Rogate - The Fifth Sunday after Easter, 2011

Rogate, The Fifth Sunday after Easter, 2011


Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

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

Bethany Lutheran Church, 10 AM Central Time


The Hymn # 202 Welcome Happy Morning 4:28
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 #458 Our Father 4:50

The Communion Hymn # 207 Like the Golden Sun 4:76
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 #657 Beautiful Savior 4:24

KJV James 1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. 23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: 24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. 25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. 26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. 27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

KJV John 16:23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. 24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. 25 These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father. 26 At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you: 27 For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God. 28 I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father. 29 His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb. 30 Now are we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou camest forth from God.

Fifth Sunday After Easter
Lord God, heavenly Father, who through Thy Son didst promise us that whatsoever we ask in His name Thou wilt give us: We beseech Thee, keep us in Thy word, and grant us Thy Holy Spirit, that He may govern us according to Thy will; protect us from the power of the devil, from false doctrine and worship; also defend our lives against all danger; grant us Thy blessing and peace, that we may in all things perceive Thy merciful help, and both now and forever praise and glorify Thee as our gracious Father, through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.


Five Parts of Prayer
1. God’s Promise.
2. Faith.
3. Specific petitions.
4. Asking.
5. In the Name of Christ.

Many aspects of the Christian Faith seem similar in various denominations and even in various world religions. This illustrates how people are kept in falsehood by bad doctrine and practice, or bewitched away by seeming agreement.

Luther divided prayer into five parts in his sermon on Rogate Sunday (Lenker edition).

Part One – God’s Promise
The dominant wing of Protestantism today, usually called the Evangelicals, were once called the Arminians. Their religious express is termed Decision Theology, which is easy to summarize:
a. Present the Gospel in an appealing, logical way.
b. Ask for a Decision for Christ.
c. Pray for faith and forgiveness.

As most readers can see, this is wrong on three counts. To begin, conversion and faith begin with God’s Promise, the Word, the Gospel. The message of God’s love and mercy produces and builds faith. The Law prepares us to hear this Gospel, but the truest essence of the Law is not – you are a carnal sinner – but “You trust in your own virtue for salvation and not in the righteousness of Christ.” Therefore, “ye of little faith” is the ultimate Law message, the rebuking Word, which we all need to hear.

The Decision for Christ is also wrong, because conversion is not the result of intellect, will, or virtue. When the Law takes away all our props for false doctrine and fake salvation, the Gospel plants the Word in our hearts. “Receive with meekness the engrafted Word, which is able to save your souls.” (James) A graft is what we see in hybrid tea roses. The wild rose root is the foundation, sturdy and resisting cold, producing unimpressive flowers. The tea rose is cut from its root and grafted onto the wild rose. The coarse nature of the wild rose remains underneath the soil, while the flowering, aromatic tea rose produces flowers and fruit (the rose hip) above.

In the same way, our coarse and unbelieving nature remains, but God Himself grafts the Word in our heart by preaching and infant baptism. From the Word-created faith comes the fruit of the Spirit. If anyone understands this, the Pietist program of cell groups and prayer is nothing more than deceit, fraud, and Law salvation.

“Must” is Law. When a congregation or pastor says, You must enroll in a cell group and meet with them to transform your life, that is man-made law and salvation by works.

I was exposed to Church Growth long before some of its adherents were potty trained. The cell group concept comes from the Pietists, via the Calvinist who borrowed it from the Church of Rome. I attended a conference where a layman said every good thing in his congregation came from the cell groups. The cell groups showed up for clean up day. The cell groups were the largest part of Sunday worship. The cell groups did this and that. They were the better Christians. The congregation grew because of cell groups and was better because of the cell groups. Anyone can see that this was nothing but righteousness based on works and a veering away from glorifying the Gospel.

No one can pray to Christ without faith in Christ. The trouble with “the sinner’s prayer” and similar devices is that it turns the activity of the Holy Spirit in the Gospel into a two-sided contract, often called synergism: “God has done this for you, what will you do for Him?” The answer is – Make a Decision for Christ, pray for forgiveness, and be accepted into the Kingdom by fulfilling the contract.
The correct answer is – Believing in Christ for salvation is forgiveness of sin. God’s Word has convicted you of unbelief and converted you to faith in Jesus as your Savior. This forgiveness is instantaneous, and from it grows the fruit of the Spirit – which includes prayer.

Law preaching will produce law results, and Gospel preaching will produce Gospel fruits.
The first is showy is some respects, because of all the bragging. The second is unlimited in its effect, although people scorn this God-pleasing way because of the cross which accompanies it.

One of my favorite parts of Pilgrim’s Progress has a man knocking down poor Christian and beating him up. When Christian says, “Have mercy,” the man who represents the law says, “The law has no mercy.” That is why the law salesmen ultimately wind up as atheists or secular saviors, because their own law condemns them so savagely, Since it all depends on them on their works, they demand more of others until their showy bric-a-brac falls apart.

Part Two – Faith
Anyone should be suspicious of those modern Pharisees who spend so much time denouncing faith.

Faith is produced by God’s Word, through the Holy Spirit, not from the efforts of man. The law does not produce faith. Only the Gospel can stir up and renew faith.

When people never progress beyond the immature notions of prayer, they imagine they can make a deal with God. If they do certain good things, or give up bad things, God should do His part of the bargain.

First of all, God does not need anything from us, so such offers are blasphemous. That is because God cares for us and provides for us, even for non-believers. “The sun shines on the just (justified by faith) and the unjust (unbelievers).”

Faith is trust in the goodness and mercy of God.

Part Three – Specific Petitions
The New Agers, taking their cue from Asian religions, confuse people and lead them astray in this part. Paul Y. Cho was quite the rage a few years ago. He demanded that people write down a list, because God cannot answer a prayer unless He has all the specifications. Do not ask for a bike, but for a 15 speed bike with a light, side baskets, etc etc. Name the color.

Luther listed specific petitions in a completely different way. Trusting God, we can take all our needs and concerns to Him, having faith in His ability to do far more than we can ask or imagine. This is the great blessing of prayer, to rely on the Creator of the universe and to see how He answers.

"Take heed, then, to embrace the message of these words presenting the love and kindness of God to all men. Daily exercise your faith therein, entertaining no doubt of God's love and kindness toward you, and you shall realize His blessings. Then you may with perfect confidence ask what you will, what your heart desires, and whatever is necessary for the good of yourself and your fellow-men."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, VI, p. 146. Second Christmas Sermon Titus 3:4-8.

Repeated experience builds our trust in Him. Luther said once, “The longer I live, the less confidence I have in myself and the more I have in God.”

When people are told to demand specific things from God, at specific times, they are tempting God and setting themselves up for a falling away from the faith. God will deny what is demanded, yet supply what is asked.

Step Four - Asking
Prayer means asking. Those who have no experience in prayer do not know where to start. Those who act upon the Word’s guidance take their needs to God and also ask for the needs of others. In asking for others we focus on our neighbor’s needs as well.

The influence of the Gospel in our nation means that people pray for those in disaster areas and also immediately respond to their neighbors’ needs. The mayor of a city near Joplin, Missouri, mentioned her prayers for those in Joplin and also helped organize a semi-truck full of emergency supplies for them.

Step Five – In the Name of Christ
All genuine prayer is in the Name of Christ. Praying without His Name is simply a mockery of prayer. Thus today we have people praying “to whatever god or higher power you believe in” or to ancient pagan gods and goddesses. False teachers use the Christian church as a place where they can recruit for their pagan religion. The feminists of the mainline churches organized a Goddess Worship conference years ago, and that influence continues.

In this Gospel, we get a glimpse of Jesus taking care of His disciples and praying for them in previous years. Now He will no longer pray for them. They will pray directly to the Father in His Name, and God the Father will answer the way He would for His own dear Son.

Prayer, like the Sacraments, shows how God cares for us. He does not give us one help in our life here on earth, but many helps to keep us within His flock.


Quotations

"Prayer is made vigorous by petitioning; urgent, by supplication; by thanksgiving, pleasing and acceptable. Strength and acceptability combine to prevail and secure the petition."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholaus Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, VI, p. 107. Fourth Sunday in Advent, Philippians 4:4-7;

"The Lord's Prayer opens with praise and thanksgiving and the acknowledgement of God as a Father; it earnestly presses toward Him through filial love and a recognition of fatherly tenderness. For supplication, this prayer is unequaled. Hence it is the sublimest and the noblest prayer ever uttered."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholaus Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, VI, p. 107. Fourth Sunday in Advent, Philippians 4:4-7; Matthew 6:9-13

"Take heed, then, to embrace the message of these words presenting the love and kindness of God to all men. Daily exercise your faith therein, entertaining no doubt of God's love and kindness toward you, and you shall realize His blessings. Then you may with perfect confidence ask what you will, what your heart desires, and whatever is necessary for the good of yourself and your fellow-men."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, VI, p. 146. Second Christmas Sermon Titus 3:4-8

"In like manner, St. Paul says that God's ability is thus proved, in that He does exceeding abundantly above and better than we ask or think. Ephesians 3:20. Therefore, we should know we are too finite to be able to name, picture or designate the time, place, way, measure and other circumstances for that which we ask of God. Let us leave that entirely to Him, and immovably and steadfastly believe that He will hear us."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p. 179f. Fifth Sunday after Easter Ephesians 3:20.

"O God, I am Thy creature and Thy handiwork and Thou hast from the beginning created me. I will depend entirely on You who cares more for me, how I shall be sustained, then I do myself; Thou wilt indeed nourish me, feed, clothe and help me, where and when You know best."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed. John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House 1983, IV, p. 206. Seventh Sunday after Trinity Mark 8:1-9

"Only begin this [prayer, self-examination], I say, and see how you will succeed in the task; and you will soon discover what an unbelieving knave is hidden in your bosom, and that your heart is too dull to believe it."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, II, p. 257. Easter, Third Sermon Mark 16:1-8.

"The Christian's faith trusts in the ordinary means. Prayer is not a means of grace. Means of grace are divine appointments through which God uniformly offers blessings to all who use them. Faith is the means by which the blessings are received and appropriated. God gives us bread, when we ask it, not through the channel of prayer, but through the ordinary channels of His providence. He gives us grace when we ask it, not through prayer, but through the ordinary means appointed for this end, namely the Word and Sacraments. He who despises these will as little have grace as he who refuses to accept bread produced in the ordinary way of nature. Faith asks with confidence, and trusts in the ordinary means of God's appointment for the blessings asked."
Matthias Loy, Sermons on the Gospels, Columbus: Lutheran Book Concern, 1888, p. 387.

"His good heart and faith naturally teach him how to pray. Yea, what is such faith, but pure prayer? It continually looks for divine grace, and if it looks for it, it also desires it with all the heart." Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholaus Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, V, p. 70. Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity, Luke 17:11-19

"Lord God, Thou hast placed me in Thy church as a bishop and pastor. Thou seest how unfit I am to administer this great and difficult office. Had I hitherto been without help from Thee, I would have ruined everything long ago. Therefore I call on Thee. I gladly offer my mouth and heart to Thy service. I would teach the people and I myself would continue to learn. To this end I shall meditate diligently on Thy Word. Use me, dear Lord, as Thy instrument. Only do not forsake me; for if I were to continue alone, I would quickly ruin everything."
What Luther Says, An Anthology, 3 vols., ed., Ewald Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, II, p. 926. W 42, 513 Genesis 27:11-14

Stay at Home, Pastors

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Pastors, Please Stay Home

Congregational members have to come to realize that when the Pastor is gone traveling and attending retreats, seminars, workshops, presenting papers, writing books, conducting webinars and the like, there is also all the prep time that goes into it.  Pastors would have more time to not only visit the sick and infirm, but all the regular members too.  Its been over twenty years since I have had a home visit 'just because'.  Pastors wouldn't have to get their congregations to fork over thousands of dollars to do stewardship if he were home in the first place getting to know all of his flock.  They wouldn't have to turn Bible readings/sermonettes and Bible Class over to layman.  They could be home more with their families.

Want to be real, relational and relevant?  Then stay home, Pastors!

Another WELS Business Hiding Behind Its Tax Status As a Charity.Don Patterson and Jeff Gunn Involved.Patterson Not a Changer?

The link is here. If you graduated from Mequon, left-click anywhere on this paragraph.

CrossTrain Ministries provides coaching services to identified Christian leaders with the stated goal of improving spiritual leadership skills amongst lay leaders, ministry professionals, and general volunteers. In conjunction with this spiritual coaching, CrossTrain also provides topical seminars on subjects with the goal of improving the quality of ministry leadership, both professional and volunteer, and ultimately providing the skills which will promote leadership of a higher capacity and excellence to involve all in ministry.

Rick Loewen (pictured above with beautiful grandaughter Rae) was a police officer for 20 years prior to serving in public ministry. As a police officer he served as a patrol officer, narcotics detective, vice detective, and homicide detective. He taught police officers in the areas of interviews and interrogation, undercover operations, and crime scene investigation. While serving as a police officer and enrolled in the staff ministry program at DMLC, he received a divine call to start the first youth and family ministry program on the White Mountain Apache Reservation AZ. He was then called by WLCFS to develop and implement family ministry programs Synod wide. He served as the director of ministries at WLCFS and oversaw their ministry support services program, family life education program, and counseling division. Rick is currently called by Crosswalk Lutheran Church. At Crosswalk, he serves for a subsidiary ministry called CrossTrain Ministries. CrossTrain Ministries is a self-supporting ministry in partnership with Wisconsin Lutheran College and Grace in Action Ministries.

CrossTrain Ministries Coaching Network Conference May 11-14 Stillwater, MN

Effective Strategies for Developing Leaders in Your Ministry (Pastor Don Patterson) Positive communications explaining what you do and why you do it Enlist their services to enjoy opportunities to handle the Word Give them opportunities to see the Word work. Develop strong relationships that allow you to know individual's strengths and weaknesses and apply God's Word to both Integrate the Word as part of every interaction with them. Value the relationship with your leaders by being grace filled and forgiving Live your expectations of others by being a servant Live in the shadow of the cross instead of our success and failures Preaching (Pastor Don Patterson) Make sure you preach exactly what the Holy Spirit was preaching in that text Preach to the street and not the professor Use illustrations appropriately Prepare your people to hear the text How to prioritize the main message over the pet message The use of syntax versus morphology How to avoid pulpit tone, irritating habits, redundant styles, and behaviors The use of natural and unnatural inflections The triangle of the sermon BIO Don grew up in Garland Texas, one of six kids. He learned leadership skills from a national youth organization early in life. He earned a degree from East Texas State University in Commerce Texas in 1985.  Married and has 4 boys. He graduated from our seminary in 1992 and has been the pastor of Holy Word since then. He was elected to his district presidium at age 34. He has spoken on marriage, leadership, and at men's, women's and missionary conferences here and in Europe. He is the speaker on a radio broadcast "A Reason For Hope" airing in Austin, Texas and Minneapolis Minnesota. It is supported by a website of that same name.  He currently serves as the first vice president of the South Central District of the WELS. His passion is mission work and church leadership. His hobbies are exercise and anything that happens outdoors.

Small Group Leadership (Pastor Jeff Gunn) The means of grace are the key to people growing in their faith. One way to deliver the means of grace to the people of our congregation is via a groups system. "Growth groups" are gatherings of 12-15 people in homes of the congregation for the purpose of sharing the word of God with one another, praying and worshipping with one another, enjoying fellowship, serving in the congregation and community, and reaching out with the gospel. In this portion of our coaching network we will discuss the groups system: why it is beneficial, how it operates, how to set a groups system up and get it rolling, what the challenges to running a groups system are, how to deal with problems with groups, and how to continue to expand groups to meet the various needs and character of the congregation. BIO Jeff Gunn is pastor of Crosswalk Lutheran Ministries in Phoenix, Arizona.  A teenage convert to Christ, Jeff was brought into the WELS fellowship through a neighboring family, an experience that God used to develop a life-long passion for outreach with the gospel. He graduated from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 1982 and subsequently served for 14 years in the Central Africa country of Zambia.  Six of those years were spent living in the bush, pastoring multiple village congregations. In the next eight years, Jeff continued to serve congregations as a pastor, but also served as WELS field coordinator for the Zambia Mission, and as a professor at the Lutheran Bible Institute and Seminary in Lusaka.  Jeff's 14 years serving in Zambia have given him a unique perspective on the management of the ministry of the gospel.  Since returning to the U.S. in 1996, Jeff has served as religion instructor and assistant principal at Arizona Lutheran Academy for five years. In 2001, he became Director of Native American Missions for the WELS. Finally, in 2004, Jeff received the call to launch CrossWalk Church on the campus of Arizona Lutheran Academy.  Starting with about 30 people in 2004, God has blessed this ministry so that today there are two services and 500 people worshipping each Sunday at CrossWalk. CrossWalk uses a contextualized approach to worship, weekly growth groups, and ministry teams as key components to its approach to gospel ministry in a church that describes itself as a "church for unchurched people."

Spiritual Resiliency (Mr. Rick Loewen) Participants will identify stressors that we all deal with along with some that are more common to those who are in leadership and ministry work. The approach will start with recognition that God has designed us like a three legged stool. We have a spiritual, emotional, and physical leg. When any one of these is out of balance we become out of balance and are more prone to suffer from the effects of stress. Each participant will be given information to form a personal action plan to address each one of these issues. This action plan will be a part of the accountability and support through the monthly individual coaching sessions. BIO Rick Loewen was a police officer for 20 years prior to serving in public ministry. As a police officer he served as a patrol officer, narcotics detective, vice detective, and homicide detective. He taught police officers in the areas of interviews and interrogation, undercover operations, and crime scene investigation. While serving as a police officer and enrolled in the staff ministry program at DMLC, he received a divine call to start the first youth and family ministry program on the White Mountain Apache Reservation AZ. He was then called by WLCFS to develop and implement family ministry programs Synod wide. He served as the director of ministries at WLCFS and oversaw their ministry support services program, family life education program, and counseling division. Rick is currently called by Crosswalk Lutheran Church. At Crosswalk, he serves for a subsidiary ministry called CrossTrain Ministries. CrossTrain Ministries is a self-supporting ministry in partnership with Wisconsin Lutheran College and Grace in Action Ministries.

AGENDA Wednesday, May 11 7 pm - 9 pm          Introductions, Top 3 Challenges,                              Most Passionate in Ministry About,                              My Goals for this Seminar Are Thursday, May 12 8:30-8:45 am         Opening Devotion 9:00-10:00 am       Spiritual Resiliency (Rick Loewen) 10:00-10:15 am     Break 10:15-11:45 am     Spiritual Resiliency (Rick Loewen) 11:45-1:00 pm       Lunch 1:00-1:30 pm         Personal Action Plan 1:30-2:30 pm         Crossroads Consulting Ministry                               (Elton  Stroh) 2:30-5:00 pm         Exercise Demonstrations, Pool Time, Hot                               Tub, Hiking, etc. 5:00-6:30 pm         Dinner 6:30-8:30 pm         Preaching (Don Patterson) 8:30-? pm              Social Gathering Friday, May 13 8:30-8:45 am         Opening Devotion 8:45-10:15 am       Leadership Introduction                               (Don Patterson/Mark Wrightsman)        10:15-10:30 am     Break 10:30-11:45 am     Growths Groups (Jeff Gunn) 11:45-1:00 pm       Lunch 1:00-2:30 pm         Growths Groups (Jeff Gunn) 2:30-2:45 pm         Break 2:45-3:15 pm         Professional Growth Plans 3:15-4:30 pm         Growths Groups (Jeff Gunn) 4:30-6:00 pm         Exercise 6:00-7:30 pm         Dinner 7:30-8:30 pm         Closing Devotion and Round Table Conference                               Feedback 8:30-? pm              Social Gathering Saturday, May 14 8:00 am                 Breakfast 9:00 am                 Departure, Shuttle to Airport, etc.

Your Costs?

• Commitment to receive 12 months of services - including a monthly webinar and personal time with your coach
• 3 days of your life for personal and professional training at a conference center*
• Personal time for completing homework including self-assessments, personal inventories, specialized readings, and much more
•  Willingness to exchange ministry strategies, Bible studies, and sermons
• Willing to coach fellow participants
• $1200.00 for the twelve months of services

*Services and costs for the 3 day conference subject to vary

This ministry is being partially funded by Grace in Action (GIA) and WELS Kingdom Workers.

Bailing Water Is Active Again.An Informed Laity May Stop This Nonsense.The Clergy Will Not Even Try

I have linked Bailing Water again. He has published some new posts on Patterson and the Austin debacle.

No one wanted to touch this stuff 25 years ago. A few dabbled but ran away like little girls, crying and sobbing lest they miss out on that choice Schwan-funded mission call. Life has been good for the apostates, but sinful man can only live so long.

From a Hospital Worker, Freeman Hospital, Joplin, Via the Mayor in Perryville, Missouri

News updates. This is the Walmart destroyed by the tornado.

Date: Tuesday, May 24, 2011, 3:21 PM

ok everybody.  here we go.. what a ride it has been.  I just woke up from crashing finally.. I was at work at Freeman hospital when the tornado hit.  I was the ONLY mantanaince man on the evening shift.  the alert sounded.  said it was a warning for carl junction which is 10 miles north of where we were.  I started all the generators.  10 of them.  just in case... when the storm hit  we did  not realize what had happened only 1/4 north of us at St Johns .  not until the caravans of people started coming in.   

St Johns took a direct hit.  blew out all the windows, then had a gas leak and an explosion.   the tornado was about 8 blocks wide and went through Joplin .  west to east.. never left the ground.  residential... business... residential... main business.. residential.  we had people coming in pickups with wounded.. cars with all the windows blown out.  people on boards, doors, tables.  we emptied 4 conference rooms of the rolling chairs .. about 100.. to use as wheel chairs.  we had 4 triage areas going full blast.  one at each entrance.  people were lined up for 10 blocks or more just to get to our driveways.  we had just gone through an earthquake drill last week, so every one knew their supplies were.  it was calm chaos.  hundreds of wounded,  covered in blankets, sitting in chairs, lying on the floor in rows.  blood every where.. new chairs coming now for sure.... the nurses and doctors were great.  our phones were out instantly... the cell towers were inundated, couldn't get out.  we couldn't call for reinforcements.. they just started showing up.  from every where.. emt's, nurses, doctors, local and even from out of town.  the few in the kitchen started making sandwiches,  we brought out all the blankets we had, brought up rolling supply carts of bandages, cases of bottled water.  formed small groups of volunteers to manage traffic so the ambulances could get in and out.  school buses of injured started coming it.  truckers were bringing in semi loads of injured.  no lights in joplin , we have a six story tower and all you could see were blue and red lights everywhere.  I personally took the 1st six bodies and started a temporary morgue.  The stories people were telling were beyond belief... we had probably 10 or 12 dogs running somewhat loose in the hospital that people had brought in with them.  smoking in the hospital on a no smoking campus. cries of pain, sorrow and yes even joy when people would find loved ones.

The situation in town is way WORSE  than you see on tv.  I came home in the dark and did not know where I was because of the destruction, untill I came to a round about in the road and realized I had gone a mile too far.  I couldn't get through to Sandy on the phones and people started coming in from the area I lived in with horror stories of total destruction.  the home depot you see on tv is just blocks from us... finally another employee came in and said his mom was ok.  and she just lives two blocks from us.  the tornado just missed my son by two blocks as well.  My daughter in law is a therapist and has no office building to go to anymore.  her father is a dentist who has no office building to go to anymore. 

Joplin will take years to rebuild.  kinda like the twin towers.  you can actually see all the way through town, end to end.  the high school is gone.  a major business street, going east and west on the east of town is flat on both sides of the street for two miles.  nothing left standing.  thousands of people have lost their homes, and their possessions, AND  their income because their places of employment have vanished off the map.

on the other hand, THANK THE LORD,  I have my home, my possesions and my job.  I never had to serve in combat, but surely this has to be somewhat similar in relation of chaos.  I kinda know what the Japanese must feel like after the sunami now.   yes I know some of the dead in joplin personally. 

  Freeman hospital still looks kinda like it did that night.  we still have STUFF everywhere.  the floor is still dirty because joplin has virtually no water pressure. we barely have enough water to run our sterilzers for instruments.   only two bathrooms work in the hospital.. don't know whey they do... the water company has SO MANY broken pipes in houses that are gone, that they can't get the pressure to come up.  a large area of the roof blew off and the rain collected and ran down inbetween the layers of roofing and into the areas full of pipes and wires and is still dripping and of course the rain won't stop so we can fix the roof.  we have buckets all over the halls and even have a couple of areas of rooms we can't even use because the water keeps coming out of the ceiling area.  we have removed hundreds of ceiling tiles that have gotten wet and were coming down anyway.  the fire alarms keep going off all the time because the  wiring system is getting wetter and wetter with all the leaks.  we have to check each alarm to make sure there is no fire and then silence it.

PLEASE PRAY FOR US.  A LOT OF PEOPLE'S LIVES ARE CHANGED FOREVER.
 MINE IS. AND I AM ALRIGHT.  THANKS FOR ALL THE CALLS, SORRY THE PHONES STILL DON'T WORK VERY WELL.  WE ARE ON A CURFEW DUSK TO DAWN WITH NATIONAL GUARD AT HUNDREDS OF INTERSECTIONS.  A 15 MINUTE DRIVE TO HOME  TOOK  ME AN HOUR.  ONLY MY FREEMAN BADGE LET ME THROUGH.  MAYBE I  WILL WRITE MORE LATER.  NOW I'M GOING BACK TO SLEEP.  JOHN

HE NEVER SAID IT WOULD BE EASY... HE JUST SAID FOLLOW ME.

Intrepid Rydecki Back to Justification by Faith, We Hope

Intrepid Comments here:

Anonymous said...

On a recent Lutheran blog a WELS member tells of how he was, in essence, excommunicated. (refused the Lord's supper) Why? Because he argued that "It is wrong to preach that one's sins are forgiven before they were born. " Do Intrepid Lutherans believe that all sins are forgiven before you believe? Do you believe there is forgiveness before repentance? It is time for this website to go beyond innocuous (albeit interesting) posts. The problems in the WELS need to be specifically and pointedly addressed. Doing the right thing most often requires rocking the boat. And you're here to do the right thing. James Danielson

May 27, 2011 9:00 PM

Rev. Paul Rydecki said...

I'll speak for myself, but it's the same thing we've stated all along (especially last year when we discussed justification in depth). Forgiveness of sins was acquired for all people of all times by the suffering and death of Christ. God truly desires all men to receive this forgiveness. This forgiveness is distributed by God in the means of grace, and is received by faith, created by the Holy Spirit through the means of grace. The one who believes in Christ believes because the Holy Spirit worked faith in his heart through those means, and that one is said to have the forgiveness of sins. The one who does not believe in God's Son is alone at fault for his unbelief, and is counted among the wicked, and his sins are not forgiven him. We must follow Luther in distinguishing between forgiveness acquired and forgiveness distributed. Was forgiveness acquired before repentance? Yes. This is the completed work of redemption. Is forgiveness distributed before repentance? That's a confusing and bad question. Better: Is forgiveness distributed apart from the means of grace? No, it is most certainly not. This belongs to the Third Article of the Creed and to the work of the Holy Spirit, who richly and daily forgives sins to me and all believers in Christ.

***

GJ - All falsehoods and ambiguities must be eliminated. "Is forgiveness distributed before repentance?" - that is a good question. I may post more on this later, depending on whether clarifications follow or the topic is avoided again.

Kudu Don Patterson and Tim Glende Are Now Facebook Friends.Both Are Church and Changers With Their Trotters in the Trough

Holy Cow! Holy Word in Austin Is Spending $45,000 at Cornerstone, Another Tentacle of Church and Change, Where Patterson Is a Leader

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Our Plea for Change at Holy Word

On April 15th of this year I resigned my Elder-ship at Holy Word.  I dissented while on the board to contracting with Cornerstone Stewardship Ministries (a not-for-profit corporation); especially to the exorbitant fee they were charging and that we were willing to pay it.  It was wrong on so many levels and I cited Matthew 21:12 as part of my disagreement.  On April 10th at the quarterly voters' meeting, the congregation voted in favor of hiring Cornerstone.  I could not in good conscience give my offerings to Holy Word any longer since I would be supporting this.  In my mind this had a logical trickle down effect.  If I was no longer giving my offerings, how could I in good conscience be an Elder?  How could I be a member for that matter?  My only choices were to leave or stay and try to effect change.  I felt it was my Christian obligation with the help of God to do the latter.


On May 18th we submitted the following via email to the leadership at Holy Word Lutheran Church which precipitated what has been chronicled earlier on this blog.

"Pastor Patterson et al,

I have to disagree when you say (I believe you are saying this) that 1 Cor. 5:19 says that all men are reconciled to God; as in forgiven therefore justified and righteous before faith.  This is certainly not the case with say for instance Cain or Edom of the OT.  The two verses preceding contradict this as the context refers to those ‘in Christ’ as in ‘have faith in Christ’.  I believe the Bible does speak about believers the same way whether it is before or after Christ’s passion.  The trouble is that many in WELS are teaching that UOJ is in the wrong place.  It is displaced from Christ and on the whole unbelieving world.  Therefore in order to make the teaching work you have to change the meanings and context of words.  It is confusing.

Our focus is on Christ as it has been for all believers of all time; beginning with the promise in the Garden of Eden.  God was (and is) reconciling (ongoing) the world (since it is God’s will for all to be saved) for the sake of Christ so that by faith believers (who are sinners) would be saved.  As Job said in the OT…I know that my Redeemer liveth!  Christ possesses the forgiveness, righteousness and justification that He won (or would win) – objectively - for all and it is imputed to those who believe in Him as their Savior for all times.  By Grace through FAITH ALONE.  Christ stands in no one’s place aside from faith.  He that believes…will be saved…He who doesn’t is damned…no belief in Christ…means you remain in your sins.

It is troublesome how you handled a meeting with my wife Lisa.  You acknowledged that you did not want to hop over my headship in your email of 4-20-11 and yet you communicated with her via email on 4-18-11 unbeknownst to me.  Here is the brief email in its entirety; “I have no desire to get between you and Joe on the things that he has recently taken a stand on.  Just want you to know if you and Joe desire to talk to me or confront me together I am willing.  Otherwise, I will leave you to follow your husband and seek God's will in the Scriptures. I trust that you are thoughtful Christians.”  You did not hear from her.  I told you in my email two days later that she was right with me.  Instead of leaving her to me, on the 28^th of April, approximately 15 minutes before arriving at her place of employment to have your vehicle serviced, you texted Lisa if you could speak to her for a minute and ended up leaving almost 90 minutes later.  Needless to say it was in my opinion as well as that of Lisa and her employer (also a member of your congregation) that you took advantage of the situation.  You have said more than once that these kinds of discussions are a waste of time for you; that they entangle and keep you from doing your job.  It was disturbingly evident when you emphatically declared to Lisa more than once that “your job is to save souls”.  She called you on it and I am thankful for that.  She IS my better half.  Lisa was right by correcting you that it is the work of the Holy Ghost to save souls and that your job is to merely proclaim the Word.  When she pressed you as to why you would say such a thing, you changed the subject.

Even so it is still our hope to remain WELS and to work through the contradictions between worship and practice at Holy Word and what is presented in Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions; using them to guide us.  This was my fervent prayer as I was installed as Elder.

Areas that we hope for change and a willingness to help in this work are as follows:

• Suspending work with Cornerstone Stewardship Ministries.  Spending $45,000 to do stewardship is not stewardly.  To throw money at what we should have been doing all along is irresponsible.  For me to hear as an Elder that some members who have not been in attendance for at least two years without contact is astounding in light of the example we have in Jesus as our shepherd.  When I read Pastor Patterson’s background from the Holy Word website:” In addition to serving the congregation of Holy Word, he has also served the church at large. In 1996, he was appointed second Vice President of the South Central District of the WELS, and in 2000 he was appointed first Vice President. He is currently serving on the Board of Directors for Wisconsin Lutheran Child and Famliy(sic) Services, and he has spoken at numerous conferences, marriage retreats, and seminars. He has also written several articles for various synod publications such as Forward in Christ, Meditations, Lutheran Parenting, Wisconsin Lutheran Quarterly, and Lutheran Leadership.”  And when in the short time I was an Elder and saw what Pastor had on his plate…my first thought (sic) was, ‘Hey!  He works for Holy Word!  What gives?’  All of these things are honorable…but at the expense of his calling?  Shouldn’t he be spending more time at home especially now?; preaching and teaching the Word; administering the Sacraments and doing visitations?  Use the money to call a pastor who is equipped to spearhead the Hispanic ministry.  I couldn’t believe my ears in one of the Elders meetings when there was some talk of possibly selling the property to another denomination if we had to.
• Strike the official title of “Deaconess” and rename the position Coordinator of Hispanic Outreach.  To keep this title that infers authority (male version of deacon – see duties and requirements in the epistles) sets a precedent.  There are deacons who are preaching in WELS already (this is another issue).  The King James Bible does not translate to deaconness for very good reason.  There is too little info on Phoebe in the Bible to base this position and title on, nor any other female in the Bible.
• In areas of worship, there is freedom…adiophora as you like to call it.  However it ceases to be so when the reason you do it is un-biblical.  In other words…it is not that you do it; it is why you do it or why you don’t.  The Lutheran Confessions say that we do not abolish the Mass.  In Luther’s time, Mass (Holy Communion) was celebrated at least every Lord’s Day and church festivals.  So why don’t we?  You even intimated a story either in Bible class or one of your sermons about a pastor who attends HW who inquired of you from what you preached that we sin daily, hourly and even by the minute sometimes; that we are always in need of forgiveness…so why don’t you go to communion both services on communion Sunday?  You actually capitulated and said that now you do.  So I ask you; Why don’t we celebrate it every Sunday?  It is the Body and Blood of our Savior for the remission of sins…why withhold this?  Lisa asked the same question in your meeting with her.  Your answer was “that it is a matter of convenience”.  I see disconnect.  What about the order of service known as ‘Morning Praise’?  Was this designed for Sunday worship?  There is no Confession.  Why would we eliminate a confession of sins?  Confession was regarded as a Sacrament in Luther’s time.  What changed?  Music as well needs more scrutinizing.  I addressed this with Ron Stelljes last fall.  And yet there is more and more music sung at HW that comes from the heterodox.  The Bill and Gloria Gaither song that was used for worship last March was void of all substance and better left to venues like Trinity Broadcast Network, Joel Osteen, Jesse Duplantis and the rest.
• Pastor, you are a duly called and ordained servant of the Word.  To turn your call over to laymen is a travesty against the Office of the Holy Ministry.  These men are not equipped to be giving sermonettes during worship; teaching Bible class or leading the upcoming small groups.  You are.  HW south Bible class has been short changed ever since north began worship.  There is just too much conjecture taking place without the solid leadership of someone who has been to Seminary.  Why hasn’t our Vicar done more in leading Bible class at south?  This would be valuable experience.  I only recall being there once when Vicar led Bible class.
• By changing the name of the school you are showing your lack of faith in the power of the Word.  (How ironic since the name of our church is Holy Word)  It was stated that you won’t be changing our Lutheran doctrine and I believe you are telling the truth.  I believe it has already been changed beforehand.  This is branding and nothing else. (Or is it bait and switch?)  The success of a church or school is not measured in numbers but how well you teach the Word of God in truth and purity.  So many of the symbols of the Church Catholic are falling by the wayside and soon, very soon we will look and worship like everyone else around us; pandering to the felt needs of culture instead of transforming culture.  We are to be different.  It is not so far fetched to presume as Lisa opined in your meeting, ‘You might as well change the name of Holy Word Lutheran Church to Holy Word Christian Fellowship.’  Again it is not that you are changing the name it is the motivation behind it.
• Correct teaching of Objective Justification; that it is on Christ for the world and distributed through faith; that there is no forgiveness of sins apart from the Means of Grace (MoG) in Word and Sacrament.  Teaching forgiveness aside from the MoG nullifies the Sacraments.  You are confusing the Atonement with Justification. 
• Your role with Elders needs to be more passive.  It is possible that based on your personality no one wants the agenda because they are afraid of you.  Or, your recruitment system is 100% successful in garnering men who support you fully.  There should be an Elder lead that runs the meeting concerning spiritual matters only; worship and practice, discipline and concern for the pastor and his work load; setting the pastor’s work agenda; not the pastor telling the Elders what he is going to be doing.  Any other matters should be left to the respective boards, committees and councils.  The President and VP should be tending to council matters; all things Holy Word and not every Elders meeting.
• Fellowship ties should be examined with Christ the Rock.  Is there anyone paying attention to what is going on there?  If this video is any indication, one has to wonder.  This is from this past Easter.  Watch the ending!

            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sjjq8h8ttBw&feature=related

What we believe about the Bible and the Confessions influences greatly what we do in preaching and teaching, worship and practice.  It is my heartfelt thought that we have strayed as a Confessional Lutheran Church.

Respectfully submitted,

Joe Krohn"

WELS Boots Are Made For WalkingAnd That's What They're Gonna Do!One of These Days These Boots of TheirsGonna Stomp All Over You!

Click here is the post.

Quotations on Prayer:Suitable for Kelming on Rogate Sunday

"Prayer is made vigorous by petitioning; urgent, by supplication; by thanksgiving, pleasing and acceptable. Strength and acceptability combine to prevail and secure the petition."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholaus Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, VI, p. 107. Fourth Sunday in Advent, Philippians 4:4-7;

"The Lord's Prayer opens with praise and thanksgiving and the acknowledgement of God as a Father; it earnestly presses toward Him through filial love and a recognition of fatherly tenderness. For supplication, this prayer is unequaled. Hence it is the sublimest and the noblest prayer ever uttered."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholaus Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, VI, p. 107. Fourth Sunday in Advent, Philippians 4:4-7; Matthew 6:9-13

"Take heed, then, to embrace the message of these words presenting the love and kindness of God to all men. Daily exercise your faith therein, entertaining no doubt of God's love and kindness toward you, and you shall realize His blessings. Then you may with perfect confidence ask what you will, what your heart desires, and whatever is necessary for the good of yourself and your fellow-men."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, VI, p. 146. Second Christmas Sermon Titus 3:4-8

"In like manner, St. Paul says that God's ability is thus proved, in that He does exceeding abundantly above and better than we ask or think. Ephesians 3:20. Therefore, we should know we are too finite to be able to name, picture or designate the time, place, way, measure and other circumstances for that which we ask of God. Let us leave that entirely to Him, and immovably and steadfastly believe that He will hear us."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p. 179f. Fifth Sunday after Easter Ephesians 3:20.

"O God, I am Thy creature and Thy handiwork and Thou hast from the beginning created me. I will depend entirely on You who cares more for me, how I shall be sustained, then I do myself; Thou wilt indeed nourish me, feed, clothe and help me, where and when You know best."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed. John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House 1983, IV, p. 206. Seventh Sunday after Trinity Mark 8:1-9

"Only begin this [prayer, self-examination], I say, and see how you will succeed in the task; and you will soon discover what an unbelieving knave is hidden in your bosom, and that your heart is too dull to believe it."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, II, p. 257. Easter, Third Sermon Mark 16:1-8.

"The Christian's faith trusts in the ordinary means. Prayer is not a means of grace. Means of grace are divine appointments through which God uniformly offers blessings to all who use them. Faith is the means by which the blessings are received and appropriated. God gives us bread, when we ask it, not through the channel of prayer, but through the ordinary channels of His providence. He gives us grace when we ask it, not through prayer, but through the ordinary means appointed for this end, namely the Word and Sacraments. He who despises these will as little have grace as he who refuses to accept bread produced in the ordinary way of nature. Faith asks with confidence, and trusts in the ordinary means of God's appointment for the blessings asked."
Matthias Loy, Sermons on the Gospels, Columbus: Lutheran Book Concern, 1888, p. 387.

"His good heart and faith naturally teach him how to pray. Yea, what is such faith, but pure prayer? It continually looks for divine grace, and if it looks for it, it also desires it with all the heart."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholaus Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, V, p. 70. Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity, Luke 17:11-19.


"Lord God, Thou hast placed me in Thy church as a bishop and pastor. Thou seest how unfit I am to administer this great and difficult office. Had I hitherto been without help from Thee, I would have ruined everything long ago. Therefore I call on Thee. I gladly offer my mouth and heart to Thy service. I would teach the people and I myself would continue to learn. To this end I shall meditate diligently on Thy Word. Use me, dear Lord, as Thy instrument. Only do not forsake me; for if I were to continue alone, I would quickly ruin everything."
What Luther Says, An Anthology, 3 vols., ed., Ewald Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, II, p. 926. W 42, 513 Genesis 27:11-14

More Whopper Congregations Leaving ELCA

"At least give us credit for new mission starts, Brett."

ALPB

First Evangelical Lutheran Church, Idaho Falls, ID Status = Left ELCA Joined LCMC Baptized membership = 859
Emmaus Lutheran Community, Idaho Falls, ID Status = New ELCA

Central Lutheran Church, Elk River, MN Status = Left ELCA Joined LCMC Baptized membership = 4238
Elk River Lutheran Church, Elk River, MN Status = New ELCA

Faith Lutheran Church, Hutchinson, MN Status = Left ELCA Joined LCMC Baptized membership = 2380
Christ the King Lutheran Church, Hutchinson, MN Status = Left ELCA Joined LCMC Baptized membership = 2398
River of Hope Lutheran Church, Hutchinson, MN Status = New ELCA

Rushford Lutheran Church, Rushford, MN Status = Left ELCA Joined LCMC Baptized membership = 994
Trinity Fellowship, Rushford, MN Status = New ELCA

Martin Luther Lutheran Church, Giddings, TX Status = Left ELCA Joined LCMC Baptized membership = 742
Grace Lutheran Church, Giddings, TX Status = New ELCA

Faith Lutheran Church, Seguin, TX Status = Left ELCA Joined LCMC Baptized membership = 1668
Lutheran Mission of Seguin, Seguin, TX Status = New ELCA

When I did that exercise in reverse, and I've done it several times in this thread, I found large numbers of such pairs where a new Lutheran church of another denomination was created by the people on the losing side of a leave-the-ELCA vote. Does anyone dispute that it is positive news for the ELCA that those on the losing side of a successful leave-the-ELCA vote start a new ELCA church? Isn't this the sort of positive news that anyone would think the ELCA would be happy to report, or to have reported by others?

***

GJ - ELCA starts new congregations from the losing faction in the voting to leave ELCA drama. LCMC and NALC organize new missions from those members who quit after their congregation fails the two votes to leave. George Erdner's point, I believe, is that ELCA is hiding where their "new missions" (losing the vote and the property) are located. One began with a Gay Pride Sunday, which is like starting a WELS parish with Al Just Recognition Day.

ELCA makes the bar quite difficult to achieve, but they lose either way. The entire congregation leaves with the property, or a considerable number of members leave and start anew.

Ponder the size of these monster congregations. They will have enormous clout from day one, because they do not have to go through the struggle of finding land, borrowing money for a building, and dealing with dysfunctional mission board executives.

Meanwhile, WELS is still abusing members, as if the Internet does not exist and people cannot share documents, emails, and blog posts.

Example of Joplin, Missouri, Tornado Damage - 50 Miles From Us

This is Peace Lutheran (ELCA) in Joplin, Missouri. My wife and I have viewed tornado damage before. A tiny one landed across from our home in Sturgis, Michigan. Another one went through St. Peter, Minnesota, (near New Ulm) where Gustavus Adolphus College is located. The college shut down due to the damage on the campus.

However, we have never seen anything like the damage in Joplin, and we are only looking at photos. We would not consider driving there to look, adding to their problems of congestion and rubber-necking.

The loss of life there is still unknown, but the disaster will probably be listed at one of the worst tornadoes ever in America. The photo above is Peace Lutheran before the tornado.