ephesians 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

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.

Twenty-First Sunday After Trinity
Almighty and everlasting God, who by Thy Son hast promised us the forgiveness of sins, righteousness, and everlasting life: We beseech Thee, do Thou by Thy Holy Spirit so quicken our hearts that we in daily prayer may seek our help in Christ against all temptations, and, constantly believing His promise, obtain that for which we pray, and at last be saved, through Thy Son Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.

The Whole Armor of God

KJV Ephesians 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

I liked verse 11 so much that I added it to the bottom of Ichabod and the Bethany blog.

This passage is one of the classics in the Bible, perfect for the month where we remember Luther and the Reformation, because it concerns the souls of individual Christians and the Church Militant.

Professor Reu (ALC, Iowa Synod) clarified the relationship between unionism and doctrinal indifference. They go together so well that one causes the other, to paraphrase Aristotle, one is either the mother or daughter of the other. (Aristotle said that of patience and courage.)

When people work together in spite of doctrinal differences, they put those differences aside and no longer care about them. Also, when people become neutral about doctrine, they look for ways to work with other confessions of faith.
One example is rather plain to see. When churches get together to host a Vacation Bible School, and various denominations are included, no one wants to contact the unchurched for fear of offending their fellow churches, even when the group includes Baptists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, and Episcopalians.

Also, when a denomination is completely apostate, there is little interest in special programs and people avoid responsibility for anything laborious. So they say, “Why not have a community VBS, so we can fill this enormous barn with children?”

Union efforts have a strange math, just like congregational mergers – 1 plus 1 plus 1 plus 1 equals a little more than 1.

ELCA, WELS, and LCMS worked together on a huge, lavishly funded evangelism project, to restore membership, and membership in all three groups declined even more rapidly!

All three still work together through Thrivent and Lutheran World Relief. Denomination headquarters of each synod could safely be called branch offices of the One Big Generic Lutheran Church. No wonder WELS gave money to the United Nations.

The worst church bodies in doctrine and practice are those with the most mergers in their history:
1. The United Church of Christ.
2. The United Methodists.
3. The Presbyterians.
4. The ELCA.
5. The Disciples of Christ
6. The big Baptist groups.
7. The Church of Rome, which practices “big tent” ecclesiology – believe whatever you want as long as you belong.

In contrast, during a time of doctrinal crisis, when groups are militant against error, the battling groups produce - books and essays which become doctrinal classics, great hymns, and a rebirth of spiritual life.

To quote Mother Angelica, the liberals do not produce anything – offerings, vocations, or any kind of growth. What she said about Catholics was just as true about other confessions of faith.

The Biblical Passage
6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

This passage is the climax of the letter, followed by personal notes, which we still use as a PS (for those who remember).

The Apostle Paul urged his brothers to be strong “in the Lord” and for emphasis “in the power of His might.” Our strength as Christians does not come from within but from God, through the Word.

As Luther said, we poor, frail mortals enrage Satan because we are so weak, yet we are protected from him by the Word of God. That does not make Satan give up, but stirs him up to try even more of his arts against us.

Kingdom of God, Kingdom of Satan
People often mix up their terminology with Luther, referring to the Two Kingdoms as church and government. He used the term “regiment” for that distinction. The Two Kingdoms in Luther are – God’s Kingdom and Satan’s. These kingdoms are at war with each other. Satan never gives up while we are still alive. We are born in the Kingdom of Satan, but Holy Baptism rescues us from sin, death, and the devil. Once a soul is included in God’s Kingdom, Satan wants him back.

Paul used a familiar figure to remind his fellow believers of what God provided them for the battle against Satan. The Roman Empire controlled the entire civilized world, more than most people imagine. There are Roman ruins in Lebanon, for example, and military camps in England from those days – complete with flush toilets and hot tubs. The soldiers built a wall across the entire country, East to West, to keep out illegal aliens from across the northern border.

The Armored Soldier
Paul used the armored soldier as his image, because everyone saw them at outposts and marching through town. (Also see Is. 59:17)

11 Put on the whole armour (panoply) of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

The weapons against Satan are combined, to show how a soldier would employ all his equipment, not just one or two parts of it, before going into battle. Satan has many arts, many tricks. One trick may work against one person and not against another, so he has many at his disposal.

12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

I remember when a pastor friend walked up to a Church Growth professor and warned him, using this passage. He wanted to warn him that this was not just a political game, but one where God and Satan were contending. The young pastor was forced out of the ministry, which was the one thing he wanted to do his whole life, following the footsteps of his father. Evil does not want to be warned.

Flesh and blood contend, but the ultimate victory is never one involving life and death. The martyr who dies for the faith has more power than the people who murder him. These killings are going on all over the earth, especially in Africa, but also wherever the Christian faith is hated.

One father was asked if he would kill his son for becoming a Christian. He said, “Not in America.” What a horrid religion, to say – Not where I would get caught and punished, but definitely in a safe place for my pagan practices.

The spiritual wickedness in high places refers to the transcendent power of evil. It is not simply located in wicked individuals but is driven by a higher power, a power which has motivated Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Castro, and Margaret Sanger. It explains why a cancer fund in memory of a dead cancer victim – Susan Komen – can donate $700 million to Planned Parenthood, the chief provider of abortions in America. All the Lutheran synods are in on this genocide, working with Thrivent, LWR, and ELCA.

13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

We can imagine ourselves strong, until everything is thrown against us. Then we are like the gladiator, hammered down to the ground by multiple strikes from all directions. The easiest one to land is from a friend. At that point we realize how we need the panoply of God’s weapons, all of them rather than one, our own strength too diminished to prevail against so much hatred and deception.

I know many who have gone through this, and they know better than anyone how powerful God’s Word is. I have also watched the great and wise ones engage in betrayal. Although they seemed to have everything on their side, their betrayal of the Word unhinged them and they fell. One official was sowing hatred in a meeting. A few months later he was thrown out of the ministry, for cause, and looking for work at a hardware store, still lying to his own family, still deceiving others.
God has a way of punishing people according to their own vanity. He humbles the great and proud. But Satan helps too. Satan blinds people in their wrath and hatred, but takes off the blinders to let them see their folly.

14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

There can only be one truth. People love to juggle with words and downplay religious differences especially, as if we were talking about liking French fries more than mashed potatoes.

If people do not fight for the truth, they lose their concept of it and stop valuing it as well. At that point they will have a two hour meeting over where to hang the banners but dismiss talk about false doctrine as a matter of taste.

The leather or metal breastplate on the soldier was vital to him because it protected against sword thrusts to his heart and lungs. Weapons were also used to bash in the chest area. Even in athletics, the heart can be bruised and a life threatened from the injury.

Our breastplate is the righteousness of Christ, which comes from the outside (extra nos, like the blog) through the Means of Grace. That means we are protected against the emotional assaults of Satan. That is, he would rather drain our emotions than spill our blood. He would rather have us listless and despairing than awakened by physical pain.

When Satan attacks us as weak, fallible, and sinful, we can say, “All true, but Christ is my righteousness. He has paid for my sins. He has given me grace through the Word and Sacraments.”

Christian refused to be employed by Satan again, because he did not like the wages, saying to Apolyon (The Destroyer): “The wages of sin is death.”

15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

What soldier will go to battle bare-footed? I would rather be, but if there is anything worthwhile to be done, the shoes have to go on. Bare feet outside or in the garage can make us very timid and careful. I had three meetings with a foot specialist to remove glass from my foot, because the tiniest piece causes pain with every step. (I now wear combat boots in the kitchen.)

The Gospel of peace is preparedness. Knowing the Gospel Promises arms us in the battle. Notice how the weapons are defensive against Satan but also take the offensive as well. Wherever the Gospel goes, Satan is defeated.

16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

I agree with Lenski in taking the shield to be the Shield of The Faith. While individual faith also works well as an interpretation, making it more inclusive is fitting. The Christian Faith, Law and Gospel, Word and Sacraments, Blessings and Promises, shields us against the arrows of Satan.

That leads us to the main weapon of defense and offense.

17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

Without being too literal, the helmet protects our head in the way that our thoughts protect us from our emotions. If we know the Biblical basis for our faith, then we can control our emotions with the intelligence God has given us. For instance, remembering Biblical verses, the catechism, and hymns will protect us – knowing our salvation comes from Christ rather than from our own virtue.

The passage ends with the Sword of the Holy Spirit, which is the Word of God. In ancient times the sword was a major weapon, sharp as a razor and used both to hold off attacks while thrusting and cutting to finish the enemy. Few realize today that Luther’s own sword cut him severely in that thunderstorm where he made his vow to serve God.
He was in pain and could have bled to death in that storm, having no shelter and no aid.

The Word of God is our protection against all the wiles of Satan and defeats him by attacking his palace of evil. Nothing stirs up wrath more than saying, “This is false doctrine. This is contrary to God’s Word.” It is worse than kicking over a hornet’s nest. It is more like jumping into a den of hungry wolves. Nevertheless, the Word of God makes them cringe, yelp, and hide.

Luther said it best when addressing the First Table of the Ten Commandments:

The Large Catechism, Preface
10] Besides, it is an exceedingly effectual help against the devil, the world, and the flesh and all evil thoughts to be occupied with the Word of God, and to speak of it, and meditate upon it, so that the First Psalm declares those blessed who meditate upon the Law of God day and night. Undoubtedly, you will not start a stronger incense or other fumigation against the devil than by being engaged upon God's commandments and words, and speaking, singing, or thinking of them. For this is indeed the true holy water and holy sign from which he flees, and by which he may be driven away.

12] And what need is there of many words? If I were to recount all the profit and fruit which God's Word produces, whence would I get enough paper and time? The devil is called the master of a thousand arts. But what shall we call God's Word, which drives away and brings to naught this master of a thousand arts with all his arts and power? It must indeed be the master of more than a hundred thousand arts. 13] And shall we frivolously despise such power, profit, strength, and fruit-we, especially, who claim to be pastors and preachers? If so, we should not only have nothing given us to eat, but be driven out, being baited with dogs, and pelted with dung, because we not only need all this every day as we need our daily bread, but must also daily use it against the daily and unabated attacks and lurking of the devil, the master of a thousand arts.