Party Poopers in the ELCA - Income Heading Down

HerChurch in California may be one reason for the decline in ELCA offerings.
Recent ELCA service - warning - you do not want to read it.
Goddess Rosary - leave that alone too.


ELCA NEWS SERVICE
August 4, 2010

ELCA Council Reduces 2010 Churchwide Spending, Acts on Pensions Resolutions


CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) revised the 2010 current fund spending authorization for the ELCA churchwide organization to $65.1 million, a mid-year reduction of $4.2 million or 6.1 percent from the previously authorized $69.3 million for 2010.

The council made the decision in open session during a rare conference call meeting Aug. 4. Much of the meeting was held in executive session to discuss background information on finances and personnel, plus an organizational design process and legal matters, said Carlos Peña, Galveston, Texas, ELCA vice president and chair of the council.

The council also formed an ad hoc committee to report to it about reductions in the ELCA Board of Pensions' annuity payments to retired church workers.

The current fund spending reduction for the remainder of 2010 did not result in position or personnel losses, said the Rev. M. Wyvetta Bullock, ELCA executive for administration. Most churchwide unit budgets were reduced between about 1 and 8 percent, according to figures supplied by the ELCA treasurer.

Bullock explained that contingency plans previously developed were used to reduce the 2010 spending authorization. Officers worked with ELCA partner organizations, the executive committee of the council and liaison bishops to the council to finalize the reductions. She said the church wants to maintain its commitment to such things as missionaries and new-start congregations, but the reductions "limit our capacity to increase these numbers."

Nearly all of the $4.2 million reduction was taken from anticipated mission support income provided to the churchwide organization by congregations through the church's 65 synods, said Christina Jackson-Skelton, ELCA treasurer. Through June 30, mission support income declined about $3.7 million or about 15 percent from the same period in 2009, she said.

Sixty synods have remitted 2010 mission support income "unfavorable" to the same period in 2009, according to information supplied to the council.

Mission support income has been in a period of decline since December 2008 after five years of relative stability, according to the council information. Though it is difficult to project mission support income accurately during such periods of economic volatility, the council was told that mission support income by the end of the 2010 fiscal year is expected to be about $51 million. In 2009 actual mission support to the churchwide organization was $59.7 million.

Decreases in mission support income have been caused by the economic instability that continues to affect all parts of the church, compounded by "some unfavorable responses to the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly actions on sexuality," the background materials stated.

Leaders of the ELCA churchwide organization have been spending below approved levels, and have engaged in ongoing financial contingency planning. The contingency planning process "will also continue to identify further reductions, if required," the background information said.

Council discusses redesign, forms ad hoc committee, hears update on congregations
Related to the churchwide organization's financial situation is an organizational redesign process announced by Bullock in a June 21 e-mail to staff. At that time Bullock wrote that the organization will create a plan to restructure the churchwide organization to align its work with anticipated income. The council discussed the plan's progress in executive session.

The council's other action established a representative ad hoc committee to respond to concerns raised by several synods this spring about reductions in annuity payments to retirees.

In 2009 the ELCA Board of Pensions informed some 12,500 plan members receiving benefits from the Participating Annuity and Bridge Fund that it would reduce monthly annuity payments by 9 percent annually over a three-year period. The fund suffered significant losses due to the financial downturn in late 2008 and early 2009, necessitating the reductions.

In response to resolutions from nine synods, the council asked the ad hoc committee to consult with the Board of Pensions to learn more about the decisions it made regarding the annuity and bridge fund. It also asked the committee to explore ways to restore fund losses and increase payments to annuitants and explore ways to mitigate the adverse effects of fund losses. The council asked for a report and possible recommendations at its November meeting.

ELCA Secretary David D. Swartling told the council that, as of Aug. 3, his office had been advised that 504 of 10,239 congregations have taken first votes to terminate their relationships with the ELCA. Of those, 348 passed and 156 failed. Synods have also reported that 212 congregations took second votes to leave the ELCA, of which 199 passed and 13 failed, he said.

Swartling added that of those congregations that have voted to leave, about 75 percent have said they will join Lutheran Congregations for Mission in Christ.

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8/4/2010
ELCA Church Council trims churchwide budget by $4.2 million

After spending two hours of a two-and one-half hour conference call meeting in closed session Aug. 4, the ELCA Church Council voted in open session to cut the churchwide 2010 current fund spending authorization by 6 percent, from $69.3 to $65.1 million. ELCA Treasurer Christina Jackson-Skelton reported that, through the end of June, 2010 mission support was down $3.7 million (a 15.2 percent reduction) from the same period in 2009.

Wyvetta Bullock, executive for administration, told the council that churchwide was still trying to hold its commitment to new starts and missionaries. "We're not recalling any missionaries," Bullock said, adding that there would be some impact on grants to seminaries and others.

Spread across a variety of churchwide units, the $4.2 million cut affects some more deeply than others: Vocation and Education, down $592,000 (6.28 percent); Global Mission, down $448,000 (3.34 percent); Evangelical Outreach and Congregational Mission, down $400,000 (2.23 percent); Development Services, down $331,050 (22.06 percent); Church in Society, down $131,000 (4.72 percent); and Multicultural Ministries, down $94,870 (7.73 percent).

In a separate action, in response to requests from nine synods, the council established an ad hoc committee to bring to the November 2010 council meeting a report and possible recommendations on ELCA Board of Pensions annuity funding, losses and "steps to mitigate adverse effects of the Fund reductions."

Rollover Incident

English 101 - Editor Edit Thyself

ptmccain

ALPB Contribution Leader

Posts: 642

Dustin

The women of the Concordia Deaconess Conference have had to fight every inch of their way for recognition, the previous admin virtually ignored them, in spite of all it's (sic) rhetoric about the service of women.

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GJ - Someone on ALPB pointed out that McCain was saying the Barry administration ignored the CDC, since the new one under Harrison has not started. I noticed the freshman English error of turning its into it's.

Someone added - "Nice catch, Jim. It is always fun to catch Paul "Word Master" McCain like that - it doesn't happen often. Well played!"

That is funny, because they missed the Word Master on basic English. I have decided to change the English language the same way. From now on, his will be hi's. I like that - hi's, he'r, and it's.

Abolutely! (another McCainism). Bad punctuation, too - but worthy of absolution since he has to tend so many blogs and Facebook pages.

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Dr. Jack Kilcrease has left a new comment on your post "English 101 - Editor Edit Thyself":

Wow, you really got him there!

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Post removed by Jack Kilcrease.

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bored has left a new comment on your post "English 101 - Editor Edit Thyself":

its to bad that people just belch out there thoughts without editting. (hint to gen Y and Z: the little red line under the word indicates your guilty of mispelling.) This seems like a good arguement that the addition of the internet (or all technology?) in contemporary life is a zero-sum game. Or maybe it's a testament to Newton's third law of Motion? (for every bit of knowledge the internet has made possible an equal amount of ignorance must also be propagated?)

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GJ - That is funny, Bored. But for real comedy, check out the Church and Money Changers' website. They never fix their mistakes, doctrinal or spelling.

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Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "English 101 - Editor Edit Thyself":

Comment deleted
This post has been removed by the author.

Looks like Jack was here early this morning.

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GJ -

McCain does not know basic English:

"I think the final wake-up call will be when the ELCA has it's (sic) first homosexually active bishop and when his/her ministry is specifically rejected by a pastor or congregation, appealing to "bound conscience" and having that appeal firmly rejected by ELCA leadership."

ALPB

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Warning: The ALPB Internet Forum May Be Hazardous to Your Mental and Spiritual Health

Some time back I recommended folks give the American Lutheran Publicity Bureau's online forum a try. I now need to withdraw that recommendation. The ALPB forum is very poorly moderated, and when the ELCA moderator actually ever does attempt to exercise some modicum of control, it is generally to slap wrists with a ruler for not being nice, which apparently in the ELCA is a sin far more serious than doctrinal heresy and moral bankruptcy. The forum has reached the point where it is no better than sites like LutherQuest. There are two very liberal ELCA pastors on the board who dominate every conversation to the point of destroying any possibility of reasonable conversation, one in particular is permitted by the site's moderators to question incessantly every major article of the Christian faith. It is a mess. It is actually a bit like watching a train wreck, it is so awful you can't take your eyes from it, but…you really should. I have, and feel much the better for it.

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GJ - McCain must love trainwrecks. Now we know why his mental health is impaired. He cannot stop posting on ALPB.

Who pays him to natter all day long across the blogosphere?

And again - today:

"The Church will simply say no and bear whatever consequences there may be for confession of the truth, there woll (sic) be churches willing simply to bow the knee to Baal ."

The Shrinker History of Plagiarism

The Church Growth Movement began in paganism, conceived in lust and born in iniquity.

Don McGavran, Disciples of Christ, borrowed his method from sociology.

When he moved to Fuller Seminary, his method was looking at large churches and copying how they reached that level of attendance. He formulated various "Church Growth principles" and maxims, all of them hilarious, even when cold sober.

The LCMS, WELS, ELS, and ELCA vanguard found themselves invited to Fuller to waste their synod's money on training. That is why all Shrinkers sound alike.

They were trained in copying the same craziness which intoxicated the earliest users.

Bivens, Kelm, Valleskey, and Stadler were out in California early and learning how to plagiarize.

Their buddy Floyd Luther Stolzenburg, thrown out of the LCMS ministry for cause, invented a Church Growth consulting scam (with Roger Zehms, also divorced), so everyone could copy the Schwaermer together.

The premise has been: "If it is a large church, a fast-growing church, then whatever they did will work for us if we do the same."

Parlow and Kelm were known for taking sermons from the Net, giving them as their own, and posting them on the parish website (Fox Valley, naturally) as their own. Once everyone found out, the sermons no longer appeared on the public site.

Ditto, the sermons at St. Peter Freedom (Anonymouse, fake Ichabod, aka Tim Glende). They no longer appear.

The head of WELS technology gave Willow Creek sermons verbatim, until he was exposed. Then he did it all over again. Who paid the price? The member who objected.

Nobody puts CG in the corner - in WELS.

All the cool ideas in WELS, ELS, Missouri, and even the CLC (sic) are plagiarized from the false teachers. They are copy cats, not cool cats. They are too dumb to alter titles enough to mask the origin. I have even tracked them copying graphics from various Schwaermer websites. Lazy, stupid, and false teachers.

The so-called conservative Lutherans have put up with this in the name of protecting the name of Holy Mother Synod. Which group is worse?
1. The false teachers trained at Fuller, Willow Creek, etc?
2. The pastors who mildly object to CG but run interference for the Shrinkers in the name of a smooth-running organization?
3. The minister who do not care and figure it is not their business that wolves are tearing up the flock from within?
4. The lay leaders who carry water for the Shrinkers, protecting the false teachers while getting rid of confessional ones?

Lutherans have planted a garbage tree and it has grown fast, producing garbage fruit with fertile seed.

The Ichaboat in Front of the Ich-abode

Our luxury touring car is a 1994 Lincoln Town Car, bought from John and Anna Dugger (Nineteen and Counting). He is the oldest Duggar child, so we got the newlyweds a baby shirt, for their first child. We had it embroidered "One and Counting."

LPC at Extra Nos thought it was funny that I called our house the Ich-abode. LI nicknamed the car the Ichaboat. As Freddy Finkelstein noted, driving one is like relaxing in the living room.

One of the readers suggested this car which he saw its description and photo on the Internet. Since September it has been almost paid off and only required one important repair. Going Galt (frugal) is much better than the old ways.

Either my eyes are just opened to Town Cars or this is the headquarters of the fan club. We see lots of them around town, and people gush about how much they like them.

I also call it our Geezermobile.

Groeschel Teaches How To Plagiarize Legally

I learned how to kelm at The Sausage Factory.

Kelmed from the Christian Research Network:

Sermon Copying: When The World Has More Integrity Than The Church

Published February 13th, 2009 by Tony Rose in Apologetics, Church Growth Issues, Church Growth Movement, Compromise, Convenient Preaching, General, Pragmatism, Purpose Driven, Seeker Sensitive

When it comes to matters of integrity and decency, the normal course of events it seems, is that the secular culture and the world often condones that which the church condemns. For example, when the world calls adultery an “affair,” justifies divorce without cause, or calls addictions “diseases,” it is then the church that holds its own people accountable to a higher standard of morality and has less toleration for a lack of integrity and morality.

Although we typically find the world celebrating sin and the church confronting it, there is one area where this seems to be reversed: Plagiarism.

When it comes to intellectual property, copying another person’s work, and presenting it as one’s own, the secular world has absolutely no room for toleration. However, the church too often fails to condemn the same behavior, and sometimes even boasts of its use!

Why?

Consider this, can you imagine a member of congress standing up and saying “Last night I was doing some research and 74% of …” when he didn’t, but was reciting another person’s experience? Or what about a CEO standing in front of his board of directors saying “I remember it like it was yesterday,” while every word he speaks is another person’s history? Or what about your child’s 6th grade English teacher grading a book report presentation that was actually memorized from another student’s report?
We all know what happens when people in the secular world behave this way. Last year, an aide to the president resigned. Ironically, a university was recently under fire for copying another school’s policy on, plagiarism. Even Oprah Winfrey has been embarrassed, twice, for endorsing books written by authors who have manufactured history. If this behavior was appropriate, why was Oprah embarrassed by it, and why was it a scandal in the secular press? How can it then be endorsed by those who claim the name of Christ, and be tolerated by churches who practice this deceptive behavior while claiming and even openly bragging about their churches being “authentic” and “genuine?”

So what exactly am I talking about, the reader might ask? Am I talking about a pastor who hears another pastor’s sermon and wants to share it with his congregation, uses the same outline and verse, and disclaims ahead of time what he is doing? While I think doing so should be rare, it isn’t what I am criticizing here. This post is also not concerned specifically with a pastor who reads another’s sermon aloud, and tells his congregation what he is doing. While that should be rare too, it isn’t what I am addressing in this post.

What I am focusing on is the use of the same sermon, the same text, the same examples, and the same experiences, even first person, as if they are one’s own.

Craig Groeschel, who gives his sermons away on the Internet for free says, “It isn’t plagiarizing if you’re given permission,” and also agrees that “just because it isn’t plagiarizing doesn’t always mean you shouldn’t give credit to others.”

While I agree with Pastor Groeschel’s definition, I think it is incomplete, because plagiarism, I believe, also includes the element of deception when a sermon is presented, because the expectation of the congregation, without being notified, is that the material is the speaker’s own work. Especially when examples, experiences, and testimonies are spoken in first person. Just because a pastor has permission to use someone else’s material, this doesn’t mean he is without responsibility to not compromise his integrity to his hearers by presenting the material to them as if it were the work of his own study and preparation.

When it comes to actual practice, Pastor Groeschel seems to agree with my expanded definition of the term, as demonstrated when he uses someone else’s material himself. He not only gets permission, but also is honest with his hearers regarding his usage of another source. Notice also that the consensus in the comments on Pastor Groeschel’s blog is that his doing so “is common courtesy and decency. AS WELL AS INTEGRITY.”

But what happens when a pastor, even with permission to use another’s material, doesn’t tell his congregation, and even claims the personal experiences as his own? Do we consider this to be acceptable in the church, when even the world rejects it?

Words can only explain this so far, consider watching the following examples to understand the full gravity of the question:

In this first example, watch Pastor Craig Groeschel’s introduction as he describes his VBS experience. The speaking starts around time marker 2:30 and his story concludes around the 5:00 mark:

• Example 1: You’re Watching: So You’re Dead… Now What? #2– Craig Groeschel
• Download Craig’s Text

Next, listen to Tadd Grandstaff, of Pine Ridge Church in Graham, NC, as he appears to use Pastor Groeschel’s material, as his own, in first person:

• Example 2: So You’re Dead – Part 3 of 3 – Tadd Grandstaff
• Download Tadd’s Text

So are we to believe that both of these men had the same experience, at the same age, with the same details, exactly as described in first person by both of them?

Both men had a neighborhood vacation bible school, when they were 8 years-old, sat Indian-styled in a circle in the driveway, ate the cookie, drank the Kool-Aid, both were the only one to raise their hand and be taken to the garage to be told the same thing, with the same intonation, both race home and hide in the closet and pray the same prayer, and both fall asleep in terror of the same thing, and praying the same thing? I’m serious! I don’t believe it!

Ok, it may be unpopular to say, but it seems to be that one of these men is lying to his congregation.
I am not certain who wrote or first preached the sermon. I assume Pastor Groeschel’s is the author since he is the one giving his material away for free. Perhaps one of them can share with us those details, and if they approve of the other’s use of their material in this manner?

But to the one who copied the other I ask, why not just show the video of the other guy? Why not tell the congregation he wrote it and tell the story in third person? Do people really believe God is using the copier as an oracle for His message, when he is deceptively claiming he “remembers it as if it was yesterday,” while in reality it never really happened in his own history?

Besides the blatant audacity of copying another person’s sermons and presenting them as your own material, while simultaneously claiming that “God has spoken to me, so plainly,” there is even more shocking aspects to this than first meets the eye.

For starters is the observation that there is no apparent shame in this by its proponents. In responding to similar criticism in the past, this practice is not denied, but bragged about and promoted. Steven Furtick says “if my bullet fits your gun, shoot it” as he boasts that everyone is really doing this, so it therefore must be justified. Gary Lamb, and Tadd Grandstaff of his famous “Stupid People” rant, call it “collaboration.” In the comments on Tadd’s blog, Gary mocks those who would dare question such methods. However, in claiming “collaboration” for the message both Tadd and Gary preached, neither chose to reveal that Perry Noble actually preached a very similar sermon earlier than either one of them! Did they “collaborate” with Noble too? If so, why not mention that at this time?
Furtick is correct to acknowledge that pastors share anecdotes, stories, and illustrations. However, pastors who have integrity quote their sources and give credit, or acknowledge another writer, even if the original writer is anonymous. He is simply wrong that most pastors do what these guys are doing! Most pastors certainly do not recite entire sermons as if they wrote them, nor do they quote specific detailed experiences as first-person testimony when the events really never happened to them. To do either is blatantly dishonest and out of line for a Christian, much less a pastor.

The second thing that deserves pointing out is what this type of “preaching” does to the image of preachers, Christians, and to the church, in the eyes of the unbelieving world. Moreover, when this point is contrasted against their own stated goals, the hypocrisy and inconsistency is glaringly obvious. For example, Tadd Grandstaff in his “I Hate Christians” message (which is eerily similar to chapter one of Craig Groeschel’s book Confessions of a Pastor) rants and rails about how traditional and orthodox churches have disenfranchised a demographic of our culture with their lack of genuine faith practice, lack of authenticity, and abundance of hypocrisy, and how it is the goal of his church to “reach” these people. There certainly is no denying that there are those who have had bad church experiences who need to be reached with the gospel, but is it ethical or even pragmatic to try to reach them with more lack of genuine faith practice, more inauthentic behavior, and more hypocrisy?

Unfortunately this practice is not new as a way to disgrace the pulpit. In this piece by Terry Mattingly, the Rev. Scott Gibson, director of the Center for Preaching at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, recalls an experience A. J. Gordon had in 1876, said,

“”This is not a new problem,” said Gibson. “Some people think the World Wide Web came along and suddenly you had thousands of pastors copying other people’s sermons with a few clicks of a mouse. But there has always been a lot of laziness out there.””

Mattingly continues,

“In his study, Gibson defines “plagiarism” as preaching someone else’s sermon research or content without giving public credit for it.”

The article continues to pontificate on the legitimacy of this practice and the burdens pastors face, but rightly concludes which behaviors should be considered appropriate, and which are over the line,

“But all preachers read and hear stories and insights that they want to share with their flocks. It makes a sermon more colorful to feature a quotation by an author “who simply says something better than you can,” … Attributing direct quotes also adds authority, especially when quoting figures such as Martin Luther, C.S. Lewis or Billy Graham.
This is safe territory. The danger is when pastors appropriate entire outlines or sermon texts and claim them as their own. Perhaps the strongest temptation is to personalize anecdotes that happened to other people.
But it only takes seconds, noted Gibson, for a preacher to cite the source of a story or to say something like, “I heard a great sermon on this biblical text by pastor so and so and I want to share some of his insights with you.”… It’s easy for preachers to play it straight, said Gibson. The question is whether many congregations have become so mesmerized that they will overlook plagiarism.“

Sadly he concludes, that,

“Some churches today just don’t care.”

Fortunately for some this is still considered a matter of integrity and taken seriously by those who esteem the Word of God. Pastor Lenny Stringer speaks of the views of Jim Donahue, president of the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California and a specialist in ethics,

“the use of sermons without attribution is fundamentally a credibility issue of the preacher. “The congregation has an implicit set of expectations about the minister, that there’s going to be trust, authenticity. If a preacher is not attributing his words, then a violation of that credibility occurs,” says Donahue. While Donahue agrees the message is more important than the messenger, he says any lack of credibility on the part of the preacher will “erode the quality of the interaction between the preacher and his congregation.”"

Another point that is commonly missed with this practice, is exactly who is getting robbed! Debates can go on and on about who’s copying whom, whether permission is being obtained or not, and regarding giving credit where it is due, but what about the congregation that is getting cheated? In this article by Doug Smith, Who’s Robbing Whom? Some Thoughts on Pulpit Plagiarism, he writes,

“And the interesting thing is that the people who suffer the most are not the people whose material is being used, but the people who are stealing it and the people who are having it fed to them.“

He goes on to list (and expound upon) five ways in which pulpit plagiarism robs pastors and congregations:

1. Pulpit plagiarism robs pastors and congregations of spiritual nourishment they can get only from someone who lives among them and labors in the text of Scripture.
2. Pulpit plagiarism robs pastors and congregations by discouraging consecutive exposition.
3. Pulpit plagiarism robs pastors and congregations by encouraging laziness.
4. Pulpit plagiarism robs pastors and congregations of a safeguard against false teaching.
5. Pulpit plagiarism robs pastors and congregations by rendering thieving preachers obsolete.

As I read through Mr. Smith’s article I was humored by his quoting Warren Wiersbe’s warning from page 226 of his book, Walking with the Giants,

“One young preacher was so taken with the sermons in a certain book that he decided to preach them as a series. What he did not know was that one of his members owned the same book and had read it. As the member left the service one Sunday, he said to his pastor, “That was a fine sermon this morning!” Then he added with a smile, “Next week’s is good, too!” The problem, of course, lies not with the character of the printed sermon but with the character of the preacher reading it.” (or citing it from memory)

What saddened me about this story was that the church member didn’t seem to mind, what humored me about it was that I’d had a very similar experience while discussing this issue with a member of Tadd Grandstaff’s congregation.

When I explained to the congregant that Tadd’s sermon “All In Life: What Are You Going All In For?,“ appeared to be taken from a study called Chase The Lion by Mark Batterson, which is based on his book, In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day, he claimed that he not only knew it, but had previously read the book himself, and recognized it when Tadd was preaching it as his own (ironically, this same sermon was preached a week before Tadd by Gary Lamb in “All In Living,”). Maybe I’m old school, but it is sad to me that this lack of integrity doesn’t bother some people any longer.

Fortunately, some churches and people still have enough concern over this issue that they regard it as a reason for a pastor to resign, as Calvary Church’s Glenn Wagnor did, after a congregant accidently stumbled upon his similar behavior.

In conclusion, there is obviously room for disagreement within the church over exactly how a pastor prepares a sermon. I personally believe a pastor should be spending time in God’s Word, praying over the text, and preparing what the Holy Spirit has to say to the church. There are others with whom I would disagree who believe a steady diet of shared, purchased, and downloaded outlines and Scripture texts is sufficient. We can have that disagreement and probably always will. However, the question I ask the reader in this article is: Have we sunk so far that we can no longer spend enough time in God’s Word to prepare original messages of God’s truth, relevant for today, without compromising the integrity of the pulpit? Does the gospel of Jesus Christ need this type of preaching in order to reach lost souls?

Thai Another One On

Moral has left a new comment on your post "Thai One On with Dave Kehl - Genius Advisor to the...":

update on the update:

it looks like Pasch did take the call he issued to himself; it just took two months to deliberate.

http://messenger.wels.net/pipermail/callrept/2010/002913.html

Many have heard of the recent political turmoil in Thailand. What didn't make the headlines over at CNN is the political coup staged by this committee within the WELS.

WELS Members Thought It Was Just a Problem in Appleton

Plagiarism Lines Blur for Students in Digital Age
By TRIP GABRIEL
Published: August 1, 2010


o

At Rhode Island College, a freshman copied and pasted from a Web site’s frequently asked questions page about homelessness — and did not think he needed to credit a source in his assignment because the page did not include author information.

Jessica Kourkounis for The New York Times

Sarah Brookover, left, a senior at Rutgers University in New Jersey, with Vibiana Bowman Cvetkovic, a reference librarian.
Cheat Sheet

Telling Right From Wrong

Articles in this series examine cheating in education and efforts to stop it.
Related

*
Cheat Sheet: Under Pressure, Teachers Tamper With Tests (June 11, 2010)
*
Cheat Sheet: To Stop Cheats, Colleges Learn Their Trickery (July 6, 2010)

Readers' Comments

Readers shared their thoughts on this article.

* Read All Comments (482) »

At DePaul University, the tip-off to one student’s copying was the purple shade of several paragraphs he had lifted from the Web; when confronted by a writing tutor his professor had sent him to, he was not defensive — he just wanted to know how to change purple text to black.

And at the University of Maryland, a student reprimanded for copying from Wikipedia in a paper on the Great Depression said he thought its entries — unsigned and collectively written — did not need to be credited since they counted, essentially, as common knowledge.

Professors used to deal with plagiarism by admonishing students to give credit to others and to follow the style guide for citations, and pretty much left it at that.

But these cases — typical ones, according to writing tutors and officials responsible for discipline at the three schools who described the plagiarism — suggest that many students simply do not grasp that using words they did not write is a serious misdeed.

Does This Sound Like Columbus, Ohio WELS?

BENNY HINN AND PAULA WHITE: COLLUSION OF RESPONSES

By Ken Silva pastor-teacher on Aug 2, 2010 in AM Missives, Current Issues, Features, Word Faith

Republished from Surph’s Side with permission:

The lawyers of Benny Hinn and Paula White sure have been busy coming up with a response they both could print. Unfortunately for them, it proves this has been a collusion and that they are orchestrating things together. Inspired by Ken Silva at Apprising Ministries, I decided to show “side-by-side” (blogspot won’t let me do side-by-side columns), their words which are nearly verbatim, with only minor differences. This is underhanded to manipulate their followers as well as the media. However Scripture says those of God do not use such tactics:

2Co 4:1 Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. 2 But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.

Both Hinn and White are not of Christ as their doctrines and practices prove. Therefore, collusion, underhandedness, demanding $2 million (to pay for this collusion?), is not a shock nor a surprise. Its just more proof they are false prophets/teachers and they are two birds of a feather.

The National Enquirer:
Paula White’s Response

Last Friday, the National Enquirer released a dishonest and misleading article which falsely characterized my friendship with Pastor Benny Hinn. The publication, which is known for its bias and slanting of the truth, tries to mislead readers regarding the ministerialrelationship and friendship I have had with Pastor Benny for over 20 years.

Benny Hinn’s response

As you may be aware, the National Enquirer recently released a dishonest and misleading article which falsely characterized my friendship with Paula White. The publication, which is known for its bias against religious figures, misleads readers regarding the ministerial friendship I have had with Paula White for over 20 years.

May’s taping of “This Is Your Day”:

Paula White

In late May of this year, I went to tape a “This Is Your Day” broadcast with Pastor Hinn.Although I had not seen him in years, the taping gave us the opportunity to catch up on what has transpired in both of our lives. As someone who also endured a painful and public divorce, I was able to offer him insight and spiritual encouragement. Since that time we have continued to talk and our friendship has grown stronger but has remained morally and spiritually pure.

Benny Hinn

In late May of this year, Paula White came to tape a This Is Your Day broadcast with me.Although I had not seen her for years, she was an encouragement to me and shared helpful advice out of her own painful experience. As a result, I will not deny that the friendship has strengthened, and, while it has remained morally pure at all times, I have enjoyed the company of someone who has also gone through the trauma of a painful and public divorce.
Forcefully renounce and not morally impure :

Paula White

I publicly profess and forcefully renounce assertions that the recent trip to Italy to meet with Vatican officials suggests that the friendship is in any way improper or morally impure.

Benny Hinn

And so I am writing to tell you today that I forcefully, categorically, and absolutelyrenounce the lies that have been spread about me and want to set the record straight with you. There is nothing inappropriate or morally improper about my friendship with Paula White.There has been no immorality whatsoever!

Traveled indepentantly and never alone:

Paula White

We traveled independently to the region for respective ministry duties and, while there,spent time together along with others. We were never alone and were in the constant company of staff and other associates.

Benny Hinn

The truth is that we traveled independently to the region for respective ministry duties….Paula was likewise invited to have meetings in the region, and, although we spent time together, we were never alone and were in the constant company of staff and family members.

The original appears at Surph’s Side with a comments section right here.

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Mrs. Hinn has her own ministry.

Here is Benny's shocked statement that his wife was leaving him and filing. They were living apart.

Fire on the kids - sick manipulation of the vulnerable.

Slo-mo knock downs.

Craig Groeschel Fact Page

How To Plagiarize Legally

Groeschel on Plagiarism

Screaming is a typical Reformed gimmick
to sell the Gospel, to be entertaining.
Intrepid Lutherans on Groeschel.
Craig Groeschel preaching.

Craig Groeschel and Andy Stanley (Babtist) often conduct Catalyst conferences together. This is a fairly recent one.

Groeschel was born in 1967 in Texas, grew up in Oklahoma, attended a Methodist university (Oklahoma City U.) and pursued a degree in marketing. He attended Philips Seminary, which is affiliated with the ultra-liberal Disciples of Christ, the denomination of Jim Jones and Donald McGavran.

He married Amy in 1991. They have six children.

He was a United Methodist minister in 1995 when the Oklahoma City bomb blew up the federal building and severely damaged the nearby church where he worked.

In 1996 he began a church in a two-car garage, apparently because his denomination did not want him to start a mission church. Like Hybels of Willow Creek, he began with a marketing survey. The church grew rapidly and became Life Church - with the URL of LifeChurch.tv.

The New York Times reported:
He set up a website for people to post "secret confessions," an idea copied by Pastor Ski at The CORE.

The Catholic Church noted this new trend started by Groeschel.

USA Today says:

"Of the USA's 100 largest churches, 67% now have two or more sites and 60% of the 100 fastest-growing churches also have multiple sites, according to the annual listings of the USA's largest churches in Outreach magazine's October issue."

The most innovative churches in America are:

· LifeChurch.tv (Edmond, OK) :: Craig Groeschel

· Mars Hill Church (Seattle, WA) :: Mark Driscoll

· Granger Community Church (Granger, IN) :: Mark Beeson

· Flamingo Road Church (Cooper City, FL) :: Troy Gramling

· Seacoast Church (Mt. Pleasant, SC) :: Greg Surratt

· Saddleback Church (Lake Forest, CA) :: Rick Warren

· Mosaic Church (Los Angeles, CA) :: Erwin McManus

· Fellowship Church (Grapevine, TX) :: Ed Young Jr.

· North Point Community Church (Alpharetta, GA) :: Andy Stanley

· Willow Creek Community Church (South Barrington, IL) :: Bill Hybels

· National Community Church (Washington, DC) :: Mark Batterson

One story says:

"Granger broke the rules when his church plastered mylamesexlife.com billboards around the local city, which stirred debate among Christians and a media storm. LifeChurch.tv went out of bounds when it launched the multi-site movement, which includes an internet campus for worship services. And Life Church's senior pastor, Craig Groeschel, broke the rules when he went into bars to meet "the sick" and tell them about Jesus."

Groeschel motto: "In order to reach those that no one else is reaching, we will have to do things that no one else is doing," he said.

Groeschel began as a United Methodist minister but is an Evangelical Covenant minister now. The Evangelical Covenant church is Pietistic and related to the Swedish Augustana Synod which merged into the LCA in 1962.

Groeschel's thoughts about the United Methodists can be found linked here.

He claims 21,000 in attendance each week.

He may not have been the first to promote multiple sites, but he is known for them now. He began using video when his fourth child was born and he could not lead services.

Blusterers for Christ Responds with the Usual Charm Offensive

Greetings:

There was a recent posting on your webpage called Building Better Prisons. There was information on the page that is false. The Builders For Christ program is not looking to build a church in Thailand. We were asked if we knew of anyone that might have interest in supervising the building of a small church. I supplied names of some individual that might have a interest. This is not a project of the Builders program. I would suggest that before you publish information that you check the facts instead of just running at the mouth. You not helping any when you have no idea what you are writing.

Building to His Glory,

Dale Mueller, Director

Builders for Christ

***

GJ - Nice to hear from you, Dale. I posted what someone heard, based on his extensive connections and thorough research. I reread the post. No concrete plans were announced. I believe the idea was to remind people of how much was spent on Prairie just before it was given away to the state.

The Shrinker faction forced WELS into an emergency purchase of the campus, a Catholic school far away from the WELS population.

The point is - WELS has wasted millions and is likely to waste even more.

I suggest reading all 4,000 posts on Ichabod before writing a caustic email message.

Lutheran Situational Awareness Test

Unbearable Dumbness of WELS -Minnesota District Holds Youth Rally in Appleton: Love-N-Ex Rules

Learn from the best.

I got out Google Maps and found that the concentration of WELS members in the People's Republic of Minnesota live far away from Appleton, Wisconsin, a circuit known for plagiarism, unionism, and the Popcorn Cathedral of Rock.

District youth rallies are normally hosted in the same district, simply because travel becomes a hardship and also a cost on top of room and board.

So why did this happen? This event is an example of solidarity among the Church and Money Changers. I imagine the two DPs got together and struck a deal to show WELS who was running the show.

Alternately, WELS members need to face the facts about the other administration. They voted for SP Schroeder, but a shadow government runs WELS - The Love Shack in Exile, or Love-N-Ex. The apostates pushed out of power are united in their lust to regain power, not that they have lost much. They all have plush salaries and positions - Kelm, Bruce Becker, and the rest.

Their odious lobby continues - Church and Change. When a few people got together for a cooperative blog, WELS had a collective hissy-fit and worried that I was involved.

I am guessing that Appleton is tottering from all the attention on this blog. This Minnesota road trip is a way to shore up their apostate friends and to prove the Love-N-Ex is in power, even though not officially in office. Elections are an adiaphoron. What matters most is what people do - what they believe, teach, and confess.

In Appleton, they confess Groeschel, Driscoll, Sweet, and Stanley.

Taxpayers Members are paying for this through their offerings.

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rlschultz has left a new comment on your post "Unbearable Dumbness of WELS -Minnesota District Ho...":

A government in exile (gov-n-ex) occurs when rulers have to physically move because of an invasion from the outside or an internal coup. The gov-n-ex takes residence with a nation that is sympathetic to them or perhaps has a symbiotic relationship with them. Here is the key: the gov-n-ex still makes the claim of legitimacy. They maintain that they are the duly elected or appointed leaders. Their hope is to physically move back to where they were once the craziness ends.

This would be the case with the Love-N-Ex. They consider their situation temporary. It is the drunken sailor three steps forward one step back scenario. It also gives them some feedback about what not to do. They may try to be even more underhanded and less brazen.

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bruce-church (https://bruce-church.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "Unbearable Dumbness of WELS -Minnesota District Ho...":

You got that right, the "Unbearable Dumbness of WELS," but for the wrong reason. If you are going all the way to Wisconsin for a youth rally, might as well have it at the Wisconsin Dells water parks. That would put the Arizona districts youth rally at the Wet N' Wild water park to shame!

http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2010/07/wels-youth-mystery.html

excerpt: We spent a day at the Wet N' Wild water park and enjoyed mixer games and devotions.

The Minnesota Youth Rally in Appleton WI web page is here:

http://www.welscyd.net/site/default.asp?sec_id=180000504

***

GJ -

Bruce, that would deny the teens their chance to tour the Thrivent home office in Appleton, aka LB-N-Ex.

Church Growth Slide Rule Shows How Close

What Is Wrong with Objective Justification and Subjective Justification?

But I read it in Christian News!

Les Baker has left a new comment on your post "Knapp's Portrait Contributed by...Someone":

Just a question:

When the terms SJ and OJ are used they seem to me to be the same as imputing of faith and atonement. (OJ and atonement being equal terms.) That is how I learned it from my pastor and how I continued to learn as I studied on my own.

"Words of Dr. E. W. A. Koehler (A Summary of Christian Doctrine, Second Edition, p. 149): “Justification is that forensic” (judicial) “act of God, by which He, on the basis of the perfect vicarious atonement wrought by Christ, declared the whole world to be justified in His sight (objective justification), and transmits and imputes the effect of this declaration to all whom He brings to faith by the work of the Holy Ghost through the means of grace (subjective justification).”

Can you explain to me how this is incorrect? My son led me to your blog 2 days ago and we have been discussing this issue. He seems to agree with your view, but while talking about it it sounds the same as what I have listed above.

Thanks for your answer.

Les Baker

***

GJ - The key phrase is "declared the whole world to be justified in His sight," which is a bit milder than many formulations.

The essence of UOJ or OJ is the entire world being absolved of sin. Do you believe that Adolf Hitler, Stalin, Mao, and Judas Iscariot have the status of guilt-free saints?

One problem is "already forgiven," as the Brief Confession of Missouri says. When you were born, were you already forgiven? If so, why were you baptized?

If the entire world is already forgiven, how is that different from Universalism? In fact, ELCA teaches the exact same concept of the Gospel.

The Atonement means that Christ has paid for the sins of the world. Atonement is not justification, just as baptism is not communion, even though both are sacrament.

The Atonement is the Gospel message, the treasure. As Luther and the Book of Concord say, the treasure lies in one heap until distributed by the Holy Spirit in the Means of Grace.

There is no justification without faith. Unbelievers remain under the wrath of God. In faith they receive the Gospel promises and are declared forgiven.

If you thought OJ was synonymous with the Atonement, you were like me and many others. I know Syn Conference pastors who thought that is what OJ was - the Atonement.

Here the Gospel in a few simple steps.

Robert Preus once taught UOJ, but he repudiated it in his last book, Justification and Rome.

God's forgiveness is grace, and that grace only comes to us through the Means of Grace. To claim grace without the Means of Grace is Enthusiasm, which is roundly condemned in the Book of Concord.

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Scott E. Jungen has left a new comment on your post "What Is Wrong with Objective Justification and Sub...":

Thank you, thank you! Now I understand what UOJ is all about. Thank you for spelling it out so simply. Remember, I'm WELS trained so it took me a little longer to get it!

***

GJ - Support of UOJ is crumbling, Scott. One reason is that WELS stepped into it during the Kokomo Statements crisis, then refused to deal with their error, for fear of exposing the non-infallibility of the sect. Those who advocate UOJ do so from bluster, not from doctrinal arguments or exegesis.

Walther was right about this - error has to be exposed first. Hiding it away is not the same as making it go away.

Building Better Prisons

Do not question the WELS papacy.
The Holy Spirit does not allow them to err.

bruce-church (https://bruce-church.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "Thai One On with Dave Kehl - Genius Advisor to the...":

Builders for Christ has been looking to build a church somewhere in Thailand, if it hasn't already been started. That would be like the WELS, though, building a nice new building and then leaving. The WELS is like the Boy Scouts and always leaves an area better than it found it. For example, the Prairie du Chien state detention facility has a first-class music facility thanks to the WELS.

***

GJ - Bruce is referring to the $500,000 music building which was added to Prairie when WELS was already going to close it.

The president of NWC was shocked when he solicited a large gift for a library building at Watertown: WELS demanded the 10% fee for Planned Giving. Yes, the Tetzels get a commission, just like the parish consultants and WELS stewardship consultants. He said, "I got the gift, why surrender the fee?" WELS demanded it anyway.

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bruce-church (https://bruce-church.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "Building Better Prisons":

Your caption is right. The relentless use of the 8 and 18 switch is really just a back door method of claiming infallibility. The pope is saying right now, "If only the RCC had gone about it the way the WELS has, it would have saved us a lot of trouble." But just as infallibility has led the RCC to become corrupt and led it deeper into heresy, the same goes for the incorrigible WELS. Infallibility is why there's never been a serious study of UOJ and where it really came from exactly.

The Ninth Sunday after Trinity

By Norma Boeckler

The Ninth Sunday after Trinity

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

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

Bethany Lutheran Church, 10 AM Central Time


The Hymn # 628 Shepherd of Tender Youth 3:74
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 #283 3:90
Strange Parable
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 # 50 Lord Dismiss Us 3:86

KJV 1 Corinthians 10:1 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat; 4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. 5 But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. 6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.

KJV Luke 16:1 And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. 2 And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward. 3 Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed. 4 I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. 5 So he called every one of his lord's debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord? 6 And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. 7 Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore. 8 And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light. 9 And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.

Ninth Sunday After Trinity
Lord God, heavenly Father, who hast bountifully given us Thy blessing and our daily bread: We beseech Thee, preserve us from covetousness, and so quicken our hearts that we willingly share Thy blessed gifts with our needy brethren; that we may be found faithful stewards of Thy gifts, and abide in Thy grace when we shall be removed from our stewardship, and shall come before Thy judgment, through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.

Strange Parable

This parable is the strangest of all parables, but we have to look at the intentions of Jesus.

A lot of people clustered around Jesus for the benefits. Enormous crowds followed Him, but they left the moment He said something they did not like. One example is in John 6, when they said, “This is a hard saying. Who can listen to it?” And they left.

Jesus often questioned their motivation, since they liked the mass feedings and the miracles.

Therefore, the parables were designed only for believers to understand. When an unbeliever hears this parable, or if someone listens to it superficially, it is a complete puzzle.

The plot itself is rather simple. The manager of the estate has done a poor job, so he is going to be fired. To provide for himself, he goes to those who owe his master money and lowers their bills, making them his friends. We expect the master to imprison the steward for costing him money, but he commends the steward instead. If that is not confusing enough, Jesus offers the unjust steward as an example for believers – for the children of light.

How do we make sense of this – Make friends for yourself of unrighteous mammon, so that when you fail, they may receive you into the everlasting habitations?

Anyone can say, without being contradicted, that the church leaders of today have been unjust stewards of the treasures they were given. Unjust is another word for unrighteous.

The squandering of the treasure is obvious. ELCA comes to mind first, especially if someone has read the classics from the 19th and 20th centuries, all from ELCA pioneers: Reu, Jacobs, Krauth, Lenski, et al. My wife and I were talking about the congregation and pastor I worked for in Kitchener, Ontario. He was so conservative and liturgical by today’s standards that he could not get a call in most areas of WELS, Missouri, or the ELS. But, after 40 years, that same congregation is conducting homosexual weddings and already had an Anglican bishop as an interim pastor.

WELS, Missouri and the mini-micro synods want to use ELCA to make themselves look good, but they have squandered just as much, with the same speed. My first visit to a Missouri church took place in high school – a matter of curiosity for those of us who had never been to one. We met at a school gym and used the 1941 hymnal, which was very much like the one we used. At our allegedly liberal LCA congregation, youth meetings consisted of using the hymnal to learn liturgical services like Vespers and to sing Lutheran hymns. The ministers wore liturgical robes (not Geneva academic gowns) and sometimes chanted.

Now Missouri and WELS think youth gatherings should be as pagan as rock concerts. In fact, they are rock concerts and the rock n roll has moved into the Sunday service itself.

Thus far the parable. The wealth has been squandered. In the Bible, wealth is primarily the spiritual treasures of the Gospel, since money is a small matter to God.

The spiritual treasures have been squandered to such an extent that frauds either promote Roman Catholic or Fuller doctrine and call themselves “confessional Lutherans.” My Shelties know more about Lutheran doctrine than the DPs and seminary professors, so the frauds all promote one another and praise one another, world without end, Amen.

So what should we do, according to the parable? Even a bad, lazy, crooked steward knows what to do. He makes friends with that same mammon (money) he has squandered. He was foolish before but now he is wise. They will take him in when he is fired from his stewardship, because he has befriended them.

Jewish reasoning is often from the minor to the major. In other words, if this bad steward can figure it out, so should the believers – but they are often foolish.

Jesus never said, “Be crooked and wily.” He said, “Be as wise as serpents and as innocent as doves.”

So, if an unjust steward can figure this out, why not follow him in his cleverness?

People long for the power and money of the established churches. But what they do have is far more powerful. They have the free use of the Word and many ways to spread that Word of God for free.

A few people have noticed that it is possible to communicate with 20,000 people for free, all over the world, when others spend millions to do the same thing.

This is one way to make friends in the best sense, to unite people according to their faith in the Word of God.

It is strange that everything gets turned upside down. Money itself has only short-term use and has no eternal value. The treasure of the Gospel is a blessing now and in eternity.

When we help people out, we often complain, “We did not get any thanks for it or even a returned favor.” That is really a barter situation, not a gift. If I get a returned favor or thanks, I am not truly giving something away, whether it is my time or something with monetary value.

This parable teaches, “Make friends with money and they will speak for you when you get to heaven.” (Luther) I see this as encouragement to think of those who receive from us as our defense lawyers when we reach Judgment Day. The New Testament has an odd way of balancing faith alone and those good works which follow faith. The good works are a visible testimony to our faith. They do not add to, do not complete faith (as the papalists teach). It is a matter of order.

The situation will be reversed in many cases. There will those who reach Judgment Day who have been honored by the visible church for funding all their buildings. But if they broke up their own families and others, if they lied and cheated people through life, will God be impressed with their honorary doctorate from Fleabit College? Who will speak for them? The apostate church leaders will already be on slow roast.

The early Christians took note of the advice given by Jesus. They had nothing and were nothing, but they spread the Gospel throughout the world. They used hospitality the way we use the Internet today. They had secret signals, like the fish. Deprived of great marble temples, they used the tombs below ground. Persecuted, they took the Gospel to new places. Imprisoned, they preached to their jailers (see Acts) and baptized them. Slain, they died in peace in front of raging beasts, shaking pagan Rome to The CORE.

Thai One On with Dave Kehl - Genius Advisor to the WELS Feminist Conference

Church and Money Changers rule the roost.

Moral has left a new comment on your post "Church Growth in WELS":

update on Thailand:

while the two missionary positions were eliminated for "budget cuts," a WELS church has been able to go Galt and independently support missionary Meister.

This is bad news for the Thailand mission committee, consisting of Dave Kehl and Ken Pasch. So much so that they decided to call one of their own (Ken Pasch) to be the Thailand Mission Coordinator, while the Meisters are still in Thailand.

Pasch, by the way, doesn't have over ten years of language, culture, and relationships like Krohn. Pasch, by the way, doesn't have over 17 years of Thai language, culture, and relationships like Meister.

Corporate America take note: I haven't seen a hostile takeover go down like this in years. All the while, the committee can claim to be doing the will of God.

Hit me with the 8 and 18 bait and switch in 5...4...3...2...1...
(but if you do, please demonstrate to me where I am in error).

***

GJ - Richard Starr was head of the Brazilian Church Growth experiment, but he never learned Portuguese. The issue is doctrinal fidelity (to Fuller) not language ability. One day they will post a brass plaque at the mattress room entrance to note that.

Church and Money Changers Sell You the Shovel To Dig Your Own Grave

Ex-Sp Gurgle and Patterson should conduct a synod-wide workshop on stewardship,
with the freewill offering going to hunt kudu deer and zebras.

rlschultz has left a new comment on your post "July Page Views For Ichabod":

It still astonishes me how so many look up to the Church and Money Changers. What is worse is that anyone would pay them to tell you how to dig your own grave. In fact, you even have to buy the shovel from them. Presently, many of them are running scared. With a minimum of 37,000 page views on Ichabod just last month, their gig may soon be up. Because of their laziness, few of them could work in the real world. Our teenage daughter just started her first job in the real world. She has already commented about eight hour work days. She will learn persistence just by going to work every day. It is not hard work to oppose the Church Shrinkers. The Holy Spirit working through the Word does the work. Luther commented that sometimes, it will take 20 years to see results. Opposing the Shrinkers may get you funny looks. That is a small price to pay for defending the faith. In this case, the opposite to the Church and Money Changers laziness may be having just one Luther moment and staying with it.

July Page Views For Ichabod

37,000+ page views in the month of July, anno domini 2010.

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Persistence is the key. I look at my list of blogs and see relatively few updates. Aristotle said, "Patience and courage are so closely related that one is either the mother or sister of the other."

The Church and Money Changers are lazier than a trust fund kid. They cannot even invent their own false doctrine. They have to borrow it from Fuller, Willow Creek, Groeschel, Granger Community, Trinity in Deerfield, Mars Hill, Northpoint, and Leonard Sweet's Space Academy.

Outproducing them is no problem.