Real Women Speak Out: How Student Loans Have Affected Me | Fox Business. When Will Lutherans Deal with Their Punitive Seminary Loan Situations?

Real Women Speak Out: How Student Loans Have Affected Me | Fox Business:

You can’t help but notice the dire chatter surrounding student loans these days.

In fact, student loans are one of the hottest topics here at LearnVest, whether in LV Discussions, your comments or stories we write. Some are calling it the newest lending crisis, equal in scope to the subprime mortgages that torpedoed the economy in 2008.

No wonder–a record one in five households now holds student debt. Increasingly, this debt burden is altering lives, and not in the way students imagined when they first took out the loans. Enrollment in graduate programs has dropped, as students face mounting undergraduate loans. 44% of graduates are delaying buying a home, and 23% will delay having children because of their debt burden.

Defaults on student loans are at a record 13.4%, and there’s no clean slate in sight–student loans are rarely dischargeable in bankruptcy.

One NYU professor has even said that student loans are immoral.

This is a topic you’re passionate about. According to a nationwide survey conducted by LearnVest and Chase Blueprint, more than half of you have student loan debt, and you owe an average of $41,000. A quarter of you have more than five loans outstanding, and more than a third of you don’t think your student loans were worth it.

We wanted to show the faces behind these statistics, so we reached out to five LearnVest readers to share their own stories of naiveté, guilt and–in some cases–acceptance and triumph.

Do you recognize your own story in theirs?

Rebecca Harris, law student

Debt: $160,498

I came out of undergrad with almost $40,000 in student loans, and decided to go straight into law school. I wasn’t worried about taking on more debt because law schools all but guarantee that their graduates get jobs. The reality is that those numbers were inflated and manipulated. Students from my school who graduated two years ago are just now starting to get real jobs or picking up temporary work.

I’ve been adding to my loans for three years, and I now have an outstanding balance of $160,498 in federal loans (find out why federal loans are better than private), and I haven’t been able to pay down any while in school. My school requires 25 hours per week in legal clinics in addition to classes, reading and work, so there is little to no time for an extra job.

I feel extremely stressed out and overwhelmed. Recently I’ve been wondering if this is the right career for me after all, after getting a taste through clinic work. I want to find something that doesn’t make me stressed and anxious, and is more fulfilling. I’ve been researching other options, like working in HR or taking a management job that doesn’t require a law degree but would still make use of it.

Tiffany, public sector professional

Debt: $97,000

Even with a half-tuition scholarship, help from my parents and graduating early, I graduated from Boston University with $70,000 in student loan debt, then embarked on a career in the public sector in New York, starting at $30,000.

About two years ago, my boyfriend asked what the pay-off date for my loans was, and I had no idea. I read all the fine print and repayment terms and found I would be paying for nearly 30 years at the rate I was going! It felt like getting hit over the head with a ton of bricks.

I have since calculated my monthly payments so I will be paid off no later than December 2020. I allocate more to the higher-interest loans and take advantage of incentives such as lower interest if you enroll in auto-payment. I have a credit card that sends my cash-back bonuses straight to my private student loans.

“Even paying $100 a month while in school would have saved me $1,200 in accrued interest.”

I am grateful that the loans allowed me to go to the school of my choice. I just wish I understood capitalized interest and the terms of repayment better. I would have made an effort to pay at least something on my loans while in school. Even $100 a month, which would have been feasible with my college job, would have saved me $1,200 in accrued interest.

Now I’m back in school for my master’s in public administration and I’m looking at another $60,000 in debt, but this time with more knowledge. I chose a program that allowed me to continue working full-time and have paid off over $15,000 of my debt while in school. At work, I have been promoted, now earning between $50,000 and $60,000, and will graduate with my master’s in a much better position, both professionally and financially, than if I had attended a full-time program.

Diane Bitler, receptionist

Debt: $80,000

When I took out my student loans, I was young and did not have any clue about money, like the difference between lenders and good versus bad APR. My parents were new to the process as well and had no qualms about taking loans out. I wish my counselors guided me more, but instead I was encouraged to apply to any bank for loans.

I majored in Political Science at SUNY Albany. I chose my major at 17, and by the time I realized it didn’t appeal to me, I was a junior and it was too late to switch majors. Still, I figured I would graduate and find a job in six months (the time before receiving the loan bill). In reality, I graduated, and could only find part-time or extremely low paying jobs, none of which were enough to support myself and pay student loans.

For a long time I felt like a failure because I had no means of paying these loans. I tried the late payment rehabilitation program, but was two payments away when my work hours were cut and I could no longer afford it. My lenders continue to raise my interest and tack on late fees, which now accounts for the majority of my debt. Because my mom co-signed my loans, she’s been getting collection calls and harassment letters about garnishing her wages. Her credit is ruined along with mine.

“I’ve ruined my mom’s credit as well as mine.”

I went to a free financial counseling center in NYC, which helped me figure out how much I owe and to whom, but I am still at a loss as how to deal with these lenders. I’m trying to find a way to consolidate all my loans into just one bill.

I finally left Manhattan and moved to Virginia to find work. Now I earn $10 an hour, roughly $21,000 a year. I feel trapped. I could pay these off if I became a millionaire. Otherwise, I will be paying them until I die. I just wish I could file bankruptcy and start fresh.

I don’t understand how this could be done to the future of America.

Lily Engle, sales professional

Debt: $0

When I graduated in May 2009, I had a solid amount of student loan debt. While I know that $15,000 definitely isn’t that high, it was still a considerable sum to wrap my head around, and it lit a fire under my butt to find a job.

I work in sales, which isn’t my dream job (I had been hoping to find something in development or fundraising for a non-profit), but it has proven to be extremely rewarding and pays twice as much. So my happiness at work is one positive that came out of my student loans.

If I didn’t have these loans, I may have been more frivolous with my spending after college and would not have been able to create an emergency “savings cushion” like I have now. My loans helped me learn to budget and think about money differently. When paying down my debt, I always paid far more than the monthly minimum. As a trade-off, I chose to live somewhere where my rent was lower than the max I could afford. I also planned my budgets and spending around my salary, not my bonuses.

“My loans have helped me learn to budget and think about money differently.”

When I received my end-of-year bonus in March 2012, I used the entire thing to pay off the remaining $8,000. Because I didn’t incorporate my expected bonus into my budget, it wasn’t painful to say goodbye to it. I saved big on interest–I would have ended up paying an additional $800 or so over the life of the loan had I just kept on paying as usual, which would have taken me until 2015.

(Find out why she saved by paying earlier.)

Because of my loans, I can really appreciate the value of my education. Compromising on my education to avoid borrowing may have left me jobless post-graduation and given me no choice but to remain financially dependent upon my family. And being sure to pay my loans each month has given me good credit and solid financial footing as I prepare to take on additional financial responsibilities like homeownership or a family (eventually!).

Virginia Bosch, actor

Debt: $110,000

I was recently asked to fill out a survey from my private university, including the question: “If you could do it all over again, would you choose this school?” I answered, “Yes for the experience, but not for the money.”

I’ve wanted to be an actress since I was a little girl, but I also wanted to go to a school that let me explore other options and grow personally, so I chose to get a BA in the arts instead of going to a conservatory program. My university had the best theater program in the country … and was also named the most expensive college in the state. Originally we had more aid from the school and my parents were planning on paying more upfront. But since the market crashed when I was in college, our situation changed and the amount of aid the school gave me drastically dropped by the time I graduated (this was all told to my parents, not me).  So my parents took out more loans. I graduated in 2009 with $12,000 in federal and private student loans in my name, and over $100,000 in my parents’ names.

My goal is still to be an actress, but I’ve built up a swarm of freelance flexible jobs. I tried a steady administration job, but was miserable. So now I am currently an actor/babysitter/teaching artist/administrative temp/superstar errand-runner. (Find out more ways to make income on the side.) My income ranges between $1,000 to $2,600 a month. I’m back on track to paying my loans, and starting to formulate a financial plan.

When I graduated, the words “consolidation” and “interest rate” were foreign to me, despite the fact that I had borrowed so much money. When applying to college, I would have loved someone to sit me down and explain the ins and outs of loans. $50,000 in debt is very impractical as an actress. At my current rate, I will be able to pay off my portion of loans within the next five years, but I plan on taking on as much of the $100,000 in loans in my parents’ names as possible, even though they say they are willing to pay for my education.

Originally, my loans only produced guilt that I chose an expensive education, guilt that my parents were helping me, and primarily, guilt that I was pursuing my passion when I had this debt. I have been making peace with this, especially since guilt doesn’t pay the loans. And I’m so grateful for my parents’ support.

If You’re in Student Loan Debt or Considering Taking It on:

One good rule of thumb is to never take out more student loans than your anticipated first year’s salary. But we bet, now that you’ve read other women’s stories, you have more questions of your own about how to handle student loans responsibly.

We answer them all in LearnVest’s Knowledge Center. First, understand how student loans work with our complete guide. If you need loans, use our easy checklist to figure out how, and what type, to take out in the first place.

If you’re paying off student loans, use our checklist on how to pay them off, which runs through all the strategies and resources available to you to get a handle on your payments. If you’re struggling, read about your options here.

Want More?

By the Numbers: The Student Loan Crisis

Take Control of Your Money With Our Free Bootcamp

8 Things to Know Before Applying for Financial Aid

Read more: http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2012/10/29/real-women-speak-out-how-student-loans-have-affected-me/#ixzz2B4GtTJcq

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Denominations Are Dead: Evangelicals Agree That the System Cannot Be Fixed. Holy Mother Church Has Self-Destructed

Yesterday I was talking to someone with similar connections to mainline denominations, including my hometown. We had a name in common. I said, "He is the reason I became a Lutheran." The minister speaking had a chance at that man's library, when he retired. He could take any book he wanted. "The trouble was," he said, "all the books were as shallow as he was. But he was known for being a good speaker."

We outlined some individual skirmishes. The Disciples of Christ, who are big in a swath from Illinois to Texas, would not ordain homosexuals. So they partnered with the United Church of Christ, who ordained homosexuals far earlier than anyone else. Any Disciple candidate who wanted to out himself could get ordained in the UCC and serve in the Disciples, because ordination was mutually accepted, based on their agreement.

And the Disciples refused to entertain even a watered-down inerrancy statement ("an option") because "it was credal. We have no creeds but the bobble." Para-church groups formed to battle this and they finally said, "Why are we bothering?" They dissolved their group within the Disciples and loosely affiliated after that time, leaving the Disciples as a group.

That will obviously be the trend from now on. Before the 2009 ELCA meeting I kept holding up the Episcopal Church as an example where serving bishops were taking their dioceses out of the The Episcopalian Church (TEC) as a whole. I never expected ELCA bishops to do the same, and not one serving bishop ever tried. But the retired ELCA bishops did join the movement out of ELCA after 2009 (ordination of homosexuals approved). At last count, six retired ELCA bishops were organizing NALC, a group parallel to the older LCMC.

The local ELCA church lost 2/3rds of its Sunday attendance after 2009. An LCMC congregation formed from the exiles.

ELCA began shrinking by 20%. Naturally, the ELCA bishop Mark Hanson and TEC's bishop Katie Schori, went to work to ensure their dominance and control - at any cost.

My friends in blogging and writing - ChurchMouse, California, and Rogue Lutheran - have all dealt with this phenomenon - Diaprax. Every issue becomes a process, a way of resolving it so the leaders get their way.

The denominations do not fear political action - they welcome it. The ambush is already prepared for each and every attempt. "Sure let's have a meeting where this is discussed." They identify the dissenters and pick them off, one by one. Some are frightened away. Others are bribed - I have names. The persistent are targeted in various ways.

The persistent are going to be a minority. I noticed from a profile (Keirsey - free test) that Idealists are a minority. An Idealist is going to address issues according to principle rather than by what's-good-for-me. The persistent buckle and surrender - or they are driven away and shunned.

Look at the dullards and belly-servers who are SynCon DPs and SPs. And their history! No matter what the name of the man, the last 50 years have shown their eagerness to work with ELCA (or predecessors) for money and the warm glow of approval from apostates.

They are the apostasy enablers.

No one is more dangerous than the pastor or synodocat who pretends to oppose error and flips when it matters most.

Jon Buchholz is a good example of someone who agreed to sign the secret petition about Mark Jeske. He was known for being a DP "concerned" about the situation, stymied like poor helpless Mark Schroeder because the Gang of Four protected Jeske.

The only resolution at the convention, once the process took over, was one in favor of Jeske. And who spoke in support of that groveling, sycophantic motion? Jon Buchholz, California-Arizona DP, WELS, the Jedi Knight of Orthodoxy (in his mind).

As Henry  of Navarre once said, "The kingdom of France is worth a Mass" when he was forced to abandon his Protestant faith.

Buchholz was UOJ all the way, so I am not going to credit him with any scruples or doctrinal knowledge. He is simply one more example of someone eager to posture for a time, and even more eager to switch sides when convenient.

SP Schroeder and DP Buchholz are now adoring members of JELS:

JELS - the Jeske Emergent Legalistic Sect. 

Any questions? You are fired.

VirtueOnline - News - Exclusives - AUCKLAND: ABC Says Majority of Anglican Communion Will Never Accept SS Marriage.Gay Activism Has Already Ruined Lutherdom Because LCMS-WELS-ELS Leaders Work with ELCA - No Problem!

WELS rewards these apostates,
because false doctrine unites.

VirtueOnline - News - Exclusives - AUCKLAND: ABC Says Majority of Anglican Communion Will Never Accept SS Marriage:

AUCKLAND, NZ: Archbishop of Canterbury Says Majority of Anglican Communion Will Never Accept Same Sex Marriage

By David W. Virtue in Auckland, NZ 
www.virtueonline.org 
October 26, 2102

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams told more than 2000 Anglicans gathered for the ACC-15 welcoming ceremony at Telstra Pacific Center that the vast majority of Anglicans will never come to terms with same sex marriage. He added that while some will recognize "public partnerships" they are not sure marriage is right.

The opening fanfare of the 15th the Anglican Consultative Council's brought the Archbishop of Canterbury on a Pacific tour that included Papua New Guinea in his final swan song before he departs as leader of the Anglican Communion. It also brought together the Anglican Communion's most liberal glitterati that include US Presiding bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, Southern Africa Archbishop Thabo Makgoba and other Anglican leaders from across the globe. 

However the Ugandans took a decision about two years ago not to participate in the Anglican Instruments, so they are not present. Kenya, on the other hand has sent three representatives. The Province of Nigeria is represented by New Zealand born CANA/ACNA Bishop Julian Dobbs. Notably absent are representatives of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (GAFCON) primates and numerous archbishops of the Global South who are shunning this event having made clear that they will have nothing to do with the left leaning ACC that has ignored their concerns over the drift of several branches of Western Anglicanism that have wandered away from gospel imperatives, endorsing a variety of sexualities that have no biblical base, and caused profound eruptions in the communion.

The multi-cultural event held mainly in Maori saw an aging group of mostly white people listening to a mostly Maori service. The civic welcome opened in the native Maori language and Maori hakas brought smiles and laughter from the audience in the opening moves by Maori Anglicans. Marching in procession behind them were young New Zealanders carrying signs representing Central Africa, Congo, The Episcopal Church, Hong Kong, Indian Ocean, Japan, Kenya, Korea Melanesia, Mexico, Burma (Myanmar), Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, North India, Rwanda, Philippines, Scottish Episcopal Church, SE Asia, Southern Cone of America, South India, Southern Africa, Sudan, Wales, West Africa, Sudan, West Africa, West Indies, Aotearoa (New Zealand).

A panel of four archbishops of the Communion that included Dr. Williams, Thabo Makgoba of Southern Africa, NZ Archbishop Winston Halapua of the Tikanga Pasefika, which includes the Diocese of Polynesia, and US Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori fielded questions in a lively give and take with Anglican youth.

In response to a question by one young Anglican student on the issue of same sex marriage, Williams replied, that the short answer is that the Anglican Church has quite a lot to say about this issue but it's not always the same thing. 

"For the vast majority of Anglicans in the world the idea of same-sex marriage is not one they can come to terms with. Even those who want to say that some kind of recognized public partnership for people of the same sex is a good thing, even they are not too sure whether calling it marriage is right if 'marriage' is something with all the symbolic and theological focus that it's had in the Bible and in history."

Williams said the disagreements must focus people on "another set of very delicate and difficult issues" around the fact that Christians "have been rejecting and even violent towards people with same-sex attraction and we have a lot of repenting to do there."

Jefferts Schori acknowledged "many people have found it difficult to hear what the Episcopal Church has said about these issues through its General Convention."

"Our understanding as a whole church is that people with same-sex attraction seek the same ability in life to live in a covenanted relationship with another person whom they love, that that can be a good thing, that human beings were not created to live alone - that is what Genesis says - and that therefore the church's task is to help all human beings live in holy relationships that can show the love of God to a world much in need of it," she said.

The Episcopal Church has been having this conversation for 50 years and we do not all agree, added the Presiding Bishop.

"Where we differ is what that [covenanted relationship] looks like, and that's where the conversation is having its most creative possibility. I doubt that we will ever all agree about what that covenanted or holy relationship will look like and what the boundaries are but, if we are unable to have the conversation, we are going to do violence to human beings who need not to live alone."

Calling the question "a pastoral matter," Makgoba said there is pain on all sides of the issue, adding "what is important is to respect the dignity of each person as created in God."

"As one of my predecessors once said about this: 'the Holy Spirit is not yet finished with us on this matter,'" he noted.

New Zealand Aotearoa Archbishop Winston Halapua of Polynesia said NZ is on a journey with this pastoral matter. "It is painful that the church is divided over this. What is important is to respect the dignity of all people involved. The Holy Spirit has not yet finished with us on this matter."

Asked by one young Anglican if it was fun being leader of the church, Williams replied, "It is unavoidable to take some decisions in the name of the whole church and you know that they are going to hurt people very badly and you just have to be aware of the need to stay with the people that it hurts, and do the best you can," Williams said, adding that that reality about decision-making is not limited to the church and its bishops.

Asked whether it is fun being the leader of the Anglican Communion, Williams replied, "It depends which day of the week you ask me."

He went on to make a distinction between something being fun versus being joyful.

"And when I thank God for calling me to this job, which I do sometimes - sometimes through gritted teeth - I say thank you for the joy, the unexpected joy, even when it's not exactly fun," he noted.

Another young person raised the issue of women priests and added that some parts of the communion do not have priests. Archbishop Makgoba replied that the Anglican Church should have women priests, "All are created in God's image. God has no favorites, God has called us all of us to serve. We have had women priests for 20 years in Southern Africa."

Dr. Williams said attitudes have changed very rapidly and agreed with his two fellow bishops that while "we rightly celebrate the way in which women's ordained ministry has become part of the life of so many bits of the Anglican Communion," all of society must pay attention to the larger issue of the "dignity and security of women."

The question, he explained, of "whether we live in a society that degrades women, a society that doesn't allow women to be safe, a society which turns its face away from violence against women" is going to be "very much on our agenda during the weeks ahead."

Questioned on why the [Anglican] Church seems to be declining and why should young people join the Anglican Church, Jefferts Schori said the Anglican tradition has a lot to offer. "We should not accept answers handed down, but to wrestle with in Holy Scripture.

The New Zealand archbishop said, "You are the church today, challenge us."

Dr. Williams responded saying, "Christ died to take away your sins not your mind. The Christian faith puts before us an imaginative blazing of what to means to be a human being. He pours out his love and it explodes our humanity. It is not dull. Christianity gives us a vision of what it means to be a human being, it also promises to let us enter into the profundity of God's mystery. Our Anglican tradition tries to keep in play as many things as possible. Don't treat the bible as an infallible book of rules. We get help from tradition and we need to make the most of if it by using your mind. We must ask the hard questions. The Bible, tradition and reason bring together to play to our natural skill and humanity God has put into our persons. Our humanity then explodes."

The ACC is one of the four instruments of communion, the others being the archbishop of Canterbury (who serves as president of the ACC), the Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops, and the Primates Meeting. The ACC was formed in 1969 and includes clergy and lay people, as well as bishops, among its delegates. The membership includes from one to three persons from each of the Anglican Communion's 38 provinces. Where there are three members, there is a bishop, a priest and a lay person. Where fewer members are appointed, preference is given to lay membership. 

The Episcopal Church is represented by Josephine Hicks of North Carolina; the Rev. Gay Jennings of Ohio; and Bishop Ian Douglas of Connecticut.

Jefferts Schori is attending the meeting in her role as a member of the Anglican Communion Standing Committee, which met here prior to the start of the ACC meeting. Douglas is also a member of the Standing Committee. 

Many orthodox Anglicans believe that the ACC has taken on international ecclesiastical and metro political power under former Archbishop George Carey that it was never intended for it to have. They also believe that it has been co-opted and paid for by The Episcopal Church which is the single biggest contributor to the ACC.

END

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Tales from the Crypt - By Dimestore Liam

Dimestore Liam has left a new comment on your post "Mequon Connection in Jeske Exit":

Wow, I know a lot of those guys... I had no Idea the WELS had gotten so much crazier since my exit in 1992! Mark Jeske played in a "Christian Rock" band with a guy I knew, I met him at the '85 Youth Rally; Tom Jeske was my tutor at MLS that Fall... R.e. Mequon '78, Mark Porinsky was my Pastor from 1979-1985; Kenneth Jahnke was the emissary who had to explain why I was kicked out of St. Mark's, Flat Rock MI & then why Pastor Gore & I were 86d from the WELS a couple of years later, poor guy...

As for Mark Freier, I got in a shoving match with him in the chapel at HVLHS in 1987 because he was mis-quoting scripture in his sermon and I stood up and called him a liar, hahaha... He jumped down from the pulpit and took a swing at me. That wasn't the last time I had a run-in with him, either. That guy is a complete lunatic! Oh yeah, I also just finished reading Mark Braun's "A Tale Of Two Synods" immediately before getting online this morning, which is how I ended up on this website again...

***

GJ - Freier's "Emergent Church" in South Lyons, Michigan is now a Covenant congregation. Like Kelm starting an ELCA church, Bob Mueller and Paul Kuske started a Covenant parish - with three WELS pastors getting it going.

Freier emerged as a consultant being paid about $50,000 to advise Parlow's congregation in how to make a faster exit from Lutherdom.

Freier bragged on his website that he would perform a marriage for anyone, any religion - atheist, Hindu, you name it.

Mark Freier will coach you to success.

Dimestore Welcomes the Un-WELS-come

Dimestore Liam has left a new comment on your post "Intrepid Lutherans - Pastor Paul Rydecki Suspended...":

Pastor Rydecki- Welcome to the ranks of those thrown out of the WELS! In 1992, the self-described "Brethren" of the WELS here in Michigan did essentially the same thing to Pastor John Gore (and got rid of me at the same time simply because I defended my pastor & mentor) that has now been done to you. I won't go into extensive detail here, but the excuse they used was similar in that they called us "crypto-Catholics" for believing what we had been taught from childhood as Lutheran doctrine. If you are interested in more detail, you can contact me at DimestoreLiam@live.com - God bless you & god luck!

***

GJ - Not to downplay the nastiness of Missouri, but WELS has a well deserved reputation for vindictive, mean-spirited, personal vendettas. John Seifert had a personal grudge against Marc Schroeder (son of Salty) in Columbus, Ohio. Therefore, Seifert kicked out Schroeder and Prince of Peace (now LCMS) for the very unionism that he (Seifert) supported as a member of the WELS Synodical Council. I offered my advice and quotations to Schroeder and his friends, but they did not show any gratitude.

This is WELS, the land of the rotten,
Grudges there are ne'er forgotten, look away, look away, lookaway UOJ.

The issue with John Gore was the Word consecrating the elements. Imagine teaching what is clearly taught in the Scriptures and Confessions. That will never do, said WELS, so they ousted Gore and Dimestore.

WELS is consistent. They mock the efficacy of the Word, so they are are lost in confusion about the efficacious Word consecrating the elements. Because they mock the Word, they elect Jim Huebner as their VP, to replace Wayne Mueller, since both mock the Word in their solemn declarations.

The Cloud of Witnesses - Justification by Faith

The arguments in favor of universal absolution are being tossed about like the buildings and ships caught in that storm with the disarming name - Sandy. Let's look at each one.

Romans 4:25 - Pietists like Rambach and Webber enjoy turning the resurrection of Christ into justification without faith, but the slogan Raised for Our Justification! has a tinny sound when the entire chapter is examined, especially in light of Genesis 15 and Galatians 3.

John 1:29 - Luther treats Behold, the Lamb of God in great detail in his Galatians Commentary. The UOJ Hive should study that commentary some day, perhaps place it in the WELS Essays Files for contrast. Luther treats the verses extensively as an atonement passage, because it concerns the atonement and not world absolution without faith.

Ambrose - Poor Ambrose. He was not the world's greatest theologian, but he wrote a fine passage about justification by faith. The UOJ Keystone Kops love to quote one part of that paragraph, but not the entire paragraph in context. No one with any reading comprehension can mine UOJ from the Apology of the Augsburg Confession.Stop slandering Ambrose: he should not be associated with Bishop Stephan's pimp.

Samuel Huber versus Hunnius and Leyser - The first UOJ stylist in the Lutheran realm was Samuel Huber, who changed from Calvinism to Luther's doctrine, joining the Wittenberg faculty when the ink was barely dry on the Book of Concord. Huber began teaching the universal righteousness of mankind, getting all Buchholzy and attacking the Lutherans. Hunnius and Leyser, with impeccable orthodox credentials, crushed the false doctrine of Huber and sent him empty away. To this day Huber sounds hauntingly like Walther, Pieper, JP Meyer, Sig Becker, and David Valleskey.

Robert Preus - The UOJ Stormtroopers stopped mentioning Robert Preus when I repeatedly quoted their authority in his last book. Preus wrote perfectly dreadful stuff in favor of UOJ earlier, in the 1980s, and he also supported the Church Growth Movement at Concordia Seminary, Ft. Wayne. But his last book, even when edited by his sons, contains many excellent passages overturning UOJ, and they come from the orthodox theologians, not from the UOJ Pietists.

Now these pitiful false teachers of UOJ cling to their New NIV paraphrases and hope they can fool the sheep into buying Murdoch's latest pornographic offering.

The Church and Changers are hotter than Georgia asphalt for the New NIV.

When the Pastors Fear the District Pope, There Is Tyranny. When the DP Trembles at God's Word, There Is Sound Doctrine

KJV Isaiah 66:1 Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? 2 For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at My Word.


Febreze has left a new comment on your post "Here You Stand, WELS - With McCain and Cascione Ch...":

Oh the irony!

"You have never attempted to instruct me from God’s Word. Instead, you have attempted to instruct me from your personal interpretations, rationalistic conclusions and philosophical assertions. The doctrine of the WELS and the doctrine of God’s Word are not necessarily the same thing. Neither I nor any pastor nor any congregation has ever subscribed unconditionally to the WELS doctrinal statements, and yet you have continued to insist that such a subscription is mandatory for all WELS pastors. You have insisted that we must confess This We Believe as our “own personal confession,” in addition to the Book of Concord. This is pure sectarianism."

"But rather than showing me where my exegesis was faulty, you simply insisted that you have personally studied these things, written a synod convention essay on it, and therefore, you must be right. You have boldly claimed that the WELS cannot be wrong on this issue, and that the doctrine of justification can only be studied to demonstrate how the WELS is right. There can be no study done by the pastors of our district that might call into question the WELS position. This is pure Romanism."

"Until now, I have treated you all as brothers and have been willing to study and discuss these doctrinal differences with you without condemning anyone as a heretic. But in true papistic fashion, you have refused from the beginning even to admit the possibility that you could have erred or that the WELS doctrinal statements may be wrong. You called me to repentance for preaching that “all who trust in Christ are absolved before God’s courtroom.” You stood in front of my congregation and called me a false teacher for teaching the Gospel that sinners are justified by faith alone in Christ, and now you have suspended me from the ministerium of the WELS."

(http://ichabodthegloryhasdeparted.blogspot.com/2012/10/letter-to-wels-district-president-jon.html)

---

"The papists formulated the definition of church...from an analogy like this: Just as the republic of Venice, the kingdom of France, [or] the German empire consists of a certain order of rulers and subjects [and] certain laws and customs, so among the clergy who are in the succession of orders the church of Christ is so bound that whatever they determine and believe must of necessity be accepted by all and one must under no pretext depart from them ( Febreze – This We Believe and all essays in the WLS Essay file, especially Becker’s UOJ ones). For [they believe that] this assembly cannot err in doctrine in any respect, for the church is 'the pillar and foundation of truth,' 1 Tim. 3:15. Therefore , against this political figment of the imagination it was necessary to set this position, that the church is not such a visible assembly but rather that it is the flock of such sheep as, known by Christ and in turn knowing Him, can never be plucked out of His hands, as Christ Himself defines His church, John 10:14 and 28....Because in this opinion [of the papists] many,..., flatter themselves that since they're members of the visible church (Febreze - WELS) they cannot be condemned..." (Chemnitz, Loci Theologici, p. 1308)

KJV Isaiah 5:20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

Links about Justification by Faith 

and Justification without Faith (UOJ)

Pastor Rydecki's blog

Luther's Galatians endorsed by reader

Luther's Galatians on Gnesio Lutherans

Roman Catholic adjunct Jack Kilcrease as Humpty Dumpty

Calov, quoted by Robert Preus, repudiated the UOJ position of WELS

Kilcrease, the McCain tutor, equivocates.

Buchholz is anti-Luther

Pastor Bickel on Tossing Rydecki Under the Bus

Church and Changer Jeff Gunn and His Mequon Class of Shrinkers

Paul McCain and Jon Buchholz - Bedfellows of Apostasy

Abraham Is the Common Theme in Justification - Justification by Faith

Pastor Rydecki's Account of His Suspension - October 9th

Intrepid Account October 6th- Pastor Rydecki Suspended

LutherQuest (sic) Opposes Justification by Faith

Warming Up the Tar and Feathers on LutherQuest (sic)

Pastor Bickel Answers Jon Buchholz

Kokomo Statements - WELS UOJ - JP Meyer

Jack Kilcrease Showing Signs of Stress

Dr. Lito Cruz and Brett Meyer Dispatch the UOJ Stormtroopers on Extra Nos

Latest Links

DinoLutheran Asks Impertinent Questions

Clarification from David Becker

Three Comments from Sola Fide

Otten Celebrates Rydecki's Removal: Two Front-Page Stories

Mixed Messages from LutherQuest (sic)

Departing from the Confessions - Berean

Loyalist-Conservatives and Holy Mother Synod

Jack Cascione Dusts Off Iron Maiden

Wauwatosa Influence in WELS

Mighty in the Scriptures - Luther Sermon Passage

False Claims by WELS

UOJ Is Pavlov's House

Reu on Unionism 

October 2012: 74,100 Page-Views. Higher Than Previous Record by 10%

A quotation from Chemnitz is in the graphic.
Graduation at Notre Dame provided this Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant photo-op.

The top two posts since June of 2010:
1. A Luther quotation.
2. A collection of Luther quotations.

The Holy Spirit Teaches Man Better Than Books May 23, 2012	9731
Rev. A. Nony Mouse Hates These Sayings. But Loves ... Oct 3, 2007	9607

This is the SynCon costume for Halloween.
Luther is boring and irrelevant to them.

Support for the Hunnius Book against UOJ

Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "Reformation Message from WELS Church Lady. GJ - Wh...":

Singapore approved and posted my comment regarding thier brief review of Pastor Rydecki's translation of Hunnius' refutation of Samuel Huber's UOJ.

http://lutherantheologystudygroup.blogspot.com/2012/05/new-book-by-aegidius-hunnius-champion.html#!/2012/05/new-book-by-aegidius-hunnius-champion.html

They also posted my link to Pastor Rydecki's faithful refutation of the false doctrine and practice of (W)ELS District President Pastor Jon Buchholz.

http://lutherantheologystudygroup.blogspot.com/#!/2012/10/lutheran-justification-controversy.html

By the grace and mercy of the Triune God they will apply Scripture and the faithful Lutheran Confessions when studying the central teaching of the American Lutheran Synods.

Reformation Message from WELS Church Lady. GJ - Why Are So Many Men Silent?

WELS church lady has left a new comment on your post "Letter to WELS District President Jon Bucholz, Pre...":

My prayers go out to Pastor Rydecki and to all those who support him. Funny that those "other" pastors "ain't" been suspended (?) Pastor Buchholz has dishonored his position as District President; this is not acceptable behavior on his part. I am very VERY disappointed in the COP and seminary leaders actions of not wanting to have an honest discussion over the Doctrine Of Justification. This issue has been brewing for some time, and did not just come to light earlier in the week!

Sorry about the comment that Pastor GJ had to moderate. (aka he did not post it) I'm sure the drugstore will provide you with more smelling salts. Everyone needs to read that letter. I will pass it up the line....WAY UP! The WELS is in trouble, and the leaders must face issues that dwarf the perils of the Intrepids.(well at least one Intrepid for now) See the verses from Galatians chapter 3:

"Even as Abraham BELIEVED GOD AND IT WAS COUNTED TO HIM FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, IN THEE SHALL ALL NATIONS BE BLESSED. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham."

"That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith."

"But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith is come, we are no longer under a school master. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptised into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."

Here are some passages form David J Valleskey's We Believe-Therefore We Speak: (Warning, it is not like the Galatians verses.)

"It is important for the evangelist to understand what faith is. Perhaps the simplest definition is that faith is the hand that receives the the benefits of the finished work of Christ. It is the hand into which God places the forgiveness of sins and justification won by Christ."

"Faith is not the cause of justification. To say, "A person is declared righteous in the sight of God...because of having believed," is to fail to distinguish properly the relationship between faith and justification. Faith is not in any way that which brings about the sinner's justification. The cause of justification is the perfect life and sacrificial death of Christ. Faith is simply the way by which the individual sinner apprehends the salvation won by Christ."

Brother David, you got's some splainin' to do! Yes you borrowed from Pieper, Walther, and Millard J Erickson. I/we cannot let this go, and one cannot hide behind Matthew 18. The Matthew 18 crawl space is getting a little crowded these days.

In Christ,
Rebecca

Here You Stand, WELS - With McCain and Cascione Cheering You On

Where is this nonsense in Luther
or the Bible?

Febreze has left a new comment on your post "Letter to WELS District President Jon Bucholz, Pre...":

Justin:

It was being discussed privately between the District President, Pastor Rydecki, and other pastors. He was finally booted from the WELS for teaching that sinners are justified by faith alone. Does that not raise a red flag? Especially during the Reformation month?

He certainly didn't need to do anything in private, but he did, probably in the attempts to have the WELS see their error. He could have gone public right away, but didn't. Public error certainly needs public rebuke so others won't be led astray. All the WELS publications that proclaim their "universal justification" are public. Why on earth do we discuss public sin privately? Have you read Luther's explanation of the 8th Commandment?

"All this has been said regarding secret sins [Febreeze - Matt. 18:15]. But where the sin is quite public so that the judge and everybody know it, you can without any sin avoid him and let him go, because he has brought himself into disgrace, and you may also publicly testify concerning him. For when a matter is public in the light of day, there can be no slandering or false judging or testifying; as, when we now reprove the Pope with his doctrine, which is publicly set forth in books and proclaimed in all the world. For where the sin is public, the reproof also must be public, that every one may learn to guard against it."

It turned from a matter of discussion to him being labeled a heretic. Does anything in this letter stand out to you? The only thing you have concern with is Pres. Buchholz' integrity? How about Pastor Rydecki after falsely being charged with heresy? The WELS has shown itself to teach a different Gospel than what has been handed down to us.

P.S. This isn't mudslinging.

Will the Lutheran Church Be Able to Celebrate the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation?

Holy Mother Church wanted more cash, so she was selling forgiveness of sin to build one more church  - the shockingly ugly St. Peter's in Rome.

Today is remembered as the turning point in history, when Luther objected to sale of indulgences with his 95 Theses. He might have been another Savonarola, largely forgotten for daring to defy Rome, but the newly invented printing press and hunger for the Gospel fueled a revolt against Holy Father Antichrist.

The gap between Rome and the Scriptures became too great to be explained away to people who could read and study the Word of God.

The wealth and armed power of the papacy could not withstand the efficacy of the Word. Like the Roman Empire it replaced, the Church of Rome was knocked into the dustbin by the Gospel. The massive remnants are still visible, to fill the ignorant with awe, but the Church of Rome is a corpse compared to its glory days.

The Synodical Conference must miss Rome, because the same corruption of doctrine and character has been imitated with obsessive devotion.

The Lutheran Tetzels sell indulgences to wealthy adulterers like Marvin Schwan. The high profile SynCon leaders are men who took this guilt-money from Schwan to make themselves look good.

• Look at all our Marvin Schwan buildings.
• Look at all our Marvin Schwan projects.
• Look at all our Marvin Schwan clergy jobs.

Above the evil fruit rotting on the ground is the corrupt tree of false doctrine. The SynCon Lutherans of today cannot stand Luther's Biblical doctrine.

1. They despise justification by faith, excommunicating those who teach it.
2. They cannot discuss the efficacy of the Word, the Means of Grace, or the Holy Spirit's work in the Word..
3. They venerate Martin Stephan's pimp and enforcer as a saint, the Great Kidnapper Walther, gathering around statues of the Pietist to murmur, "You made us what we are today."

Weeds look like productive plants at first, perhaps to remind us about the nature of false teachers. When a weed matures and fruits, its seed is obvious evil. The tomato-mimic (woody nightshade) produces a poison berry after blooming with a delicate flower.

UOJ has produced a Lutheran editor, Herman Otten, who sells an anti-Luther book, The "Facts" about Luther, as part of his Reformation special. Why not sell books on atheism as well?

An editor of Concordia Publishing House, named after the Book of Concord, promotes Roman Catholicism by regularly featuring articles--verbatim--from the Catholic Encyclopedia, and even posts a painting of St. Bernard receiving the miraculous lactation of the Virgin Mary.

What is the main difference between the Purple Palace of the LCMS and the Vatican? Answer - the Purple Palace has more Roman Catholics employed there.

The Epic Fail of Paul McCain