ICHABOD, THE GLORY HAS DEPARTED - explores the Age of Apostasy, predicted in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, to attack Objective Faithless Justification, Church Growth Clowns, and their ringmasters. The antidote is trusting the efficacious Word in the Means of Grace. John 16:8. Isaiah 55:8ff. Romans 10. Most readers are WELS, LCMS, ELS, or ELCA. This blog also covers the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, and the National Council of Churches.
This is a drawing of Walther before he died.
I am surprised a halo has not been drawn in.
I started the mystery-apologetics book, but that will be a hobby this year. In short, a novel is more difficult to write than most people imagine.
I just finished my high school reunion book. That was fun and fulfilling. Four media stars are from my high school, plus one opera star, one rocket scientist, and some other interesting characters. You like Tolkien? The wife of my classmate is in New Zealand helping with the latest Peter Jackson project - The Hobbit.
My main project in January is the re-write of the Justification book. I will post the two new sections here while adding them to the book.
As I told 29A, the Walther mythology really needs to be examined closely. The newest Missouri Synod President actively participates in it. So does Perry County - Walther-Land - not too far from where we live.
Recently I learned that telling the truth about Walther is "slander." Legally, the truth is not slander. That method works well in the Old Synodical Conference, whose leaders gladly slander anyone who gets near to telling the truth. The complete story is much worse than anyone imagines.
AC V has left a new comment on your post "Where Does Anti-Confessionalism End?Universalism a...":
Let's see now, that was a service and sermon about John Parlow, Mike Westendorf, Herod, Mary, Joseph, and YOU/ME, but....Jesus? Not so much.
Also, how hypocritical to preach against a secular Christmas, but then worship and preach in a secular setting: Pre-December on the calendar, but full Christmas decorations in front of the hidden altar (which is there to receive the offering plates apparently because Parlow made special mention that the ushers couldn't get to the altar because it was backstage behind the props), and Scriptural texts that are appointed for the church year calendar festival of Epiphany which always falls on January 6, the 12th day of Christmas. Remember that song?
And on and on and on....
Make no mistake about it, WELS readers, that way of "doing church" is being encouraged in WELS and along with it a (further) departure from Confessional Lutheranism.
----
Referencing:
“and talk about a guy (Christ) whose
life didn’t work out the way he planned….”
My apologies,
(W)ELS Pastor Parlow's statement about Christ begins at 32:00
Even more
disturbing is Parlow's statements at 34:20 where he teaches the real message of
Christmas - "The real story is not hat you are promised a merry Hallmark
Christmas. It is the good news of God the child, born in a manger, died on a
cross, laid in a tomb, risen from the grave, seated at the right hand of the
Father, coming back one day to set the world right, your world right. And
more importantly, right now for you, to make your messy world
right."
REALLY?!? The message of Christmas is that Christ will return
one day to make our messy world right? That is a New Age millennialist teaching.
Excellent article by John
Pless linked below: "Delivering Forgiveness of Sins."
The reason WELS is
so readily jettisoning the liturgy and replacing it with Evangelical worship
forms is because of UOJ.
A few quotes:
The crisis over the
liturgy is a result of confusion over the forgiveness of sins. As such it is a
doctrinal issue and therefore, ultimately church
divisive.
Liturgy, as it is divine service, delivers the
forgiveness of sins. The liturgy does not exist to provide edifying
entertainment, motivation for sanctified living, or therapy for psychological
distresses, but the forgiveness of sins.
The forgiveness of sins
has no real presence within the theology of Evangelicalism. At best, troubled
sinners are pointed back to Calvary. The problem is as Luther has reminded us -
that forgiveness was acquired at Calvary but not delivered there. Calvary is
back there in time almost two thousand years ago. At its worst, Evangelicalism
turns the troubled sinner inward to his own conscience.
The cultus
of Evangelicalism exchanges the absolution for assurances of grace, the Gospel
as the efficacious Word of salvation for a gospel that invites and requires a
human decision, and the supper of the Lord's body and blood for a symbolic
recollection of the upper room. Where is the forgiveness of
sins?
"The almost universal
attitude among the clergy is - 'I graduated from x seminary, so I have nothing
left to learn.'"
A critical analysis of this statement would reveal that this
is really nothing to brag about. Being a perpetual student should instill a
sense of humility. Here at Ichabod, I appreciate the fact that comments from
laity are almost always posted and are often used to create a new post. For one
of my hobbies, I write an e-mail newsletter with a very small circulation. In
every issue, I solicit comments and feedback. When I get them, usually the first
thought that crosses my mind is - "I did not know that".
The naive and
unsuspecting are usually the first victims of expertitis. Perhaps, there is a
connection between this and a faulty view of the doctrine of public ministry and
the Office of the Keys.
So much of the CG nonsense creates the illusion of
participatory democracy. As has been pointed out elsewhere here at Ichabod, this
is usually done to draw out the dissenters and find the yes-men.
***
GJ - I like featuring the thoughtful comments, like the one above, and the negative ones. But I fear that the Shrinker finally realized they were doing their cause harm by coming out in the open. They have nothing to lose by staying in their pestiferous lairs and plotting additional assaults on the sly.
The fake blogger, also known as WELS Pastor Tim Glende, has ceased posting again. I am grateful that he has posted something about WELS sexual predators, his top post, with six manufactured comments. Eventually the rest of the synod will find out that hundreds or even thousands of felonious images were stored and used at the yet-unsold synod headquarters.
I learn the doctrinal quotes better by using them and even better by combining them with graphics. The more I quote orthodox Lutherans, the more hateful the "conservative" Lutherans leaders are. The more hateful they are, the more I value the lessons of Luther and the Book of Concord.
In sales, the takeaway close is effective. "You really cannot afford this car, sir. It is way above your budget." The answer, "I can too afford it. No problem."
When the WELS and Missouri leaders tell me that the Book of Concord is boring and irrelevant, I am sold on it. When I listen to them talk about evangelism or the basics of the faith I realize how little they know about Luther's doctrine, the spiritual wisdom of the Bible. They must know better. They studied under Fuller graduates (who lie about studying at Fuller, unless they are with allies).
ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson and
Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori
have the same agenda.
I read the Lamentations of the Episcopal Church at Virtue Online, my looking glass into the future of the Lutheran Church.
Bishop Kate is busy suing her own congregations, to steal their property and drive away all traditional priests and bishops. Note her bio:
She was an oceanographer, born in 1954.
Ordained in 1994.
Elected bishop in Nevada in 2000.
Elected Presiding Bishop in 2006.
Bishop Mark has a similar background, with more parish experience.
Born in 1946, his father a pastor of the ELC (Norwegian side of The ALC).
Educated at the Devil's Playground (Union) and Luther Seminary.
Ordained in 1974.
Served three congregations, elected St. Paul bishop in 1995.
Elected ELCA Presiding Bishop in 2001. Re-elected in 2007.
Both of them won national office through the power of the homosexual network in their denominations. Both bishops rewarded their followers by approving the ordination of homosexuals, a practice which had already been accepted for decades. Both are admired by mainline leaders for the way they are driving out all opposition.
Once the confessions are abandoned, anything is possible, and the radical extremes are quickly embraced. The liturgy and readings can keep faith alive during such crises, but church leaders are working hard to eliminate both in the name of being relevant and transforming lives. They also want to be sensitive and selectively diverse in a rainbow coalition of the Left, favoring the red and lavender shades.
Missouri, WELS, and the Little Sect on the Prairie supposedly prefer adulterous millionaires to the Lavender Mafia, although that is hard to believe with a homosexual serving as Director of Communications for WELS for five years.
When I was imprisoned at Mequon in 1987, I heard about a Steve Witte, whose congregation in the Appleton area had 5,000 members thanks to cell groups. He was quoted as saying, "I don't care what they study, as long as they have cell groups." Witte was a founder of Church and Change, along with Aderman, John Johnson, and some others, including Mark Jeske the Orange. (Watch him on Time of Grace - he is using Snooki's bronzer, making him look like a tall Oompa Loompa.)
Parlow: "Ski, you are not going to publish this photo, are you?"
Drive 08 Babtist Worship Conference
Appleton was anti-confessional 25 years ago. Now John Parlow is abusing the same parish. Here is an sample from Parlow:
“and talk about a guy (Christ) whose
life didn’t work out the way he planned….”
All of them call themselves "Dr," which is really a belly laugh. When convenient, such as fooling the rich and gullible, or the rich buying indulgences, they are Lutheran. The rest of the time they are lazy, plagiarizing Universalists.
If you want to see the future of the Olde Synodical Conference, study The Episcopal Church. They were conservative traditionalists too, at one time. The "conservative" Lutherans are going the same way, but they will not have the same endowment funds to prop them up.
My apologies,
(W)ELS Pastor Parlow's statement about Christ begins at 32:00
Even more
disturbing is Parlow's statements at 34:20 where he teaches the real message of
Christmas - "The real story is not hat you are promised a merry Hallmark
Christmas. It is the good news of God the child, born in a manger, died on a
cross, laid in a tomb, risen from the grave, seated at the right hand of the
Father, coming back one day to set the world right, your world right. And
more importantly, right now for you, to make your messy world
right."
REALLY?!? The message of Christmas is that Christ will return
one day to make our messy world right? That is a New Age millennialist teaching.
The Local Evangelism Resources Group (LERG) aims to help make parishes aware of initiatives and resources which will assist their outreach efforts.
Back to Church Sunday
This national initiative is helping churches to develop a culture of invitation and has helped hundreds of people in our Diocese to reconnect with their parish church.
London 2012 Olympics
The Diocese is encouraging churches to make the most of the excitement surrounding the 2012 Olympics to connect with people locally.
Experience Easter
Invite children from your local school into church to experience the Easter story.
Mission Teams
Revitalise your church and reach out to your neighbours with a Mission Weekend. A Mission Team from the Diocese can be a support and an inspiration.
Biblefresh
Inspired by the 400th Anniversary of the King James Bible, we would like to encourage churches to make the message of the bible heard and experienced.
Enquirers' Courses
Many churches use short courses to help enquirers work through the questions which need to be addressed before they are ready to believe in Jesus and join a church.
Discipleship Courses
Growth to maturity in faith can be helped if people take part in a discipleship course.
Links & Resources
There are many organisations who provide courses and resources for evangelism and outreach.
ALPHARETTA, Ga. – Following the inaugural success of GPS (God’s Plan for Sharing) 2010 two years ago, GPS 2012 will focus on attractional evangelism events enabling Southern Baptists to share the Gospel across North America in the days leading up to next Easter and beyond.
In 2010, thousands of Southern Baptists trooped door-to-door in American neighborhoods, placing door-hangers, Gospel tracts and invitations to attend church on front doors. Attractional evangelism in 2012 will include block parties, wild game dinners, sports clinics, antique car shows, golf tournaments and other events, according to Thomas Hammond, the North American Mission Board’s evangelism team leader for the biennial GPS initiative.
Hammond said training for such events—to be selected by local churches—started this fall across the country. For the majority of the 42 state conventions, the GPS “window” of evangelistic events will run during the three-week period leading up to Easter Sunday, which falls on Apr. 8 in 2012.
“It’s vital that churches participate in GPS 2012 at a high level,” said Hammond. “If the local churches get behind it, we’ll have a much greater level of success. Just a billboard here or there isn’t enough. Churches must support it and follow up.”
With a theme of “Hope: Find It Here,” GPS 2012 will utilize more Internet social media – like Facebook and Google Ads – along with “drive-time” radio spots and less TV advertising, although some TV ads will continue to run in dozens of markets across the United States. A half-dozen 30-second TV spots in English and Spanish have already been produced.
Easter is a unique time for evangelism because many people are more open to going to church and talking about the meaning behind Easter. To give you some ideas for how you can use this time evangelistically, our staff has thought of 12 ways you can reach out to your friends, neighbors, and coworkers.
Prepare and deliver gift Easter Baskets for the children in your neighborhood. Hand deliver them and include a book that tells the Easter Story like “An Easter Gift for Me” by Crystal Bowman. If you have a lot of children in your neighborhood, check your local dollar store. They usually stock baskets, decorations, candy, and other goodies at reasonable prices.
Invite a neighbor or coworker to Easter services at your church followed by Easter brunch at your house or at a restaurant. Studies prove that people are more likely to go to church on Easter than any other time of the year. You can relax and let your pastor preach the gospel, with follow-up conversations at brunch.
Consider organizing an Easter outreach for kids at your church. The first station could be for a photo station with live animals if you have access to rabbits or lambs. Another station could be a craft table where the children make a simple craft. Another station could be a stage in a room where the resurrection story is told by someone playing one of the disciples or women who visited the tomb. Another station could be a room with an egg hunt every 10 minutes for 5-8 kids at a time. The final station could be a giveaway of a book telling the true reason for Easter or a New Testament along with information about your church.
Easter Bunny—Do you have some neighbors or friends with kids? Dress up as the Easter bunny and bring some candy, or an Easter Basket over. It will show that you enjoy having fun with them, and make them more inclined to talk about important spiritual issues or join you for other activities such as a church Easter Play. Need a question to break the ice? Try, “Did your family have any religious traditions during holidays when you were growing up?” It is almost always fun to share and listen to each other’s family traditions.
Sunrise Service or Breakfast—There is something glorious about seeing the sunrise in the morning, particularly on Easter Sunday! Consider going to a location close by where you don’t normally hold services, such as the lake or the park. This tends to work especially well for churches with older members, although sometimes younger people enjoy it as well too.
Resurrection Eggs—consider purchasing plastic Resurrection Eggs (link: http://www.shopfamilylife.com/res-eggs-2011.html) created by Family Life as a memorable way to retell the Easter story to your friends, at Christian schools, or perhaps in Sunday School classes at church.
Join us on Wednesday for the other six ideas, and in the meantime tell us any ideas you have for outreach this Easter!
“Overall, 31% of active churchgoers said they would definitely invite someone they know who does not usually attend a church to accompany them to a church service on Easter weekend this year.” Barna Group
What the numbers might mean for Easter Sunday.
Let’s say this statistic would hold true for your congregation.
If you had 100 members, and 30 of them made personal invitations.
We know that not all invitations will be accepted.
But if half of them accepted and brought their families, you will have 15-60 visitors in your congregation on Easter.
James Huebner, Fuller alumnus.
Adam Mueller, Church and Change leader.
James Tiefel, Church and Change leader, DUI.
Doug Tomhave - all the "mission" people are CGM.
Brothers,
Attached you’ll
find the first letter inviting WELS pastors to enroll their congregation in the
E12 program offered by the Commission for Congregational Counseling. It
contains a link to a www.easter12.com, where congregations can go to
register.
I had the
privilege of joining you in October to explain the program, but perhaps a brief
recap is in order.
·E12, short for Easter 2012, is a comprehensive
leadership training program that includes components of worship, outreach, and
discipleship. ·We are, in essence, giving our churches a fish: provide
high quality worship and outreach materials for this Easter.
·We are also teaching them how to fish, for along
with those materials will come instructions of how to reproduce similar
materials in upcoming events.
·Along with the materials and instructions will come
rationale for “doing things this way,” getting the leaders to think about how to
carry out ministry more aggressively with the gifts God has granted them. So we
don’t just want to provide materials but shape a confessional,
evangelical mindset. That’s why we view this as a leadership
program, not just a worship or outreach program.
·Along with that rationale will come devotional
materials, since God’s Word provides the foundation, the content, and the
motivation for all we do.
This is all being
produced by people whom God has gifted to our church with Fullerexpertise in these
areas. It is pulling together some very talented individuals from the
Commission on Evangelism, the Commission on Worship, the Commission on Adult
Discipleship, and the Institute of Worship and Outreach.
We are asking
congregations to provide 5 e-mails: pastor, church president, an outreach
representative, a worship representative, and a graphics/design
representative. I know full well most of our churches won’t have all of
those. Some might not have any other than pastor and church president.
That is fine! We still want five e-mails as we’ll be providing
training throughout the E12 program. For example, if a church doesn’t have a
lay person working in outreach/evangelism, they still need to provide someone
for that slot. After using the E12 program that person will at least be
familiar with 1) why we do outreach, 2) the basics of outreach, and 3) a rough
idea of how to plan for it with the resources available in their specific
congregation. We will have helped that congregation equip a saint for service
in this vital area.
All this
information will be disseminated electronically beginning in mid-January. ALL
materials will go to pastors and the church president. They will see
everything that is being sent out. Some materials will be directed only
to the appropriate people. (e.g. The outreach rep will receive only
the material that pertains to outreach.) Weekly e-mails from early January
through May will let the groups know what the others are doing, provide
encouragement, keep them on pace, and provide opportunities for feedback and
questions.
Since
material begins to roll out in mid-January, prompt registration is
necessary. Thus, if you could
forward this to the pastors in your district ASAP, I’d appreciate it. I know
it’s right before Christmas. I feel that crunch myself. But registration
takes minutes.
And it needn’t be done by the pastor. His secretary or
another church leader can easily do it.
I’m sending this
to you, the COP, not just to save postage. I’m sending it to you because, as I
mentioned in October, the CCC wants to be a tool for you to use in your
calling. We want to be a way for you to provide nuts-and-bolts help that will
have an immediate impact in your congregations. Having you disseminate
this information to our pastorate, we believe, helps drive that point
home.
Through his
Means, may Immanuel be with you and yours in his grace and his
power.
GJ - Franchisees will note that WELS can contact any member of the congregation at any time. Posting their emails and contact information will help the Shrinkers in getting rid of any dissent by speeding up the process.
This is a good time to review
as Joel Hochmuth suggested.
I remember the day in Greek class when I learned that "hierarchy" means "the rule of priests." History records many examples of the corruption, greed, and depravity of the priestly class. WELS is now vying with the Borgia popes for record-setting violations of all the commandments. I have more information coming through, but that has to wait.
WELS, Missouri, and the Little Sect on the Prairie have a lot in common. In each franchise, decisions are made on the basis of friendships, classmates, and DNA. The Scriptures never enter the discussion until the conclusions are drawn.
Today I had four interesting contacts about what is happening in the Olde Synodical Conference. That is all I can say.
Mrs. Ichabod, "How about a hint?"
No hints. But the contacts show how the apostate leadership is unraveling. The shun him button is not working effectively.
SP Mark Schroeder, like the rest, came into the position by never offending anyone. I do not recall Schroeder, Harrison, or Pope John the Malefactor ever speaking against false doctrine. Compare that to the public positions of Jack and Robert Preus, or the days when WELS had big conferences about the apostasy of the Missouri Synod. Those people would be called fanatics, unbalanced, and crazy today.
Schroeder is a product of the system and owes the system. His best opportunity to show leadership is to oppose the New NIV, but he is silent. His timidity speaks volumes. Either he favors the New NIV or he is too chicken to oppose it. Either version suggests he should be not a leader of anything.
Mrs. Ichabod asked if Schroeder should step down. The problem is, there is no one to provide any positive leadership. The only leadership is on the Shrinker-Emergent side, where Mark Jeske the Orange runs the whole show from behind his curtain.
These people are not impressed with Schroeder's response to the Hochmuth crimes. They are WELS members. The Wisconsin sect seems content to lose a few people at a time until they are pure Emergent Babto-Methodist.
I could say the problem is CGM, or Emergent Church, or the New NIV, but those cancers are not the cause. They are just symptoms. The cause is lack of faith in the Word of God. Starting with Walther and his dominance of the Olde Synodical Conference, faith in the Word of God has been trained out of the clergy and members.
Walther, the American Pope, kicked out Bishop Stephan, committing and supporting many crimes in the process: land fraud, grand theft, armed invasion, physical threats, and armed kidnapping. Walther took over the cult and maintained the same level of control that Stephan demanded.
But Walther, trained in rationalism and Pietism, was in no position to establish Lutheran orthodoxy. He established his own quirky ideas and false doctrine with dubious theses, which were delivered and accepted the way Mormonism was revealed to the gullible masses. Even today, something is true just because Walther wrote it, even when he contradicted himself in the same paragraph. To question Walther is slander, although the synodical Lutherans have no trouble dissing Martin Luther himself. The Reformer is good for statues-preps-colleges, not for doctrine.
Watch the ELS, LCMS, and WELS continue to use the process learned from ELCA and the secular change agents. Full participation is welcome, as long as dissenters are removed and everyone drinks the purple Kool-aid. They let the flowers bloom, as Mao said, so the heads can be cut off.
Faithful laity, pastors, and teachers remain, but the Synodical Conference is doomed by its own lack of faith.
The Olde Synodical Conference teaches the Huber fallacy, excommunicating those who teach justification by faith.
The Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which unskilled people make poor decisions and reach erroneous conclusions, but their incompetence denies them the metacognitive ability to recognize their mistakes.[1] The unskilled therefore suffer from illusory superiority, rating their ability as above average, much higher than it actually is, while the highly skilled underrate their own abilities, suffering from illusory inferiority.
Actual competence may weaken self-confidence, as competent individuals may falsely assume that others have an equivalent understanding. As Kruger and Dunning conclude, "the miscalibration of the incompetent stems from an error about the self, whereas the miscalibration of the highly competent stems from an error about others" (p. 1127).[2] The effect is about paradoxical defects in cognitive ability, both in oneself and as one compares oneself to others...
Although the Dunning–Kruger effect was put forward in 1999, David Dunning and Justin Kruger have quoted Charles Darwin ("Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge")[3] and Bertrand Russell ("One of the painful things about our time is that those who feel certainty are stupid, and those with any imagination and understanding are filled with doubt and indecision")[4] as authors who have recognised the phenomenon.
UOJ is the path to Rome or Pasadena:
either route is the path to perdition.
***
GJ - Indeed. Chesterton noted the same thing -
“Modesty has moved from the organ of ambition. Modesty has settled upon the organ of conviction where it was never meant to be. A man was meant to be doubtful about himself, but undoubting about the truth: this has been exactly reversed. Nowadays the part of a man that a man does assert is exactly the part he ought not to assert-himself. The part he doubts is exactly the part he ought not to doubt - the Divine Reason... The old humility was a spur that prevented a man from stopping: not a nail in his boot that prevented him from going on. For the old humility made a man doubtful about his efforts, which might make him work harder. But the new humility makes a man doubtful about his aims, which will make him stop working altogether.”
― G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy
LI gave me a name for this syndrome, which is difficult to miss in the Olde Synodical Conference. As James Tiefel said about the odious Christian Worship in the making, "I have the title, so I will do what I want." I heard Tiefel make fun of The Lutheran Hymnal in his worship class. Tiefel and Iver Johnson moved forward with a hack job worse than the remake of The Jazz Singer: the booze and broads edition of the hymnal.A sober analysis would say that TLH is vastly superior to Tiefel's Church Growth, feminist, Pietist parody.
The almost universal attitude among the clergy is - "I graduated from x seminary, so I have nothing left to learn." That could be Ft. Wayne versus all the others, St. Louis versus all the others, Mequon versus all the others, or the Little Schoolhouse on the Prairie versus all others.
Most of them have a favorite professor who stands between them and the Word of God, so they stick to the instructor's talking points. The same clergy are scornful of laity who have studied the Word of God decades longer, without an intervening filter. A genuine Lutheran will concede that the Holy Spirit teaches through the Word, but the incompetents wave their diplomas around: the Dunning-Kruger effect.
The Lutheran Church during the Reformation expected a high level of training for men to be professors or bishops. A doctorate was common. The current Synodical Conference leaders think their worthless MDiv degrees qualify them as experts on everything, even though they could not get a job teaching at a community college with that seminary diploma. They wangle their positions through politics, but imagine the office is their
weapon, not a challenge to devote a lifetime to scholarship.
The Dunning-Kruger effect explains why the LCMS, WELS, and ELS have abandoned Lutheran doctrine for Fuller or Rome, never acknowledging the five-decade slide into doctrinal torpor. They cannot even admit what they have done, spending millions on subsidies to CG projects and tuition, millions more on conferences to bring more false doctrine into their parishes.
Even the self titled
conservatives in the (W)ELS have declared Siegbert W. Becker
infallible.
Elevating doctrinal ignorance to an art form he said, "But
universal and objective justification is one doctrine whose place in the
victorious Christian life is clear. Wherever men teach that faith comes first as
a condition that must be fulfilled or a work that must be done or even as a fact
that must be recognized before forgiven [sic Becker - forgiveness ] is bestowed or becomes real, men will be
trained to look into their own hearts for assurance rather than to the words and
promises of God. If my sins are forgiven only if I first have faith then I
have no solid foundation on which to rest my hope for eternal life. I must then
know that I have faith before I can know that my sins are forgiven. But there
are times when a Christian does not know that he has faith. And many people who
think they have faith do not have it, and many that think they are not believers
are believing children of God. In regard to our own faith we may be in error
or filled with doubt. But there is nothing uncertain in the truth that is
proclaimed in the Gospel. Your sin is taken away, wiped out, forgiven,
cancelled, swallowed up in the empty grave in Joseph’s garden. To that we must
cling. To that we can cling. On that we can build a solid hope that will not
make us ashamed. In times of temptation when I am no longer aware of my
faith, when my heart tells me that I am an unbeliever, I have no place to turn
for assurance if faith must come before forgiveness. But if forgiveness comes
first, if it is always there, if it is true whether I believe it or not, I do
not need to know whether I have faith or not before I can cling to God’s
promise. I know that my sins are forgiven whether I feel forgiven or
unforgiven. I know that my iniquity is pardoned whether I believe it or not. And
when I know that, then I know also that I am a believer." Page
13 http://www.wlsessays.net/files/BeckerJustification.PDF
***
GJ - No wonder the WELS clergy and laity listened to Paul Calvin Kelm with rapture and awe. They had already been hynotized by Sig Becker, who did not understand faith, forgiveness, or the Means of Grace.
He was born at Saalfeld in Electoral Saxony, the son of a poor clergyman. He grew up in pietistic surroundings, which powerfully influenced him his life through, though he never became a Pietist. In his seventeenth year he entered the University of Halle, where he became the disciple, afterwards the assistant, and finally the literary executor of the orthodox rationalistic professor SJ Baumgarten. He also wrote Latin poems. In 1749 he accepted the position of editor, with the title of professor, of the Coburg official Gazette. But in 1751 he was invited to Altdorf as professor of philology and history, and in 1752 he became a professor of theology in Halle.
Pietism was identified with Biblical study, but the mothership, Halle University, turned into a school of rationalism in one generation. Why?
Pietism is just another form of Enthusiasm. Lacking a foundation in the Means of Grace, Pietism seeks certainty in experience, love, and good works. The attitude of doctrinal indifference eventually unites everyone on the basis of a common disbelief.
That is why ELCA can be in fellowship with the Moravian Pietists, the gay Episcopalians, the Methodists, WELS, and Missouri Synod.
That also explains why WELS can be in fellowship with Groeschel, Driscoll, Sweet, and Rick Warren, and Andy Stanley. Their defense - "We practice safe sects."
Activating our family of faith in unity by Christ’s example of sharing, caring and praying.
I ran across this mission statement, above, from a Moravian congregation in Emmaus, Pennsylvania.
The wording reminded me of many similar expressions from WELS, LCMS, and ELS congregations:
Inoffensive.
Vague.
Non-confessional.
Non-confessional is really anti-confessional, because the need to avoid all doctrinal discussions is the path to total indifference and apostasy.
We now live in Elisabeth’s world — not just because technology has caught up with the Deity and enabled women in their 50s and 60s to become mothers, but in a more basic sense. The problem with the advanced West is not that it’s broke but that it’s old and barren. Which explains why it’s broke. Take Greece, which has now become the most convenient shorthand for sovereign insolvency — “America’s heading for the same fate as Greece if we don’t change course,” etc. So Greece has a spending problem, a revenue problem, something along those lines, right? At a superficial level, yes. But the underlying issue is more primal: It has one of the lowest fertility rates on the planet. In Greece, 100 grandparents have 42 grandchildren — i.e., the family tree is upside down. In a social-democratic state where workers in “hazardous” professions (such as, er, hairdressing) retire at 50, there aren’t enough young people around to pay for your three-decade retirement. And there are unlikely ever to be again.
GJ - The graphics below were done by someone else - forget the name - and the point has been made here many times. All the futuristic plans have been based on more people making more money to pay for the inflated plans.
That wild thinking fits the school situation, government (unfunded) pensions, and the global economy.
The Left trained people to think of babies as costly burdens, so we slaughter them with abortion and the human pesticide pill, then let criminals across the border to rob, rape, and steal, as long as they do our house-cleaning for $5 an hour.
The Wexford Carol (Irish: Carúl Loch Garman, Carúl Inis Córthaidh) is a traditional religious Irish Christmas carol originating from County Wexford, and specifically, Enniscorthy (whence its other name), and dating to the 12th century.[1][unreliable source?] The subject of the song is that of the nativity of Jesus Christ.
"The Wexford Carol" is one of the oldest extant Christmas carols in the European tradition. Traditions abound concerning the song. For many years, it was felt that only men should sing it.[citation needed] It was only at the current revival of all things Irish that this attitude changed. Many popular female artists, such as Loreena McKennitt, recorded the “Wexford Carol” during the 1990s.
The song achieved a new popularity because of the work of William Grattan Flood (1859 - 1928), who was organist and musical director at St. Aidan's Cathedral in Enniscorthy. He transcribed the carol from a local singer, and had it published in the Oxford Book of Carols, putting Enniscorthy into most carol books around the world.
The song is sometimes known by its first verse, "Good people all this Christmas time."
Good people all, this Christmas time,
Consider well and bear in mind
What our good God for us has done
In sending his beloved son
With Mary holy we should pray,
To God with love this Christmas Day
In Bethlehem upon that morn,
There was a blessed Messiah born
The night before that happy tide
The noble Virgin and her guide
Were long time seeking up and down
To find a lodging in the town
But mark right well what came to pass
From every door repelled, alas
As was foretold, their refuge all
Was but a humble ox's stall
Near Bethlehem did shepherds keep
Their flocks of lambs and feeding sheep
To whom God's angel did appear
Which put the shepherds in great fear
Arise and go, the angels said
To Bethlehem, be not afraid
For there you'll find, this happy morn
A princely babe, sweet Jesus, born
With thankful heart and joyful mind
The shepherds went the babe to find
And as God's angel had foretold
They did our Saviour Christ behold
Within a manger he was laid
And by his side a virgin maid
Attending on the Lord of Life
Who came on earth to end all strife
There were three wise men from afar
Directed by a glorious star
And on they wandered night and day
Until they came where Jesus lay
And when they came unto that place
Where our beloved Messiah lay
They humbly cast them at his feet
With gifts of gold and incense sweet.
Financial Toll of Fatal Crash Keeps Growing
By JOE HARRIS
BELLEVILLE, Ill. (CN) - The price tag for state taxpayers for a former state trooper's reckless fatal crash in November 2007 continues to grow.
The Illinois Court of Claims awarded $700,000 to Kelly and Christine Marler, of Fayetteville. The Marlers' was the third vehicle involved in a fiery accident caused by former state trooper Matt Mitchell's losing control of his squad car while driving 120 mph, talking to his girlfriend on his cell phone and sending and receiving emails just 2.5 seconds before impact.
Teenage sisters, Jessica Uhl, 18, and Kelli Uhl, 13, were the first ones hit by Mitchell and were pronounced dead at the scene. The Uhl family was awarded $8 million on Jan. 20 by the Illinois Court of Claims, the largest award ever granted by the court. Mitchell's car drove through the Uhls' car and then crashed into the Marlers' SUV. Mitchell pleaded guilty to reckless homicide.
Mitchell, 33, filed a workers compensation claim for his injuries, which was denied. The outcry against Mitchell caused state lawmakers to pass a law prohibiting workers compensation claims by employees injured while committing a crime.
Mitchell's total financial toll on the state actually started before 2007 and is more than $10 million. He was involved a no-injury accident in 2002 and another accident in 2003 that led to a $1.7 million judgment against the state, the Associated Press reported.
The Universalism of the (W)ELS is taught in their central doctrine of Universal Justification. Their children are articulating this confession because the forgiveness of sins is salvation. Jay Garcia: "In a world where teens are always looked at by the eyes of the Devil a Wels youth rally is a blessing it shows that even in this world where sin is everywhere there teens that still believe that we can help show to other people that Jesus saved all and that the Father loves all of his children Like · Comment · July 24 at 9:10am
Megan, 25, says they don’t want their 10-month-old daughter, Mary Margaret,
to be burdened by such high debt when she goes to college. That’s one reason the
Plano, Texas, couple is unsure whether they will have more children.
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Becoming Less Fruitful: A Demographic History of the Evangelical Lutheran
Synod, 1928-2008
From 2000 to 2010, the population of white children nationwide declined by
4.3 million, while the population of Hispanic and Asian children grew by 5.5
million.
The stagnation of population growth in France in the 19th C, which is
viewed as an anomaly among nations of the time by modern demographers, was
recognized in France at that time as being the result of widespread syphilis in
France, and not as the result of exaggerated rates of condom use, or of social
planning, or of societal bias against small families. The religiosity of other
nations kept the syphilis rates down except around ports, but France's
secularism ever since the Revolution promoted loose morals, allowing syphilis
free reign among the population. The population stagnation relative to other
nations left France relatively defenseless, with the result that Britain and the
US were dragged into defending it. Also, it meant that not many Americans are of
French immigrant extraction relative to other ethnic groups. However, the
Catholic church hierarchy in the US has a strong contingent, but only because
the revolutionaries chased much of the clergy out of France at the end of the
18th C.:
Quote: In fact, the preoccupation with the effect on birth rate came from
an actual depopulation of France at the end of the 19th century and from the
bordering nations, especially Germany, victorious of the Prussian French war in
1870. Affecting the physical integrity, syphilis deprived the nation of the
future soldiers indispensable for the revengful projects. Xenophobic
considerations completed the military preoccupations. Considering the decrease
of population supposed to be a consequence of syphilis, the most active people
in the struggle against syphilis pointed out the constrasting increase of
foreign workers, indispensable to replace the missing French people and regarded as ennemies of the nation.
"Of the Father's Love Begotten"
by Aurelius C. Prudentius, 413, cento
Translated by John. M. Neale, 1818-1866
and Henry W. Baker, 1821-1977
1. Of the Father's love begotten
Ere the worlds began to be,
He is Alpha and Omega,
He the Source, the Ending He,
Of the things that are, that have been,
And that future years shall see
Evermore and evermore.
2. Oh, that birth forever blessed
When the Virgin, full of grace,
By the Holy Ghost conceiving,
Bare the Savior of our race,
And the Babe, the world's Redeemer,
First revealed His sacred face
Evermore and evermore.
3. O ye heights of heaven, adore Him;
Angel hosts, His praises sing;
Powers, dominions, bow before Him
And extol our God and King.
Let no tongue on earth be silent,
Every voice in concert ring
Evermore and evermore.
4. This is He whom Heaven-taught singers
Sang of old with one accord;
Whom the Scriptures of the prophets
Promised in their faithful word.
Now He shines, the Long-expected;
Let creation praise its Lord
Evermore and evermore.
5. Christ, to Thee, with God the Father,
And, O Holy Ghost, to Thee
Hymn and chant and high thanksgiving
And unending praises be,
Honor, glory, and dominion,
And eternal victory
Evermore and evermore.
The Lutheran Hymnal
Hymn #98
Text: 1 Tim. 3:16
Author: Aurelius C. Prudentius, 413, cento
Translated by: John. M. Neale, 1854 and Henry W. Baker, 1861
Titled: "Corde natus ex Parentis"
Tune: "Divinum mysterium", Plain-song tune, 12th century
"Isaiah, Mighty Seer, in Days of Old" by Martin Luther, 1483-1546
Isaiah, mighty seer, in days of old
The Lord of all in Spirit did behold
High on a lofty throne, in splendor bright,
With flowing train that filled the Temple quite.
Above the throne were stately seraphim,
Six wings had they, these messengers of Him.
With twain they veiled their faces, as was meet,
With twain in reverent awe they hid their feet,
And with the other twain aloft they soared,
One to the other called and praised the Lord:
"Holy is God, the Lord of Sabaoth!
Holy is God, the Lord of Sabaoth!
Holy is God, the Lord of Sabaoth!
Behold, His glory filleth all the earth!"
The beams and lintels trembled at the cry,
And clouds of smoke enwrapped the throne on high.
Hymn 249 The Lutheran Hymnal
Text: Is. 6: 1-4
Author: Martin Luther, 1526
Translated by: composite
Titled: "Jessia, dem Propheten, das gescha"
Tune: "Jessia, dem Propheten"
Composer: Martin Luther, 1526
"Sometimes I am ambivalent about Christmas. It makes me both happy and sad. Sometimes it makes me sad when I think of those people who do not have a family they can share it with."
