WELS Pastor Responds to an Honest Objection

Lena Is a Sassy Look-Alike

Lena

​I just have to say, Sassy looks an awful lot like our German shepherd Lena 1.5 yrs old). Lena has the same propensity to sit quietly until a good sharp bark is warranted, usually causing some pretty strong reactions in unprepared people nearby. Love the Sassy stories. Good dogs are a real blessing from God!

Sassy - just before we adopted her.

Sassy no longer chases cats, but they are wary of her.
She is gentle with them, and always was, except she liked to give them a short chase.

As the Episcopal Church Goes...So Goes Lutherdom

The time-stamp or divide for Lutherans is 2009. That is when thousands woke up in ELCA and said, "We cannot stay in this mess any longer. We have tried every possible approach, and we get steamrolled each time."

The epic event was the ELCA vote to ordain and marry homosexuals, certainly a radical departure from historic Christianity. The bishops, like Liz Eaton, played the vote as nothing really, like many other preparatory votes and decisions. Everything she said was a lie, so she became the next ELCA Presiding Bishop.

Bishop and Mrs. Robinson, Episcopal icons,
now divorcing.

In the aftermath, about 20% of ELCA left, including a number of retired bishops. Even those who sat there with blank looks while being steamrolled were shocked into action. Two different groups were formed or enlarged. The LCMC grew by leaps and bounds. The NALC was formed to please the bishops and to facilitate their oblique moves.

Before that 2009 vote, I constantly blogged about the Episcopal bishops and congregations angrily protesting the same moves, which were move obvious on their side of the altar fellowship rail. I kept wondering why the placid Episcopalians had their hair and mitres on fire while the ELCA bishops, pastors, and members remained in a deep slumber.

I was pleased to see so many Episcopalian bishops, active in their work, willing to face down Katy the Horrible in court. Many congregations had their property stolen from them and locked up, out of pure vindictiveness. The Episcopalian Church had no legal rights over their property, which they owned before there was a United States or Constitution, but the courts generally favored Katy the Horrible, who used millions in borrowed funds to take property away.

Nothing seemed to matter to the ELCA people - then boom! - they began pouring out of the Synagogue of Satan.

Gather round and listen to a lesson about pruning roses, which is reflected in John 15:1-10 (although that passage is about grape vines).

Bushes like to be pruned. That wakes them up. When they wake up, they sprout new growth and bloom. Their roots grow faster, too.

What do we call "members" who never come to church, never commune, and never do anything - even when visited? We call them dead wood, for a reason. When the dead wood is pruned from a rose bush--a task many find abhorrent--the bush blooms.

I taught my grandson to prune the old rose blooms, because they are trying to go to seed. What do we call people and institutions where nothing is happening anymore. "They have gone to seed." When a rose bloom goes to seed, the energy of the plant is used for seed production and the rose will go into an early retirement.

These shake-ups in the Episcopal Church and in Lutherdom are good for people - good for their fatih. They have to examine what they believe from the Scriptures. They have to become disillusioned

"I am disillusioned!" Good - because they means you no longer have delusions about the institutional church.

Church officials audaciously grab property they do not own - and use the secular courts to accomplish their evil. They are the same ones who scream about how Christians cannot sue other Christians, when they are caught with their hands in the cookie jar and the trotters in the trough. But oh how they love to sue their congregations, to rob their endowments, to liquidate their equity.

Back in the 1980s the LCA routinely closed congregations and sold the property to balance their local district budgets. There was always a show of -

• Vote on where it goes, a good plan to make the robbery more palatable.
• Give some to Social Services (where our buddies work).
• Give some to missions (so we can rob those churches later).
• Give some to World Hunger (where the fat tummies of lobbyists are fed first and foremost).

ELCA has robbed itself down to bare metal, and the squealing is loud.

1. Radicals do not give money - they use it up.
2. Radicals do not become faithful parish pastors - they want to rule over everyone.
3. Radicals leave no issue - for obvious reasons.

Faithful Christians should give up their illusions about the piety, probity, and parsimony of the church leaders. The professional ecclesiocrats make the Borgia Popes look like innocent lambs. The Lutheran drones know where the bodies are buried, because they buried them. They are only interested in money and power. Those are the powerful forces that attract them to the Thrivent trough - to grovel, oink, and tusk each other for the funds.

Leaving the apostate groups is difficult, because they use all their tricks to deprive people of their say in church affairs, then work to keep them in as dead wood, lifeless members with no opinion.

The marks of the true Church are the Means of Grace, the Word and Sacraments, not buildings and CDs.

Look at all the little porkers feeding off WELS.
Missouri and the Little Sect on the Prairie are no different.

Send in the Clowns

Don't you love farce?
My fault I fear.
I thought that you'd want what I want.
Sorry, my dear.
But where are the clowns?
Quick, send in the clowns.
Don't bother, they're here.

Send in the Clowns, from A Little Night Music

Isn't it rich?
Are we a pair?
Me here at last on the ground,
You in mid-air.
Send in the clowns.

Isn't it bliss?
Don't you approve?
One who keeps tearing around,
One who can't move.
Where are the clowns?
Send in the clowns.

Just when I'd stopped opening doors,
Finally knowing the one that I wanted was yours,
Making my entrance again with my usual flair,
Sure of my lines,
No one is there.

Don't you love farce?
My fault I fear.
I thought that you'd want what I want.
Sorry, my dear.
But where are the clowns?
Quick, send in the clowns.
Don't bother, they're here.

Isn't it rich?
Isn't it queer,
Losing my timing this late
In my career?

And where are the clowns?
There ought to be clowns.
Well, maybe next year.

Isn't it rich?
Isn't it queer,
Losing my timing this late
In my career?

And where are WELS clowns?
There ought to be clowns.
Well, maybe next year.

Anonymous - Your Photoshop Is Done

Top Ten Crimes in WELS

Polluted WELS Request 

Anonymous said...

How about Alec Guinness' quote from the original Star Wars, "You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious." Seems fitting for a GJ photoshop.

July 20, 2014 at 2:16 PM

Polluted WELS Comments - Wise and Foolish

Polluted WELS Blog Comments

Randall Schultz said...

I like this thought experiment. It is not all that unrealistic. For instance, assume that you are an individual who had limited exposure to churches. Let's expand on this experiment. You have got this strange notion to go "church shopping". By the way, this is not all that uncommon. You go to an ELCA church with a woman pastor. Then you go to an LCMS congregation that has a Bible study before the service. This study is based upon a part of the Lutheran Confessions. The service that follows is liturgical. Then you finally go to a Contemporary worship service at a WELS "campus". After these three different experiences, what do you think of the word "Lutheran"? You could ask each pastor, "why should I want to come back again?".
In reality, isn't this what the Church Growth Movement is all about? What about all that blather about reaching the unchurched masses? Why not just be honest about all of this? Why call yourself Lutheran? As one pastor at a district convention many years ago asked, "why are we ashamed of being Lutherans?". More than one WELS pastor that I know is downright afraid to teach anything from the Book of Concord. Is it any wonder that Vernon made the observation about complacency in the previous posts? The normalcy bias is fairly common with lifelong members in the WELS. I will bet that some will just say, "we are not like those 'other Lutherans'".

July 20, 2014 at 6:06 PM

 Anonymous said...

WELS promotes that it is superior to the LCMS because it claims to possess the correct doctrine about church fellowship and church and ministry. WELS leadership then sends their pastors to various Church Growth seminars led by non-denominational leaders.

Got it.

July 20, 2014 at 6:50 PM

Anonymous said...

For a confessional pastor to have any future in the WELS, two things have to happen. First, congregations must bypass the district pope powerbrokers and take control of the call process by identifying their own candidates and interviewing each one face to face before issuing a call. Second, confessional congregations, if there even is such a thing in the WELS, must organize themselves into a non-geographic district akin to Missouri's English or Slovak Districts.

July 21, 2014 at 5:36 AM

 Anonymous said...

Oops, three things. He also must be in control of his own health and retirement plans. Hahaha...

July 21, 2014 at 5:49 AM [ GJ - I call that trying to find a clean, dry, warm spot in the sewer.]

 Anonymous said...

Isn't the fly in the ointment, to a greater or lesser degree, the retirement plan?

July 21, 2014 at 6:14 AM - Clean, dry, warm and healthy spot in the sewer.

The Fifth Sunday after Trinity, 2014. Luke 5:1-11. The Miraculous Catch of Fish

The Fifth Sunday after Trinity, 2013

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

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

Bethany Lutheran Church, 10 AM Central Time


The Hymn #  375       If Thy Beloved Son                         3.41
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 # 132  O God of God,                  3.55

Made the Rules, Breaks the Rules

The Communion Hymn #307 Draw Nigh            3.72 
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 #  649        Jesus Savior Pilot Me            3.80

KJV 1 Peter 3:8 Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: 9 Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing. 10 For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: 11 Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it. 12 For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. 13 And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good? 14 But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; 15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

KJV Luke 5:1 And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret, 2 And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. 3 And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. 4 Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. 5 And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. 6 And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. 7 And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. 8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. 9 For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken: 10 And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. 11 And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.

Fifth Sunday After Trinity
O Jesus Christ, Thou Son of the living God, who hast given us Thy holy word, and hast bountifully provided for all our temporal wants, we confess that we are unworthy of all these mercies, and that we have rather deserved punishment: But we beseech Thee, forgive us our sins, and prosper and bless us in our several callings, that by Thy strength we may be sustained and defended, now and forever, and so praise and glorify Thee eternally, Thou who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.

Made the Rules, Breaks the Rules

KJV Luke 5:1 And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon Him to hear the Word of God, He stood by the lake of Gennesaret,

In evolution, there are no rules. Everything happened by chance, so there are no miracles either, because the evolutionists imagine chaos sorted itself out and simply began being extremely orderly.

We have seen crowd scenes where so many people are gathered that threaten to crush the person up front. That happened with Bill Clinton and it terrified him. In this case, people loved to hear Jesus preaching, so they kept moving closer. That would also stifle the carrying of His voice, so the reaction had to make matters worse as the crowd kept moving forward.

 2 And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. 3 And He entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. 

These flat-bottomed boats were quite stable, so they were ideal for what happened next. This miracle is based upon the preaching of the Gospel and the faith that the Holy Spirit stirred in  the hearts of the fishermen. Jesus entered Simon Peter's boat, so the preaching that followed was especially personal. That was his boat. He could not miss the message.

This shows how God comes to us through the Means of Grace. Often when we are too young to think about it or have a say, our parents place us where we can hear the Gospel and believe in the Savior. Infant baptism is the primary way this happens, and it is also develops because of parental teaching.

To have a more convenient place to preach, they pushed out from the shore. Jesus asked Simon to push out from land. The land rose above the lake so there were natural bleachers and the lake as a sounding board to project the voice. Old-fashioned pulpits have curved wood behind the pulpit to push the sound forward and outward. They were often tall enough to be eye level with the balcony in large churches. That was when congregations emphasize the Word rather than secular rock bands and expensive electronic keyboards.

3b And He sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. 

Sitting was the normal posture for the rabbi in those days. 

The order of this miracle is clear. First Jesus preached the Word, and the fishermen believed. Because of faith in Him, they went out seeking fish when they knew from their recent labors that none could be found.

From this and many other examples we know that faith comes from hearing the preached Word, as Paul wrote in Romans 10, reflecting the Gospel of Isaiah 53. "Who has believed our report?"

Without the Word, faith dwindles because bad displaces the good. Man's word creates so much space in our thinking that God's Word does not govern our thoughts and actions. In time, man's word prevails and a distrust and loathing of God's Word builds up.

Halle University was built to teach Biblical studies, but man allowed rationalism to enter the teaching of the faculty and Halle became the capital of rationalistic attacks on the Bible and UOJ in Europe. Wittenberg University no longer exists, because it was merged into Halle, so one more example of Lutheran doctrine was erased from modern history.

I get to teach Biblical studies to a vast assortment of graduate students earning a master's degree. The first things I emphasize in Old Testament class is Jesus as the Creating Word (Genesis 1 and John 1), the Creation, and the efficacy of the Word.

I only teach Lutheran doctrine, so I write about the work of the Holy Spirit, exclusively through the Word. The students are exposed to a lot of opinions and dates and ideas in the readings they have. The discerning ones realize that the Bible judges all books and is not judged by any book of man.

Creation and Miracles To Together

The more we experience the natural world, the more we see the power of God's Creation. Jesus, the Creating Word, established all the rules at the beginning. Not only that, all the creatures and plants obey His design. The rules are exceedingly complex and inter-related. 

The rules are always obeyed, whether man understands or comprehends them or not. For instance, dead organic material will always attract the creatures of decay the moment those materials appear. A fledgling bird died in our yard. Bacteria  begin the breakdown, but also those specific colorful flies that take care of dead animals - not house flies. This begins the removal of the body and the next generation of flies as their eggs hatch on the body. 

As soon as shade is created, or night falls, soil creatures come up to devour whatever is above them. A block of wood may look normal and hard, but it will crumble into sawdust in time, from the sowbugs, pillbugs, and earthworms that enjoy the shade, the moisture, and the food.

Organic material must be broken down so plant roots can use ion exchange to transfer soil nutrition into the plant. The same process is used in water softeners. We put table salt in softeners, so the hard or insoluble salts are replaced by table salt. I pointed this out to one member decades ago, and he was aghast.

If the soil is not balanced, it binds up those ions and does not let them move into plant roots via water. But God has arranged all this to be fixed by soil creatures who restore the balance over time, by pulling down organic material and blending it with soil. Earthworms pull down dead plant material, devour soil, and blend the ingredients in their casts. Stones in their gizzards grind the soil so it is finer, and its unique calcium glands add that chemical to the soil. 

Why does calcium matter? Acid soil is good for blueberries and a few other plants, but most plants like sweet soil - more calcium. And calcium helps release those other minerals in the soil, for transfer to vegetation.

A side note for fans of racehorses. Kentucky is favored for breeding horses because of its limestone deposits, which provide high levels of calcium and strong bones for the horses. Above the ground - racetracks. Below the ground - limestone caves.

Design Plus Timing

The fact of the relationships is proof enough of design, but there is far  more to it than A causing B, such as soil creatures causing soil improvement. The most astonishing part of this management system is timing. When a pile of compost is high in nitrogen, it heats up from heat loving bacteria. But once it moderates to a lower level, the moderates step up and continue decomposition. 

Those who watch football and hockey all winter think nothing is happening outdoors under the leaves and snow. But  in fact, the cool temperature bacteria take over at the right time. They are even at work, right now, in your gallon of Whitey's Ice Cream. Even in a deep freezer, bacteria will increase in ice cream, so it is best to consume it fresh. Healthier, too.

All the right things happen in decomposition:

• At the right time.
• Among the right creatures for that time.
• For a good purpose - better soil.

An old compost pile will be teeming with higher level creatures who live from the lower level creatures that attack the raw elements, or mold or bacteria. Once those higher level creatures stir the ingredients, birds perch nearby to snag a centipede or earthworm. The earthworms wait until the pile is cool, because they cannot tolerate the heat from the early buildup of a high nitrogen pile. The lower order creatures populate the pile and make it palatable for the next group, and so on. And we need this because healthy soil produces healthy plants for man and animals alike.

If we add the noun purpose to this, everyone begins to smell the roast, as Luther once roast. Each component, even among the chemicals, has a purpose. That is a religious statement, that one scientist said he cannot make. He can observe but he cannot assign a purpose.

But this word purpose cannot be removed from such a complicated, choreographed ritual, one that ends well for all concerned. Clearly the Creating Word established these rules for a purpose - ultimately for us, the pinnacle of His Creation.

4 Now when He had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. 5 And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at Thy Word I will let down the net.

There were two parts of this boat trip. The first was to put out from shore so Jesus could address the vast crowd coming to hear Him. This exchange shows that Simon became a believer during the sermon.

Fath comes by hearing the sermon about Jesus.

Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?

17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.

Because Jesus is the Creating Word, He can also change the rules He established. Simon experienced the miracle of faith, where the preaching of salvation through faith took root in his heart. They fished all night, when the catch should have been good, but caught nothing. He was willing to go to the same place during the day, simply because Jesus commanded him to do that.

Unbelievers are either shocked or irritated by faith. They cannot understand someone sacrificing comfort or popularity for something so abstract. Of course it is abstract, that is what faith means.

6 And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. 7 And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.

With this faith comes a miraculous answer or result. God shows us miracles in this way -

• They are far more than we can expect, imagine, or hope.
• The abundance is spectacular.
• We are certain this could never come from our own efforts.

Instead of, "You were right. There were some fish here," we see them experiencing so vast a catch that both ships, designed for this, began to sink from the weight of the catch.

Man says, "We need money to do God's work." God says, "You only need to seek the Kingdom and its righteousness" - that is, you only need the Word of God to accomplish His work.

8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. 9 For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken: 10 And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. 11 And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.

Do All the Earthworms Die in the Winter?

Dandelion is the tap-rooted herb no one can eradicate,
so why not include it in compost?

The Michigander asked about the survival of red wiggler earthworms during the cold winters up north. In a search of the literature, I found a number of experienced vermiculturists on the Net. They said that the red wiggler does not like the cold and will probably die in the winter, but will survive in compost, where the temperature is warmer. Egg cases survive cold and drought, throughout the yard.

We can only speculate about the depth of the next winter. We had a very mild winter followed by last year's harsh winter for NW Arkansas.

Some organic gardeners consider the best contribution of compost is the distribution of egg cases, which survive cold and drought. I have hauled wheelbarrows of compost and distributed earthworms the hard way - I would rather handle the little sack from Uncle Jim's Worm Farm.

I like composting on the spot, with mulch from newspapers, wood, and grass clippings. Weeds also make good mulch. If you think that will spread weeds in your yard, look again - they are already there. Make them pay the ultimate price while shaming them. Weeds have high nitrogen content plus minerals, so they might as well give back what they stole from the garden and borrowed from the sun.

I often put used coffee grounds in the wood mulch, especially if the kitchen trash is ready to overflow and spill it on the floor.

Small gestures do not seem to mean much at first, but over time the recycling of organic matter does add up, and the soil creatures thrive. The soil improvements that are started now will continue during the winter, under a blanket of snow.

Instead of scratching all the stuff from under the bushes, spread cypress mulch around the base to suppress weeds and feed the soil. Bare soil around the bushes will only grow up with weeds, evaporate water faster, and let topsoil blow away in the wind.

This is from Dave's Garden.
Ours is a single bush to be shaped like a vase with a narrow bottom.

Pruning bushes will make the roots start growing again. Some gardeners will jab a spade into the soil to cut the roots, which is another jump-starter for bushes. Our crepe myrtle bush continues to be in full bloom, with full pink flowers covering it. The top continues to reach upward while forming new flowers.

Fall Anticipated
I have pile of branches in the back of the lot, thanks to another round of trimming. When the leaves fall this autumn, the mulching lawnmower will combine grass and leaves in fragments to feed the soil. Raking leaves was more fun when we burned them along the curb. The backyard leaves will be raked over the garden areas and held down by the branches. Most of the leaves will be consumed by spring and the branches will be hauled away.

Our grandson had a great time again with the roses. He got the rose shears and cut off all the spent blooms. We spent a little time explaining why that helped the roses bloom even more. He learned to distinguish the ones about to bud and those on the way out. A little bump on an old bloom will scatter the petals. I saw him doing that to test some iffy roses. At the end he said, "I learn a lot from you, Grampy."

Queen Elizabeth Rose -
the ultimate bud transforms into the perfect bloom.