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.
In addition to worship and synod updates, good food and fellowship, we will have two special guests from Wartburg Theological Seminary: Rev. Dr. Kristin Johnston Largen, President of Wartburg Seminary, and Rev. Dr. S. Helen Chukka, Assistant Professor of Hebrew Bible.
Give Me Some Stouted-Headed Men
Give me some men who are stouthearted men Who will fight for the right they adore Start me with ten who are stouthearted men And I'll soon give you ten thousand more.
Shoulder to shoulder and bolder and bolder They grow as they go to the fore Then there's nothing in the world can halt or mar a plan When stouthearted men can stick together man to man.
Magic acts are a lot of fun. We all know that the magician distracts our eyes so that he can quickly do the trick where we are not looking.
The UOJ Magicians work the same way, but they are nasty and vindictive, not entertaining. Their energy comes from their hatred of the Word, which they cloak with fine words and sanctimony.
LCMS and WELS - Same History - Same Tricks Missouri and WELS came from Pietism, which has a way of asserting itself again. The clergy who would rather be unionistic, because they love every doctrine but their own, bitterly resent the chains and shackles - as they see them - of the Book of Concord so they throw off those horrid Confessions.
Missouri and WELS both taught Justification by Faith for many decades.
JFBA Examples in WELS:
Gausewitz was the catechism and no one talked of UOJ. The instigator of Kokomo never heard of UOJ before seminary.
Some oldsters in WELS remember that they were taught Justification by Faith in the olden days, because they were.
JP Meyer and other false teachers worked to supplant the Confessions and the Chief Article, so WELS clergy ignore and loathe the Book of Concord.
JFBA Examples in the LCMS:
The 1905 German catechism of the synod taught Justification by Faith, not UOJ.
They also used the Gausewitz Catechism, because he was the president of the Synodical Conference.
The KJV catechism, lately in the CPH catalogue, teaches Justification by Faith - not UOJ.
Dr. Walter A. Maier preached Justification by Faith and taught it as the foundational doctrine of Christianity, named before inerrancy in one quotation. See the graphic. He was praised by sister synods, not denounced as a false teacher.
The Magic Wand of Verbal Abuse
The UOJMagicians have only one trick. They verbally abuse anyone who threatens their position, and they scare easily. They mask their fear with fake ferocity, always using their buddies to back them up, like shills in an audience helping with a mind-reading trick.
Robert believed in due process. He repeatedly said that he would not be used to deny due process to Walter A. Maier. He also expressed his opinion that his efforts to bring Maier to an orthodox formulation (sic) of this doctrine with the help of such eminent theologians as Dr. Harry Huth, the great Missouri Synod Confessions scholar, would bear more fruit than his brother’s approach.
WAM II, left, got the Preus "due process" treatment. I do not have his academic achievements at this time. He is with a bunch of Maiers. When I met WAM II, he was jolly and friendly.
Imagine yourself as a professor at the synod's seminary, the son of the world-famous preacher and Biblical scholar, Walter A. Maier, PhD, Harvard, who taught Justification by Faith and inerrancy.
Jack Preus, the LCMS president, sends a letter to every congregation, denouncing you as a false teacher - for teaching what built The Lutheran Hour, your father preaching on the radio. But the accusation is dishonest, because it does not say, "You teach the Chief Article and we reject that, agreeing with the rationalistic Pietists." No, it is "YOU deny our precious dogma doctrine of Justification without FaithObjective Justification."
Robert Preus, Jack's brother, as president of the Ft. Wayne seminary, denounces you to the entire LCMS, using the most ridiculous arguments for UOJ, even citing the UOJist who left teaching in the LCMS to be a Roman Catholic editor! That was Edward Preuss of precious memory, still quoted with a school-girl's sigh.
Instead of being the leading candidate for LCMS synod president, a big effort is mounted to deny you any votes because (wave the magic wands) both Preus brothers have unethically and illegally denounced you as a false teacher. And yes, that is indeed slander.
Ralph Bohlmann becomes the LCMS president, promotes Church Growth, and sees his daughter ordained as a UCC pastor and married to another woman.
Herman Otten, a supposed Maier friend, backs UOJ to the hilt, essentially agreeing with the Preus brothers. It took another magician, Paul Rodham McCain, to equal this level of hypocrisy and back-stabbing. Otten sells books against Luther, praises a Roman Catholic author for publishing the obvious, and specializes in promoting the thralls of UOJ.
The irony of this Preus team is that neither Preus brother earned an Ivy league degree or engaged in Biblical scholarship, as Walter A. Maier, WAM II, and WAM III did. Jack and Bob both studied Latin scholasticism at the University of Minnesota - the Icey League. Academic achievement in the Preus family stopped there. As The Right Reverend Bishop James Heiser said to me, "The Preus children are not known for their theological acumen."
The Preus brothers used the weakness of CFW Walther's education to their advantage, calling up the ghost of Stephan's thrall to pound WAM II into the ground. The weakness of LCMS clergy and laity always comes through when they line up like iron filings around the magnetic personality of their first pope, professor, publisher, and political expert, CFW Walther, BA.
The answer does not come from inane theses that beg the question, like Valleskey on Fuller and Church Growth. The answer comes from careful study of the Biblical text. Anyone can do that, but few take the trouble.
I am happy to say that the younger generations of men are willing to address what the Boomer men ignored.
According to this former editor of Steadfast Lutherans, Dr. Maier was "a moron" for teaching Justification by Faith.
Then Samuel, among other things, said unto them: “Far be it from me that I should sin against Jehovah in ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in the good and right way. Only fear Jehovah, and serve him in truth with all your heart, for consider how great things he hath done for you.” 1 Samuel 12:19-24.
12. David also acted thus. When the Lord inflicted the plagues upon Israel he spake unto the Lord and said: “Lo, I have sinned, and I have done perversely; but these sheep, what have they done? Let thy hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father’s house.”
13. Such should be your bearing toward sinners; inwardly the heart in service, outwardly the tongue in earnest. God requires this of us; and this is what Christ, our Captain, has manifested in himself, as Paul says to the Philippians 2:4-9: “Not looking each of you to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others. Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus; who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, yea, the death of the cross.”
14. Christ was filled with all righteousness, and might justly have condemned us all as sinners. But he did not do so. What did he do, then?
He gave himself to be our Servant. His righteousness has served for our sins, his fullness for our feebleness, his life for our death. This we find illustrated, for our example, in the Gospel before us, where he bears himself with such friendliness toward sinners that the Pharisees murmur.
The Lord therefore sets before them the following parables in order to teach how they are to receive sinners and be of service to them, saying: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, and having lost one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it, etc. Or what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a lamp, and sweep the house, and seek diligently until she find it?”
15. Christ is both the shepherd and the woman; for he has lighted the lamp, that is, the Gospel, and he goes about in the desert, that is, the world. He sweeps the house, and seeks the lost sheep and lost piece of silver, when he comes with his Word and proclaims to us, first our sins, and then his grace and mercy. Christ’s declaration, that he is the shepherd and has laid our sins upon his back or shoulders, makes us trust in him fully, and makes publicans and other sinners run after him. These would not have come unto him thus, had they regarded him as a hard and wrathful judge; for they had previously acknowledged themselves to be sinners and in need of his grace.
And so they were drawn to him when they heard his loving doctrine. Here comes the sheep out of the wilderness, and here the lost piece of silver is found.
16 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.
17 Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him.
18 Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection.
19 And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is?
20 For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean.
21 (For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.)
22 Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.
23 For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, To The Unknown God. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.
24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
25 Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;
27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:
28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.
30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
32 And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter.
33 So Paul departed from among them.
34 Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed: among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
7. A truly Christian work is it that we descend and get mixed up in the mire of the sinner as deeply as he sticks there himself, taking his sin upon ourselves and floundering out of it with him, not acting otherwise than as if his sin were our own. We should rebuke and deal with him in earnest; yet we are not to despise but sincerely to love him. If you are proud toward the sinner and despise him, you are utterly damned.
8. These, then, are great and good works in which we should exercise ourselves. But no man pays attention to them. Such works have entirely faded away and become extinct. In the meantime, one resorts, in the name of the devil, to Saint James, another proceeds to build a church, a third provides for the saying of masses, — this one does this, the other does that, and no one thinks of praying for the sinner. It is therefore to be feared that the holiest are in the deepest hell, and that the sinners are mostly in heaven. But it would be a truly Christian work, if you received sinners, if you entered into your closet and there said, in earnest prayer to the Lord: “Oh, my God! of such a person I hear so and so, he lieth in his sins, he hath fallen. Oh, Lord, help him to rise again,” etc. This is just the way in which to receive and serve the sinner.
9. Moses acted thus when the Israelites worshipped the molten calf. He mingled freely with the people in their sins. Yet he punished them severely, and caused three thousand men to be slain from gate to gate.
Exodus 32. After that he went up and bowed down before God, and prayed that he would forgive the people their sin, or blot him out of the Book of Life. Behold, here we have a man who knew that God loved him and had written his name in the book of the blessed; and yet he says: “Lord, I would rather that thou shouldest damn me and save the people.”
10. Paul, too, acted thus. At times he rebuked the Jews severely, calling them dogs and other names. Yet he knelt down and said: “I could wish that I myself were anathema from Christ for my brethren’s sake.” Romans 9:3. It is as if he had said: “I would willingly be anathema, if only the mass of the people might be helped.” Such a course as this is much too lofty for reason, and passes beyond its conception. It is thus that we, too, must act, and thus that we must serve our neighbor.
11. Again, we have an incident in the first Book of Samuel. When the people demanded a king, and would not be ruled by God’s Word alone, but lost faith in the Lord, and said that they wanted a temporal king to go out before them and fight their battles, like all the nations, 1 Samuel 8:20.
This ELCA pastor's installation was hosted by a quintet from their Father Below.
The Waltherian Four (minus the CLC) have worked together openly with ELCA, thanks to Thrivent and U$.AID. Don't let's call their mamas.
Her Eminence Susan Johnson just happens to be a Canadian ELCiC bishop, eh?
ELCA's medical plan insures lively Pentecostal celebrations for bishops. The women now have the majority over males and undecided bishops. They are going to let the Holy Spirit out of the closet.
Briner: (Southwestern Texas Synod) has some of the fastest-growing cities in the entire U.S. along the corridor of San Antonio to Austin and beyond. We have people of all ages moving in, but they’re not generally coming to church. So we have an incredible opportunity there, but a lot of it is thinking about how are we different. We’ve become a really settled people who have become very comfortable with the way we’ve always done things. So trying to figure out, how do we be open to the Spirit and be open to the Spirit’s work? Because I’m telling you what, the Spirit is up to something …
Text. Luke 15:1-10. Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. 2 And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. 3 And he spake this parable unto them, saying,4 What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?5 And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. 7 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance. 8 Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? 9 And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost. 10 Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.
PARABLE OF THE LOST SHEEP.
1. The words of the Gospel are living and quickening, if we only comprehend them aright. But, in order that we may learn to understand this Gospel better, we will now place before us two classes of men, namely, public sinners and Pharisees, and will make Christ their judge. You have often heard that it is our duty, for love’s sake, to serve our neighbor in all things. If he is poor, we are to serve him with our goods; if he is in disgrace, we are to cover him with the mantle of our honor; if he is a sinner, we are to adorn him with our righteousness and piety. That is what Christ did for us. Philippians 2. He who was so exceedingly rich did, for our sake, empty himself and become poor. He served us with his goods, that we in our poverty might become rich. He was made to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in him.
2. Now, the outward works of love are very great, as when we place our goods in the service of another. But the greatest is this, that I surrender my own righteousness and make it serve for the sins of my neighbor. For, outwardly to render service and help by means of one’s goods is love only in its outward aspect; but to render help and service through one’s righteousness, that is something great and pertains to the inward man. This means that I must love the sinner and be his friend, must be hostile to his vices and earnestly rebuke them, yet that I must love him with all my heart so as to cover his sins with my righteousness. I am commanded to rebuke; but Christ tells me, in Matthew 18:15-18, how I am to do this: “If thy brother sin against thee, go, show him his fault between thee and him alone; if he hear thee, then hast thou gained thy brother. But if he hear thee not, take with thee one or two more, that at the mouth of two witnesses or three every word may be established. And if he refuse to hear them, tell it unto the church; and if he refuse to hear the church also, let him be unto thee as the Gentile and the publican. Verily I say unto you, what things soever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and what things soever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
3. In short, such an enemy of my neighbor am I to be that I cannot let him suffer. So dearly must I love him that I shall even run after him, and shall become like the shepherd that seeks the lost sheep, like the woman that seeks the lost piece of silver. On this occasion, therefore, we shall speak concerning such great work of love as is shown when a pious man invests the sinner with his own righteousness, when a pious woman invests the most wanton harlot with her own honor.
4. This is something that neither the world nor reason will do. A work like this cannot be done by honorable and pious men who are actuated only by reason, by men who would prove their piety by turning up their nose at those who are sinners, as here the Pharisees do who murmur and grumble at public sinners.
5. This is what our monks do. They have gone about making faces at all who lie in their sins, and have thought: “Oh, but this is a worldly fellow! He does not concern us. If, now, he really would be pious, let him put on the monk’s cowl.” Hence it is that reason and such hypocrites cannot refrain from despising those who are not like them. They are puffed up over their own life and conduct, and cannot advance far enough to be merciful to sinners. This much they do not know, that they are to be servants, and that their piety is to be of service to others. Moreover, they become so proud and harsh that they are unable to manifest any love. They think: “This peasant is not worthy to unloose the latchet of my shoes; therefore do not say that I am to show him any affection.” But at this point God intervenes, permitting the proud one to receive a severe fall and shock that he often becomes guilty of such sins as adultery, and at times does things even worse, and must afterwards smite himself, saying: “Keep still, brother, and restrain yourself, you are of precisely the same stuff as yonder peasant.” He thereby acknowledges that we are all chips of the same block. No ass need deride another as a beast of burden; for we are all of one flesh.
6. This we clearly see in the two sorts of people here presented to us as examples. In the first place, we have the Pharisees and hypocrites who are exceedingly pious people, and were over head and ears in holiness. In the second place, we have the open sinners and publicans, who were over head and ears in sins. These, therefore, were despised by those shining saints, and were not considered worthy of their society.
O God, the Strength of all them that put their trust in Thee,
mercifully accept our prayers; and because through the weakness of our mortal nature we can do nothing without Thee, grant us the help of Thy grace that in keeping Thy commandments we may please Thee both in will and deed;
through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth, etc.
The Epistle and Gradual
Gradual
I said, Lord, be merciful unto me: heal my soul,
for I have sinned against Thee.
V. Blessed is he that considereth the poor:
the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
V. Give ear to my words, O Lord: consider my meditation. Hallelujah!
Our nation, built upon the sacrifices of patriots and the faith of its Founders, has a Constitution that has outlived all others.
Pastor Jim Shrader and Chris Shrader, Dr. Lito Cruz' family, Kermit Way, Sarah Buck - diagnosis and treatment, and those with emotional distress and metabolic disorders.
KJV 1 John 3:13 Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. 14 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. 15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. 16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 17 But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? 18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
KJV Luke 14:16 Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: 17 And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready. 18 And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused. 19 And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused. 20 And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. 21 So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. 22 And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. 23 And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. 24 For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.
Second Sunday After Trinity
Lord God, heavenly Father, we give thanks unto Thee, that through Thy holy word Thou hast called us to Thy great supper, and we beseech Thee: Quicken our hearts by Thy Holy Spirit, that we may not hear Thy word without fruit, but that we may prepare ourselves rightly for Thy kingdom, and not suffer ourselves to be hindered by any worldly care, through Thy beloved Son. Jesus Christ, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.
The Great Feast
KJV Luke 14:16 Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:
The certain man is Jesus Christ, and that represents His gracious invitation to His Kingdom. That is an earthly comparison of His heavenly work.
This man who prepared this supper is our Lord God himself. He is a great and rich Lord, who also once prepared a feast according to his glorious majesty and honor, and it was such a supper which is called great and glorious not only on account of the host, who is God himself, for it would be a glorious supper if he had only given a vegetable broth or a dry crust; yet the food is beyond all measure great and costly, namely, the holy Gospel, yea, Christ our Lord himself. He is himself the food, and is offered unto us through the Gospel, how he has made satisfaction by his death for our sins, and has redeemed us from all the misery of eternal death, of hell, of the wrath of God, sin and eternal condemnation. Luther's Sermons
17 And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready. 18 And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused. 19 And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused. 20 And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.
And thus the servant goes out for the invitation and each person has an ridiculous excuse himself about attending the celebration of the King Himself. They need to look at land that does not run away, or oxen who must be examined, or a bride suddenly needs a wedding. This is entirely one-sided - the Lord offering freely and the crowd too full of themselves excusing themselves and avoiding everlasting life.
The excuses are ironic or even comical. If eternal life is important, the excuses are not evaside, dishonest, or just thick-headed. One many told me he would not go to church because there were too many hypocrites there. I asked him for a definition of hypocrite, and he said, "Someone who says one thing and does another." I said, "That describes me. I am also a hypocrite." He lowered his head and said, "Well, then I am too." He went to church from then on and decided to cut the grass on the congregation's broad lawn. He never missed a Sunday until he joined his sainted wife.
13. This preaching of Christ is the great and glorious supper with which he feeds his guests and sanctifies them through his holy Baptism, and comforts and strengthens them through the Sacrament of his body and blood, that nothing may be wanting and a great plenty may be at hand and all become satisfied. Thus this supper is justly called a glorious, great supper on account of the fare and food, so costly and richly prepared that no tongue can describe it and no heart sufficiently grasp it. For it is an eternal food and an eternal drink, by partaking of which a man shall nevermore thirst nor hunger, but be forever satisfied, his thirst is quenched and he becomes joyful; and this not only for one man, but for the whole wide world, even if it were ten times wider, they would all have sufficient. For it is an inexhaustible food and an everlasting drink, as our Gospel says: He who believeth on this Lord Jesus Christ, that he was born for us of the Virgin Mary and crucified for out’ sins under Pontius Pilate, died, descended into hell, and rose again from the dead and sitteth at the right hand of God, etc.; he who believes this, eats and drinks truly from this supper. For to believe in Christ the Lord means to eat and to drink, from which the people become satisfied, fat and stout and strong, so that they are joyful forever.
21 So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. 22 And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. 23 And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. 24 For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.
The four descriptions can be seen as the four corners of the world. These are all the suffering - and besides are those scattered everywhere, compelled to come in. The combination reminds us of the millions that become followers of Christ - even if they do not have great honors or wealth.
Brenda had nothing and what she had was diminishing steadily. Nevertheless she always looked for ways to help and encourage them, and she saved money for their Christmas presents. She said, "I only have Jesus."
Brenda was there when we started Bethany Lutheran Church, using telephones and newsletters for distant members. Next came Ustream, which was phenomenal at that time, but we had to give $100 a month to keep the commercials away. We tried Vimeo with grief and tears but found out how Zoom worked.
The Apostolic Church worked through travel, preaching, and copying the Old and New Testaments. That was their media method, as Romans teaches so clearly.
KJV 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.
A lot of money was used to give LCMS-WELS-ELS a vacation. Thrivent should have sent their bishops along - about 60% women, 9 of the 66 bishops certified as gay. Slick Brenner would have heaved - his son was trained by Jesuits.
The executives have one thing in common - they hate the King James Version, but love every paraphrase that brings them money and promotes their error. Their beloved NIV makes money from every Universalistwindbag in the world - "Romans 3:24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."
The group suggests their flop-sweat is at its peak -
Glittering new buildings are now older and not wiser, a real drag.
They knew the student drop was coming - and it's here!
Two bordello-quality gyms are 30 miles away from each other.
All the cool new versions of everything printed have driven people away.
They reach out to Church Growth enthusiasts and fail as copy-cats.
Many of us saw it coming and very few acted on it.
27. According to this passage all that are wise, holy, rich and powerful, God has rejected, because they will not accept his Gospel; and the foolish, simple, and the most insignificant little lights, as Peter, Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew and the like, who were poor fishermen and needy beggars, whom he here calls the poor, the maimed, the lame and blind, are chosen, whom no one would have considered worthy to be the servants of the priests and princes of the people. These were left like dregs, and as Isaiah says, the dregs of the good costly wine; the best among the people, the priests, the leaders, the rich and powerful are cast out as a vessel of good wine, and the dregs alone are left, which the Lord here calls the poor, the lame, the maimed and the blind. These are promoted to grace and honor, so that they become acceptable to God and dear guests, because the others, the high and great people will not come.
28. What the Pharisee now says: “Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God”- to which Christ answers: Yes, blessed are they; but you and your followers are concerned about your farm and oxen. You speak of these things, therefore you shall know that a supper has been prepared, of which the poor shall eat, as the text says, Matthew 11:5, Pauperes evangelizantur, the poor have the Gospel preached to them. For the powerful, the saints, the wise do not want it, therefore it has come to pass that both priests and leaders have been cast away as the best wine, because they have held so firmly to their oxen, their land and their wives; and in their stead have been promoted the poor beggars, who came to the Gospel in this glorious supper.
