Speaking of Colleges - A Lutheran College with a Drag Show.Not MLC! ELCA's Wartburg College

My classmate Stan Olson is the new seminary president at Wartburg. 






Learn more about the Presidential Inauguration.
 

This is a show not to be missed!
Have you ever seen a guy do a back flip in stiletto heels? Now you will! Wartburg's annual cabaret/drag show has become a phenomenon in Northeast Iowa. About 700 people attended the performance in 2010. The show brings in professional drag queens and kings from around the state of Iowa and also features students, faculty, and staff performers. Admission is only $5 for community members and $2 for students. The proceeds go to the Wartburg Alliance organization to cover the cost of the production and some select charities, should there be more funds raised than needed for production costs..

All Wartburg students, faculty, and staff are invited to perform in the show
If you are interested in performing in the next cabaret/drag show, please e-mail alliance@wartburg.edu. If you are nervous about performing by yourself, feel free to get a group together. We encourage you to be creative. Add some choreography; choose some fun music that will get the crowd into it. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.

We invite members of other colleges to perform in our show!
Starting in 2008, we began the tradition of allowing students and community members from other colleges in Iowa to perform in our cabaret/drag show. If you are interested in representing your school at this year's performance, please complete the following forms below. Please e-mail them to alliance@wartburg.edu. Let us know if you are in need of our help in arranging lodging if you plan to stay in Waverly that night.

• Drag Performer Registration Form (DOC)
• Performer Liability/Hold Harmless Agreement Form (DOC)
• Directions to Campus and Map

Last year's shindig:

ELCA College Holds Annual Drag Show 10/12/2010

2 Comments

 

Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa is an ELCA school. On March 20, 2010, they hosted Wartburg College's 5th Annual Drag Show. "The show brings in professional drag queens and kings from around the state of Iowa and also features students, faculty, and staff performers." (see here)

The Drag Show takes place on campus at Neumann Auditorium (see here) and is sponsored by Wartburg Alliance, which describes itself as ". . . a student-run organization that seeks to generate awareness about LGBT issues and advocate for more inclusive environments on campus, locally, and nationally." (see here)

A blogger in attendance during this year’s drag show said the star performer was Serena Michaels, otherwise known as Miss Gay Iowa 2010. (read here)

Here are links to pictures from the event -

-  Picture 1

-  Picture 2

-  Picture 3

-  Picture 4

-  Picture 5

-  Picture 6

An ELCA college hosting drag shows for their student body, as well as inviting the attendance of the local community, should not be a surprise. When the parent denomination is rewriting God’s Word and encouraging people to remain in sin, how can one expect the schools they run to uphold Christian values?

Wartburg College student programming - God’s money - your tithes, gifts and tuition at work.

***

GJ - Don't act shocked WELS.

Your MLC gay video is still playing on YouTube and Facebook.

People should ask themselves why they bother to pay Doctrinal Pussycats and the Synod President. The ELCA pastors and members left over this kind of rubbish, but WELS promotes it.

MLC Going For-Profit?:You Heard It Here First.Ba-zing.

I watch the online, for-profit university scene. I work for two of them and know one of their junior executives.

No one has given me this scenario. I have constructed it from what has happened to several other small colleges.

A degree is worthless unless it is accredited by one of the national associations. The University of Phoenix began with a struggle over its status. Sperling's dream succeeded so quickly in California that the professionals yanked its accreditation. Sperling picked up and went to Phoenix, where a different association prevailed and gave its blessing. The last I heard, UOP had 400,000 students.

That accreditation is worth $10 million in time and money. Failing colleges (even MLC!) have that status, in most cases. It allows for student loans and credibility in the job market. Online corporations buy the school for the accreditation, plus some decaying buildings and a musty library.

For-profit corporations look for failing, accredited colleges. They buy them, keep them going as a local campus, spend money on them, and branch out with online programs. They can do business in any state that allows them to operate. The libraries are online, too.

I would be shocked if no one has approached MLC for a sale. In my scenario, it would be a win for both sides. The school would be deployed elsewhere, as planned, with plenty of cash in the kitty. They would take the much-abused Sprinter statue along. The Luther statue would stay, since the school would be more Lutheran once the Fuller faculty departed.

The New Ulm campus would remain as a local college, with a possible name change, such as Marvin's Little College, but most of the students would be online. Online students would provide most of the cash flow. Many people like the idea of having a school with a real campus, even if they never visit it.

They might even keep the name of the college. That has happened with several denominational colleges, even though they cut their church ties. I can think of three church colleges where the name stayed the same. A fourth would have happened, but the state got angry with onlines and prevented the sale. The college (Dana - where our college band once visited) closed down.

The Burden of Being Wrong Most of the Time

grumpy has left a new comment on your post "Lookee Here - They ARE Selling the Love Shack":

Dr. Jackson,

Not even a small "zing" on this one is merited.

Headquarters is NOT a college, seminary, or prep. It does not remotely have the same emotional power of an educational institution.

If anything, the sale of HQ only STRENGTHENS the argument that the colleges/preps/seminary are SAFE, at least for the next 5 years.

Now, THAT deserves a BA-ZING-OOOO !!!

Grumps

***

GJ - You gave good reasons for the dissolution of the schools taking longer, Grumpy.

Here is the other side

:
1. Schools are money pits, demanding large sums for basic repairs and maintenance, a critical problem when enrollment declines.
   
2. The tuition bill has gone from reasonable to pricey, but the educational content has declined to substandard Babtist. Why not go to Wheaton for a quality Baptist education?
   
3. Three WELS/ELS colleges are within a day's drive, so the old monopoly or single-purpose school is gone. Long ago: guys only went to NWC. Teachers only went to MLC. Bethany was just a junior college for the ELS and the Preus family. WLC was not beefed up with Schwan indulgence money.
   
4. Gustavus Adolphus (ELCA) is not far from MLC. An ELS leader's daughter went to GA instead of MLC or Bethany - for music!
   
5. WELS has already made plans to divide up MLC, and I was not on that committee - just reporting the facts.
   
6. WELS has been trying to close Michigan Lutheran Seminary since 1992 or earlier. Gurgle and Wayne Mueller really turned up the heat to boil the frog.
   
7. Mequon is also targeted for possible liquidation.

Previous power plays have reduced school loyalties. WELS got rid of Mobridge long ago. They got rid of the New Ulm prep by "moving" it to Prairie, where it could not survive, wasting a ton of money. The locals created their own area high school to replace what was on the New Ulm campus, dividing loyalties and killing the market for Prairie. But Prairie had to have music building for .5 million to 1 million bucks - while discussing its sale as a prison.

The lying went into overdrive to get rid of Northwestern College in Watertown. The NWC alumni were not allowed to vote on it. School loyalty got a thrashing there. NWC moved to New Ulm, where the faculty got neutered and filled with estrogen. Instead of two tracks, as promised, MLC merged all training.

The convention vote was a lie, too, since it failed. The vote counting committee reversed the total and said it passed narrowly. Gurgle next insisted that the districts all ratify the lie because the contracts had already been signed! So the lemmings approved the lie. Gurgle also spent $30 million on this cost-saving merger, when he said it was only $8 million.

The money blown that I know about would be enough to start another synod. Oh wait, two synods have started during this time, rather than turn to the doctrinal orthodoxy (ha) of WELS.

Moving NWC to New Ulm meant leaving a good job market (Milwaukee area) for a horrible one (New Ulm/Comfrey).

Moving NWC also meant that the future pastors could watch the future male teachers go out and party while they stayed in to keep up with Greek and Hebrew. Teachers have much easier requirements.

School loyalty means a lot, serving to draw the big donations. Marvin Schwan is proof of that. He went to Bethany when it was a clapboard little junior college, barely able to furnish tp in their outdoor johns.

WELS knows how to kill that loyalty, wherever and whenever possible. MLS was once called The Plywood Palace for its shabbiness. As president, John Lawrenz expressed his willingness to end MLS as a prep, right in front of the convention.

Lawrenz said on the convention floor, when MLS was fighting for its life, "We are willing to accept whatever role the synod gives us."

So much for "We are the synod." No - they are the synod. The Church and Changers are the synod, so sit at the back of the bus and spit on those shoes when you shine them.

But now I will voice the opinions of two readers. Both think the primary problem of WELS is the educational system, starting with the parochial schools. They think the entire system should be dismantled. The system of hazing turns its graduates into brain-washed robots who will accept anything and tell any lie to cover for classmates.

Universalism in WELS

Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Michelle Bachmann Is No Longer WELS":

Grumpy, I was looking up (W)ELS doctrinal statements on the role of women and ran across this on their Synod website which, lo and behold, declares Universal Justification and Salvation. (W)ELS laity need to get engaged before it's too late.

Why do most confessional Lutherans choose to limit leadership and authority roles in congregations to men?

We do believe and teach that men and women enjoy equal status and importance before God. Both men and women were created in the perfect holiness of the image of God (Genesis 1:27). Although that was lost in the fall into sin when as both men and women we became equally sinful before God (Romans 3:23), yet in Christ's life, death, and resurrection for us God has restored to us our position as his justified and holy children (Romans 3:24). As far as our status and importance before him as dearly loved children and heirs of heaven, whether we are female or male makes absolutely no difference (Galatians 3:26-29).
http://www.wels.net/about-wels/doctrinal-statements

***

GJ - The Wisconsin sect begins with Enthusiasm, divorcing the Holy Spirit from the Word, by embracing universal absolution.

Luther warned that foul errors would rush in when the Means of Grace are denied. WELS is a good example of that happening.

Thank you, Brett, for providing more evidence of WELS Universalism, not to mention Holy Mother Synod's creative dogma, which lacks any Biblical foundation.

Michelle Bachmann Is No Longer WELS

Greg,

You should know that Bachmann left her WELS congregation quite a while ago already – months, if not a year or more. Now belongs to some “community” or non-denom. congregation in the area. (Yeah, I know, like, what’s the difference anymore. True enough.)

And she said the reason she left WELS was because of their teaching on the Antichrist. At least she’s honest.

Referring to this Ichabod post kelmed from another source.

Satire? Or Really Loutish?

Here is the link.

I like satire, especially when I see how hard the synods work to provide a daily dose for me to publish. However, I do not think this is funny.

March 25th is Annunciation Day, so the nitwits who publish this thought they could make hay.

I cannot wait until Easter, can you?

The Bachmann Record - How Bachmann's Church Believes Catholics Follow AntiChrist.Ex-WELS Presidential Candidate

The Bachmann Record - How Bachmann's Church Believes Catholics Follow AntiChrist

Bachmann is a member of Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church. 1 The Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church is a member of the Twin Cities area WELS Churches. 2 '"WELS" is the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. 3 The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod's doctrine is that the Roman Catholic Papacy is the Anti-Christ. Here is a quote from their web page ("Statement on the Anti-Christ"): "We reject the idea that the teaching that the Papacy is the Antichrist rests on a merely human interpretation of history or is an open question. We hold rather that this teaching rests on the revelation of God in Scripture which finds its fulfillment in history. The Holy Spirit reveals this fulfillment to the eyes of faith (cf. The Abiding Word, Vol. 2, p. 764). Since Scripture teaches that the Antichrist would be revealed and gives the marks by which the Antichrist is to be recognized (2 Th 2:6,8), and since this prophecy has been clearly fulfilled in the history and development of the Roman Papacy, it is Scripture which reveals that the Papacy is the Antichrist." Another quote from the same web page: "And we make this confession in the confidence of hope. The Antichrist shall not destroy us but shall himself be destroyed—“Whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming (2 Th 2:8)." 4 During a televised debate sponsored by WCCO, Bachmann vehemently denied that it was her church's position that the Roman Catholic Pope was the Anti-Christ. Here is a transcription: Pat Kessler of WCCO: We'll start with Senator Bachmann. Religion and politics that has crept into this campaign over and over again. The Minneapolis-based Star Tribune reports today, Senator, that the church you belong to is affiliated with the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, which, it says, regards the Roman Catholic pope as the Anti-Christ. Is this true, do you share the views of your church, and why should any Catholic in the Sixth District vote for you if it is true? Bachmann: Well that's a false statement that was made, and I spoke with my pastor earlier today about that as well, and he was absolutely appalled that someone would put that out. It's abhorrent, it's religious bigotry. I love Catholics, I'm a Christian, and my church does not believe that the Pope is the Anti-Christ, that's absolutely false. 5 1. http://www.salemlutheran.org/ 2. http://www.salemlutheran.org/ 3. http://www.wels.net/cgi-bin/site.pl? 4. "Statement On The Anti-Christ" http://www.wels.net/cgi-bin/site.pl?2617&collectionID=795&contentID=4441&shortcutID=5297 5. http://wcco.com/video/?id=20927@wcco.dayport.com

---

Update from EastCoast:

Greg,

You should know that Bachmann left her WELS congregation quite a while ago already – months, if not a year or more. Now belongs to some “community” or non-denom. congregation in the area. (Yeah, I know, like, what’s the difference anymore. True enough.)

And she said the reason she left WELS was because of their teaching on the Antichrist. At least she’s honest.

Lookee Here - They ARE Selling the Love Shack

MLC is next. Ba-zing.

A parish bulletin announced that WELS is definitely selling The Love Shack. I hope they preserve, as a sacred relic, the divider that Ron Roth hid behind when Slick Brenner came to see him.

Ichabodians will recall my post about the WELS headquarters being sold, long ago, which was countered by an angry--albeit anonymous--rebuttal.

Similar responses have come from my reporting that Mary Lou College will be divided up by Willowcreek's Liberal College and the Watertown campus. They probably want to keep the "Martin Luther" title, for the sake of irony. No school does more for Methodobapticostal religion than MLC. The school will need a nickname.

Luther-ex would be good, because that name would capture the spirit of the school (ex-Lutheran). It would also remind people that WELS is really the womb of Seminex, with Watertown's Jungkuntz as the honored leader and martyr of that movement.

Jungkuntz later upgraded his status to proto-ELCA, decrying the loss of status of teachers, since his father had been an honored and respected parochial school teacher.

Martin Marty, another apostate, issued a similar jeremiad about the loss of respect for teachers.

Returning to the subject, The Love Shack needed selling while it still had some residual value. Good luck with MLC. That $8 million cathedral will overwhelm a State of Minnesota prison.

You can tell any lie anonymously in WELS, if you say, "I heard it on the grapevine."

Love Wins: a case of ‘Robbellion’? « Churchmouse Campanologist.Rob Bell, Endorsed and Promoted by WELS

Love Wins: a case of ‘Robbellion’? « Churchmouse Campanologist

Love Wins: a case of ‘Robbellion’?

March 24, 2011 in Calvinism, Evangelical, heresy, Protestant | Tags: Bible, Christian Universalism, Christianity, emergent church, Evangelical, God, heresy, Jesus, Love Wins,Protestant, Rob Bell

Today’s graphic comes courtesy of Pastor Ken Silva from Apprising Ministries, based on an idea from Sola Sisters.

Read more here.

***

GJ - Read a first-hand account of WELS First VP promoting Rob Bell for college students.

Wayne Mueller was replaced by James Huebner in the First VP slot. The Wisconsin sect sent Huebner, Larry Olson, and Paul Calvin Kelm to Fuller Seminary to be trained as "consultants." If you can find any evidence that the trio is Lutheran, please send the quotation and a citation where people can look that up for themselves.

Earlier it was the policy for WELS to require all graduates of The Sausage Factory to return a year later for a thorough brain-washing by the same trio: Huebner, Olson, Kelm.

The same trio offered a required seminar for ALL WELS pastors, around 1992. The spineless lemmings lined up to pay $100 plus for the seminar. When asked about going, I said, "If you hold a machine gun to my head, I will."

Northern Lights

The Aurora from Terje Sorgjerd on Vimeo.

Don’t Make Christ into a Moses - Brom Gnesio, A Great Source for Lutheran Quotations, And Walther As Well

Don’t Make Christ into a Moses

Don’t Make Christ into a Moses

Theology

…at its briefest, the Gospel is a discourse about Christ, that he is the Son of God and became man for us, that he died and was raised, that he has been established as a Lord over all things. This much St. Paul takes in hand and spins out in his epistles. He bypasses all the miracles and incidents [in Christ's ministry] which are set forth in the four Gospels, yet he includes the whole Gospel adequately and abundantly. This may be seen clearly and well in his greeting to the Romans [1:1-4], where he says what the Gospel is, and declares, “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the Gospel of God which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, the Gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and designated Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,” etc.

There you have it. The Gospel is a story about Christ, God’s and David’s Son, who died and was raised and is established as Lord. This is the Gospel in a nutshell. Just as there is no more than one Christ, so there is and may be no more than one Gospel….

Yes even the teaching of the prophets, in those places where they speak of Christ, is nothing but the true, pure, and proper Gospel-just as if Luke or Matthew had described it. For the prophets have proclaimed the Gospel and spoken of Christ, as St. Paul here [Rom. 1:2] reports and as everyone indeed knows. Thus when Isaiah in chapter fifty-three says how Christ should die for us and bear our sins, he has written the pure Gospel. And I assure you, if a person fails to grasp this understanding of the Gospel, he will never be able to be illuminated in the Scripture nor will he receive the right foundation.

Be sure, moreover, that you do not make Christ into a Moses, as if Christ did nothing more than teach and provide examples as the other saints do, as if the Gospel were simply a textbook of teachings or laws. Therefore you should grasp Christ, his words, works, and sufferings, in a twofold manner. First as an example that is presented to you, which you should follow and imitate. As St. Peter says in I Peter 4, “Christ suffered for us, thereby leaving us an example.” Thus when you see how he prays, fasts, helps people, and shows them love, so also you should do, both for yourself and for your neighbor. However this is the smallest part of the Gospel, on the basis of which it cannot yet even be called Gospel. For on this level Christ is of no more help to you than some other saint. His life remains his own and does not as yet contribute anything to you. In short this mode [of understanding Christ as simply an example] does not make Christians but only hypocrites. You must grasp Christ at a much higher level. Even though this higher level has for a long time been the very best, the preaching of it has been something rare. The chief article and foundation of the Gospel is that before you take Christ as an example, you accept and recognize him as a gift, as a present that God has given you and that is your own. This means that when you see or hear of Christ doing or suffering something, you do not doubt that Christ himself, with his deeds and suffering, belongs to you. On this you may depend as surely as if you had done it yourself; indeed as if you were Christ himself. See, this is what it means to have a proper grasp of the Gospel, that is, of the overwhelming goodness of God, which neither prophet, nor apostle, nor angel was ever able fully to express, and which no heart could adequately fathom or marvel at. This is the great fire of the love of God for us, whereby the heart and conscience become happy, secure, and content. This is what preaching the Christian faith means. This is why such preaching is called Gospel, which in German means a joyful, good, and comforting “message”; and this is why the apostles are called the “twelve messengers.”

from Martin Luther, ‘A Brief Instruction on What to Look For and Expect in the Gospels’

Great threads, Bishop Mark. Next time, turn on the light in the sacristy.
Or did the John Milton Society donate the vestments?


ELCA NEWS SERVICE
March 24, 2011
ELCA, Episcopal Church to Celebrate 10 Years of Full Communion
11-037-JB

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), will preside at a celebratory worship service in Buffalo, N.Y., May 1, marking the 10th anniversary of the full communion relationship of the ELCA and The Episcopal Church.

      At the same time, just over the border, Canadian Lutherans and Anglicans will worship in Fort Erie, Ontario, to recognize the 10th anniversary of their full communion relationship.

     "Our celebration is an important reminder that neither historic divisions between churches nor boundaries between our nations are obstacles for sharing mission and ministry together," said Hanson. "We give thanks to God for what has been established through the full communion agreements in our two countries. We look forward to a deeper reception among our four churches, as we look toward the future."

The original bishop Katie will preach in Ft. Eerie.

     Joining Hanson at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Buffalo, will be the Most Rev. Frederick J. Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, Toronto, who will deliver the sermon. The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, presiding bishop of The Episcopal Church, will preach at a celebration at St. Paul's Anglican Church, Fort Erie. Presiding will be the Rev. Susan C. Johnson, national bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, Winnipeg. Both services will begin at 3 p.m. EDT.

ELCIC Archbishop Susan C. Johnson shows how diversity is growing across the border, eh?

Marquette U. Joins the Stampede

This is the Goodsoil lobbying group in ELCA.
Our photo archives do not have the Roman Catholic counterpart,
but any group photo of their religious workers would do.

Don't expect a word of opposition to this from Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki.  'Catholic' Cardinal Stritch Univ. has been doing this for years: http://mu-warrior.blogspot.com/search/label/Cardinal%20Stritch%20University and nothing has been said by Listecki.  His predecessor, Archbishop Timothy Dolan, also said nothing:

Marquette University to offer domestic partner benefits 

 

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/118614824.html

March 24, 2011 5:19 p.m. Marquette University plans to start offering domestic partner benefits to its employees in 2012, a move that comes about a year after the university's decision to rescind a job offer to a lesbian candidate caused the campus to erupt in debate.

In a statement sent to the campus Thursday afternoon, Marquette President Robert A. Wild said he's been wrestling with an idea of offering the benefits that would provide services for gay and lesbian employees for years.

University officials note said the timing of the announcement was influenced by votes in recent weeks by the University Academic Senate and the Marquette University Student Government that have urged the university to offer benefits for domestic partners.

“If we are truly pastoral in our application of the Jesuit principle of cura personalis, I asked myself if I could reconcile that with denying health benefits to a couple who have legally registered their commitment to each other,” Wild said. In Latin, cura personalis means "care for the entire person."
Wild noted that the State of Wisconsin gives legal recognition both to marriage for heterosexual couples and to a registered domestic partnership for same-sex couples.

Officials said they're still working out details, but medical, dental and vision benefits currently offered to married couples and their dependents will be extended to registered domestic partners. The couples receiving the benefits must share a residence, must be of the same sex. The declaration of domestic partnership may be initiated by an application filed with the clerk of the county in which an individual resides.

The decision by Marquette comes nearly after a year after the school announced that it was rescinding a job offer to Jodi O'Brien, a lesbian scholar at Seattle University, involving concerns relating to Marquette's "Catholic mission and identity" and their incompatibility with some of O'Brien's scholarly writings.

The university said at the time that the decision to rescind the job offer did not have anything to do with O'Brien's sexual orientation.

The university has a Statement on Human Dignity and Diversity. It reads in part that Marquette "recognizes and cherishes the dignity of each individual regardless of age, culture, faith, ethnicity, race, gender, sexual orientation, language, disability or social class." The statement adds that the Jesuit-run school seeks to become a more diverse and inclusive academic community dedicated to the promotion of justice.

After Marquette and Wild announced the decision, dozens of faculty members at both Marquette and Seattle condemned Marquette's decision to rescind the offer to O'Brien to take over as dean of the school's College of Arts and Sciences.

In June of last year, the school announced that it had reached a "mutually acceptable resolution" with O'Brien. Marquette said it had apologized to O'Brien, and sources said the school took a “financial hit.”

School officials said at the time that the university would consider research projects, conferences, courses and service learning projects exploring the topics of Catholic identity and gender and sexuality issues.

It could not be immediately determined if the decision to offer domestic benefits was related to the settlement of the O'Brien matter.

Last March, before the incident involving O'Brien, Wild announced he would step down in June 2011 after about 15 years at the helm of Marquette. He said he had discussed his decision with trustees, including Rev. Scott Pilarz, Marquette’s incoming president.

Fuller-trained First VP of WELS Promotes Rob Bell

First VP of WELS James Huebner trained at Fuller Seminary, mocked the efficacy of the Word, and played a Rob Bell video for the innocent.
Have you no shame, WELS?

Someone wrote:

So even the AP and Fox picked up on Rob Bell

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/03/24/whos-hell-michigan-pastors-book-sparks-debate-eternal-torment/#

I had the misfortune to be at a “College Night” (date omitted - but known) at Grace in downtown Milwaukee.  Food, music and a message once a week for the college kids of MSOE/Marquette.  For the message part, they played some Rob Bell video about how God is a symphony of life all around us and just a whole pile of ooey gooey crap.  Have to say I was pretty embarrassed that they would stoop so low as to ever present that in a WELS church.  Sad.

What Sasse Said: The Task of the Church's Confession

 

What Sasse Said: The Task of the Church's Confession

A New Definition of Catechesis

Catechesis has left a new comment on your post "The New NIV Will Inspire WELS To Achieve Greater D...":

A subtle clue that your pastor is becoming secularized: Does he call the room where he prepares for his pastoral duties (i.e. sermon and Bible study preparation, etc.) a "study" or an "office"?

Intrepid Lutherans: C.F.W. Walther: Filching from sectarian worship resources equals "soul murder"

Intrepid Lutherans: C.F.W. Walther: Filching from sectarian worship resources equals "soul murder"

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 2011

C.F.W. Walther: Filching from sectarian worship resources equals "soul murder"

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In October of 1998, Professor Mark DeGarmeaux (Bethany Lutheran College, ELS) delivered a paper to the Evangelical Lutheran Confessional Forum of the ELS and WELS in Milwaukee, WI. The title of this paper was Sacramental Worship, Sacramental Preaching: Treasures of our Lutheran Church -- a terrific little essay that explores and extols the unique liturgical treasure we Lutherans have inherited, concluding:

The Lutheran church has been truly blessed by God with a rich treasury of liturgy, hymnody, preaching, and praying. We are not a sect, but we understand and recognize ourselves as part of the Church catholic, the one Holy Christian and Apostolic Church. At the same time we realize that there is a difference between our theology and that of other denominations in many ways. Our treasures are in the understanding of sacramental and sacrificial elements in the Divine Service, in understanding the Word and Sacraments as powerful and efficacious means of grace, and in the proper distinction between Law and Gospel. And we look forward to the marriage feast of heaven when the Bride will be joined to Christ Himself and will enjoy the great sacramentum of the marriage feast of the Lamb.

This treasure has been kept and valued by generations of Lutheran confessors as a practice which carries a body of worshipers through the Divine Service, focusing them on Christ and His gifts, in a way that not only represents and reinforces our body of pure doctrine, but our distinction and separation from the heterodox. So how would a Lutheran, imbued with genuine confessional ardor, react to the notion of importing sectarian worship forms into Lutheran practice? Using C.F.W. Walther as a benchmark of confessional ardor, DeGarmeaux demonstrates the answer to this question by including as an Appendix to his essay the following letter from Walther, which was written to a man who asked about the use of Methodist worship resources in Lutheran churches:

Honored Sir, This morning I received your worthy letter, written on the 19th of the month. In your letter you ask for my opinion on whether it is advisable to introduce the singing of Methodist songs in a Lutheran Sunday School. May what follows serve as a helpful reply to your questions: No, this is not advisable, rather very incorrect and pernicious.
1. Our church is so rich in hymns that you could justifiably state that if one were to introduce Methodist hymns in a Lutheran school this would be like carrying coals to Newcastle. The singing of such hymns would make the rich Lutheran Church into a beggar which is forced to beg from a miserable sect. Thirty or forty years ago a Lutheran preacher might well have been forgiven this. For at that time the Lutheran Church in our country was as poor as a beggar when it comes to song books for Lutheran children. A preacher scarcely knew where he might obtain such little hymn books. Now, however, since our church itself has everything it needs, it is unpardonable when a preacher of our church causes little ones to suffer the shame of eating a foreign bread.
2. A preacher of our church also has the holy duty to give souls entrusted to his care pure spiritual food, indeed, the very best which he can possibly obtain. In Methodist songs there is much which is false, and which contains spiritual poison for the soul.Therefore, it is soul-murder to set before children such poisonous food. If the preacher claims, that he allows only "correct" hymns to be sung, this does not excuse him. For, first of all, the true Lutheran spirit is found in none of them; second, our hymns are more powerful, more substantive, and more prosaic; third, those hymns which deal with the Holy Sacraments are completely in error; fourth, when these little sectarian hymnbooks come into the hands of our children, they openly read and sing false hymns.
3. A preacher who introduces Methodist hymns, let alone Methodist hymnals, raises the suspicion that he is no true Lutheran at heart, and that he believes one religion is as good as the other, and that he thus a unionistic-man, a mingler of religion and churches.
4. Through the introduction of Methodist hymn singing he also makes those children entrusted to his care of unionistic sentiment, and he himself leads them to leave the Lutheran Church and join the Methodists.
5. By the purchase of Methodist hymn books he subsidizes the false church and strengthens the Methodist fanatics in their horrible errors. For the Methodists will think, and quite correctly so, that if the Lutheran preachers did not regard our religion as good as, or indeed, even better than their own, they would not introduce Methodist hymn books in their Sunday schools, but rather would use Lutheran hymn books.
6. By introducing Methodist hymn books, the entire Lutheran congregation is given great offense, and the members of the same are lead to think that Methodists, the Albright people, and all such people have a better faith than we do.
This may be a sufficient answer regarding this dismal matter. May God keep you in the true and genuine Lutheran faith, and help you not to be misled from the same, either to the right or to the left. Your unfamiliar, yet known friend, in the Lord Jesus Christ, C. F. W. Walther St. Louis, Missouri January 23, 1883

Notice that there are at least two factors involved in Walther's blistering criticism of sectarian worship resources. First, the introduction of false teaching to the congregation (a) by the false content of the sectarian worship, (b) by the true teaching which is absent from it, and (c) by the manner in which the Methodist practice itself entices the congregation away from the Lutheran confession, is inexcusable and alone grounds for rejecting material from such sources. Second, the fellowship implications involved with endorsing such materials, and subsidizing their sources, not only impacts other Lutherans, who have every right to question the allegiances of those responsible for introducing such materials, but impacts the sectarians from whom we remain separate, who consequently have every right to suspect (based on the practice of using sectarian sources, itself!) that those Lutherans using their materials are, in fact, admitting deficiency in their own confession.

If we grant that Walther is a suitable benchmark of confessional ardor, how would we categorize those who are indifferent to the usage of sectarian and heterodox worship materials? According to Walther, above, it seems that a pastor who engages in practice which raises suspicions regarding his confession is himself guilty of offense against the whole congregation, not the observer who is led to suspicion on the basis of that pastor's public practice. Is this an accurate assessment of the above statements? If so, is this consistent with more contemporary teaching regarding how one ought to interpret public practice? Based on what Walther seems to say above, should a Lutheran pastor so conduct himself in his public practice as to raise no suspicions regarding his fidelity to the Lutheran confession, or is such fidelity strictly a matter of internal motivations, making public practice not much of a big deal at all?

***

GJ - Message understood, Intrepids. Why should Lutherans borrow double-justification from that Halle Pietist Georg Christian Knapp? Knapp's UOJ was in print before Ferdy landed on the docks of the Big Easy.

Knapp's UOJ is still in print today.

Knapp's formulation became the mainline denominations' Universalism as the 19th century progressed (or regressed). UOJ is the Universalism of Missouri, WELS, and the Little Sect today.

I ask again - why borrow from false teachers when Luther and the Concordists are so clear?

Rob Bell and Universalism - From Church Mouse

Rob Bell, Fuller Seminary grad - just like Larry Olson, the Harmless Heretic, and many others in WELS and Missouri.
The Little Sect, too, but they do not count.


Rob Bell and Christian Universalism — your kids (may) love it « Churchmouse Campanologist

Rob Bell and Christian Universalism — your kids (may) love it

March 23, 2011 in Calvinism, Evangelical, heresy, Protestant | Tags: Calvinism, Christian Universalism, emergent church, Evangelical, Love Wins, Protestant, Rob Bell

As I’ve explained in the previous two posts (here and here), Christian Universalism is deeply seductive to the enquiring mind.

I’m not sure what advice to give to parents out there except to get your children started early on the Bible so that they are well grounded in it by the time they reach secondary school.  After that, it may be too late … for a number of years, anyway.  What I noted from my own experience growing up was that the kids who knew the Bible could refute Christian Universalism — or Universal Reconciliation — straightaway, explaining why.

More at the post.

***

GJ

Rob Bell went to Fuller? I thought that was such a conservative seminary! All the WELS and LCMS leaders went there: world missions, American missions, evangelism, snake handling. 

Mid-Week Lenten Service

By Norma Boeckler, Word and Sacrament

Mid-Week Lenten Vespers

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

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

Bethany Lutheran Worship, 7 PM Central Time

The Hymn # 142 A Lamb 1:21
The Order of Vespers p. 41
The Psalmody Psalm 3 p. 123
The Lection The Passion History

The Sermon Hymn #5 Open Thou My Heart 1:93

The Sermon – The Way, the Truth, the Life

The Prayers
The Lord’s Prayer
The Collect for Grace p. 45

The Hymn # 46 On What Has Now 1:62

KJV John 14:1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. 4 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. 5 Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? 6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. 7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. 8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. 9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? 10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

This passage from John is an excellent example of how much teaching can be found in one paragraph of that Gospel, yet the thoughts are expressed in the simplest words possible.

I noticed when attending another service that many passages in the Bible fall into poetical cadences, short phrases, easy to remember and understand. In this particular case, it was this part of the birth story for Christmas:

KJV Luke 2:1 And it came to pass in those days,
that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus,
that all the world should be taxed.
2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
3 And all went to be taxed,
every one into his own city.
4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee,
out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David,
which is called Bethlehem;
(because he was of the house and lineage of David:)
5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife,
being great with child.
6 And so it was, that, while they were there,
the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
7 And she brought forth her firstborn son,
and wrapped him in swaddling clothes,
and laid him in a manger;
because there was no room for them in the inn.

We can easily imagine the angelic message being memorized and passed on as poetry or as a hymn:

10 And the angel said unto them,
Fear not:
for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy,
which shall be to all people.
11 For unto you is born this day
in the city of David
a Saviour,
which is Christ the Lord.
12 And this shall be a sign unto you;
Ye shall find the babe
wrapped in swaddling clothes,
lying in a manger.

I noticed the poetic structure because the minister ran everything together as prose.

John’s Gospel is considered the most poetic, because all of Jesus’ sermons fall into the short, simple repetitive phrases of poetry. That is one reason why they are remembered so well. Try reading them that way.

There are two main messages in this paragraph from John. One is the relationship between the Father and the Son. That is constantly emphasized in the Fourth Gospel but also found elsewhere:

KJV Matthew 11:27 All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.

That is also in poetic phrases.

The point in this passage is illustrated by the foolish statement of Philip, “Show us the Father and it will be enough.”

The response dispels the notion that the Father and Son are entirely separate, although they are distinct persons of the Trinity. Hearing the Son means hearing the Father. Seeing the Son means seeing the Father.

Everything Christ does is from the Father. Thus, anyone who tries to make three gods out of the Trinity is wrong. The Gospel of John teaches the Three-ness of the One God and the Unity of the Three Persons.

Some might ask, “If so much is said about the Father-Son relationship, is the Holy Spirit neglected?”

John’s Gospel also includes one of the most extensive sermons on the Holy Spirit, one so significant that every pastor should memorize it as much as possible.

Notice that John’s Gospel does not have Chapter 1 – The Father, Chapter 2 – The Son, Chapter 3 – the Holy Spirit. The revealed Word is not at all like a Confession of Faith (by man) or a theology textbook. But from the Word of God we can put together what God teaches.

John 14:5 Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? 6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

This is a word play, which we also use in English. The way is literally the road, often used or abused in the term synod (walking together, although flash mobs are more organized and better disciplined).

There is a transition from “Where are you going?” to the great I AM statement:

I am The Way, The Truth, and The Life.

This completely repudiates those opinions which treat Jesus as one more great religious teacher. This era is no different from the pagan era, where people were glad to welcome Jesus as another religious leader, as long as they could buy His magic (they imagined) or associate Him with others.

This sentence alone cannot be confessed while also stating that there are other paths or roads to salvation. While that sounds tolerant and open-minded, to equate Jesus with Buddha and tree gods, it is just the opposite. Those who compromise the faith to allow pagan religion are soul-murderers. They are more dangerous than pagans because they blend a tiny bit of truth with a dominant supply of error.

The second part of the statement leaves no doubt with its litotes, or double negative to illustrate a positive in unmistakable terms. No one (negative) except (negative).

That does not permit any special cases, for no one can possibly know the Father except through knowing the Son.

This gives us the greatest confidence that in John’s Gospel we have the true revelation of the grace of the Father in giving His beloved Son to die for our sins.

The Bible judges all books. If someone comes up with a theory or a great work of bogus scholarship to set John’s Gospel aside, we know better. No book judges the Fourth Gospel, but John’s Gospel judges all attempts to interpret it.

If someone is looking for sermon books, get Luther’s sermons on the Gospel of John. He gave those sermons reluctantly when he said he would rather be working in the garden, retired.

There is more truth in one page of Luther’s correct interpretation of John than in all the “practical” books of the moderns.

John’s Gospel is a constant source of God’s grace, a way to build up one’s confidence in the Word, and a great comfort and guide. The Fourth Gospel is Jesus speaking to us in His simple, yet profound sermons.

More on the Bloat

bruce-church (https://bruce-church.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "Bloated Hours, Bloated Costs at Lutheran Seminarie...":

Wow! I guess everyone is so stunned by the situation with the LCMS seminaries that they can't even comment--including even President Harrison. One seminary president is calling it quits after this year, too. I wonder why.

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GJ - Readership is staying near 2,000 page-reads per day. I get an idea who is reading it by some of the emails I get.

One ELS pastor said, "Everyone reads Ichabod." Traffic was very high during the last WELS convention.

Synodical officials make sure they know what is being said about their territory, so assume, Rev. Church, that every post about them is read and discussed.

I see things evaporate right after being quoted here. That is why I kelm them into the post instead of just posting.

And readers - Rev. Church has provided a vast amount of information about the cost of seminaries. Fairly soon I will post my 25 year predictions. Remember, I was 25 years early in writing about ELCA.

If you do not read this blog for the opinions, read it for the facts and the quotations.

Those who like anonymous, malicious gossip have Tim Glende's quarterly effort to entertain them.

Denominational Abuse Continues

I am not ready to defend the Church of Rome for anything, but they finally started doing something about their abusive church workers. The criminal conspiracies to cover up began 24 years ago. There was widespread reporting and an institutional effort to clamp down - on those trying to reform Rome. They finally lost so many lawsuits and so much respect that the new pope had to take action.

WELS, Missouri, and the ELS should take note. They have used the same criminal cover-up tactics. What earthly courts will not handle will finally be addressed in the ultimate Supreme Court. It's fun to dine on Daddy Warbucks' dime, but our mortal days are short, nothing in comparison with eternity. Meanwhile, many are harmed - not only the targeted victims, but also many surrounding them. The corruption caused by the cover-up adds to the crime. Clergy and laity learn to look the other way, lest they be accused of evil. Soon they can overlook everything, and they do in the good ol' boy network. How else does one become a Doctrinal Pussycat?

Someone contacted me today. All the details I will offer is this - decades of suffering have followed her experience.

The ELCA had to pay out $40 million for one case, where a known homosexual predator was ordained. Their news service published the story. It was not hidden. I am no fan of ELCA, but that is a good start, to publish the truth.

Rome got rid of Wisconsin Lutheran College's famous lecturer, Archbishop Weakland. They forced him into retirement. His lurid life was exposed and his embezzlement of church funds publicized. Still, many stuck by him.

Long before "Party in the MLC," there was Weakland, lecturing at Willowcreek's Little College.

New Graphics Folder for Frequent Writers

WELS Church Lady.

I am developing graphics for people who write often. They are intended to be complimentary. I appreciate the extra research done and the insights offered.

Bloated Hours, Bloated Costs at Lutheran Seminaries, Revealed by Bruce Church

Bruce Church has left a new comment on your post "Essay Backs Bruce Church's Arguments about Seminar...":

Seminary professor Frederick Schmidt says that many M. Div. programs are "bloated," no doubt so seminaries could rake in more federal student loan dollars per degree. He says that the accrediting agency only requires 72 credit hours for a M. Div., but is aghast that some seminaries require as much as 106 credit hours. He'd probably have seizures if he heard how many credit hours the LCMS seminaries get away with requiring, namely 137 and 139 (see links below). You'd have to look at the US defense department to find "cost overruns" as big as the cost overrun for getting a LCMS M. Div. For that many credit hours, you'd think a guy could walk away with a M. Div and a D. Min, or at least be well on his way toward receiving a Doctor of Theology.

So if 106 credit hours is "bloated and expensive," and the most expensive Methodist seminary out of their dozen or so seminaries is the 29th most expensive seminary in N America, then what adjectives are left to describe the LCMS's M. Div. programs, which are 9th and 11th most expensive programs in N America, and require nearly twice as many credit hours to graduate than is required by ATS!:

Seminary costs compared:
http://www.scribd.com/bruce_church
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Concordia St. Louis M. Div.
http://www.csl.edu/admissions/academics/mdiv/curriculum/
Credit Hours/Area
27 Exegetical Theology
26 Systematic Theology
18 Historical Theology
30 Practical Theology
18 Free Electives
18 Vicarage
137 Total
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Concordia Ft. Wayne M. Div.
http://www.ctsfw.edu/Page.aspx?pid=392
Credit Hours/Area
40 Exegetical Theology
18 Historical Theology
43 Pastoral Ministry and Missions
29 Systematic Theology
3 Field Education and Vicarage
6 Electives
139 Total
----
http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Is-It-Time-to-Write-the-Eulogy-Frederick-Schmidt-03-21-2011?offset=1&max=1

In spite of the fact that there is room for so many extras, the degree itself is bloated and expensive. The Association of Theological Schools require at least 72 hours of course work, but some seminaries require as much as 106 hours; and the inside joke among most seminarians is that they will be fortunate to crowd three years into four . . . or five.

Flow of Funds to Seminaries
http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2011/02/flow-of-funds-to-seminaries.html

***

GJ - Add to that, an MDiv is a useless degree. Try to market it for a job, even in teaching. In higher education, a lawyer gets doctoral level pay. An MDiv will not get hired to teach anything.

One seminary veteran used his skills in ancient languages to learn computer languages, taking courses at a top computer science school. He gets wahoo pay and benefits now, plus bonus awards and incentives. He also uses his training to help at his local church.

The Lutheran seminaries deceive men into thinking there is a shortage, even though congregations are folding and merging (a polite way to fold). The seminaries are used as a convenient place to put a Flounder into a job because he has the same last name as an earlier professor, his father or uncle or in-law.

Meanwhile, the same synods are filling the gaps with non-traditional training, which erases even more slots.

If the synods got rid of abusive teachers and pastors, not to mention the alcoholics, there would be a critical shortage and higher standards. The only one now is a blood test.

"Oh? Fifth generation and related to four professors, three DPs, and one Daddy Warbucks? You can do no wrong, buddy. We need more just like you. Ignore the legalists. They do not appreciate the awesomeness of you."