WELS Proves the Answer is "No!"BBC News - Does confidence really breed success?

BBC News - Does confidence really breed success?:

Does confidence really breed success?

COMMENTS (495)

By William KremerBBC World Service

Continue reading the main story

In today's Magazine

• Quiz of the week's news
• Is Anglo-Indian culture dying out?
• Making friends in the new North Korea
• Fiscal cliff: Economic winners and losers

Research suggests that more and more American university students think they are something special. High self-esteem is generally regarded as a good thing - but could too much of it actually make you less successful?

About nine million young people have filled out the American Freshman Survey, since it began in 1966.

It asks students to rate how they measure up to their peers in a number of basic skills areas - and over the past four decades, there has been a dramatic rise in the number of students who describe themselves as being "above average" for academic ability, drive to achieve, mathematical ability and self-confidence.

This was revealed in a new analysis of the survey data, by US psychologist Jean Twenge and colleagues.

Self-appraisals of traits that are less individualistic - such as co-operativeness, understanding others and spirituality - saw little change, or a decrease, over the same period.

Continue reading the main story

Self-esteem and confidence

Psychologists rarely use the word confidence. They have separate measures for:

• self-esteem - the value people place on themselves
• narcissism - definitions vary, but essentially a negative, destructive form of high self-esteem
• self-efficacy - the ability to achieve personal goals

Twenge adds that while the Freshman Survey shows that students are increasingly likely to label themselves as gifted in writing ability, objective test scores indicate that actual writing ability has gone down since the 1960s.

And while in the late 1980s, almost half of students said they studied for six or more hours a week, the figure was little over a third by 2009 - a fact that sits rather oddly, given there has been a rise in students' self-proclaimed drive to succeed during the same period.

Another study by Twenge suggested there has been a 30% tilt towards narcissistic attitudes in US students since 1979.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines narcissism as: "Excessive self-love or vanity; self-admiration, self-centredness."

"Our culture used to encourage modesty and humility and not bragging about yourself," says Twenge. "It was considered a bad thing to be seen as conceited or full of yourself."

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The Freshman Survey

• A nationally representative sample of first-year college and university students in the US
• Conducted every year since 1966
• Questions on a range of topics - including values, financial situation, and expectations of college

Not everyone with high self-esteem is a narcissist. Some positive views of the self may be harmless and in fact quite justified.

But one in four recent students responded to a questionnaire, the Narcissistic Personality Inventory, in a way which leaned towards narcissistic views of the self.

Though some have argued that narcissism is an essential trait, Twenge and her colleagues see it as negative and destructive.

In The Narcissism Epidemic, co-written with Keith Campbell, Twenge blames the growth of narcissistic attitudes on a range of trends - including parenting styles, celebrity culture, social media and access to easy credit, which allows people to appear more successful than they are.

"What's really become prevalent over the last two decades is the idea that being highly self-confident - loving yourself, believing in yourself - is the key to success.

"Now the interesting thing about that belief is it's widely held, it's very deeply held, and it's also untrue."

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Find out more

• Jean Twenge was speaking to the BBC World Service programme Health Check

• Listen to the programme
• Download the Health Check podcast

This bewitching idea - that people's lives will improve with their self-esteem - led to what came to be known as The Self-Esteem Movement.

Legions of self-help books have propagated the idea that we each have it within us to achieve great things - we just need to be more confident.

Over 15,000 journal articles have examined the links between high self-esteem and measurable outcomes in real life, such as educational achievement, job opportunities, popularity, health, happiness and adherence to laws and social codes.

Yet there is very little evidence that raising self-esteem leads to tangible, positive outcomes.

"If there is any effect at all, it is quite small," says Roy Baumeister of Florida State University. He was the lead author of a 2003 paper that scrutinised dozens of self-esteem studies.

Continue reading the main story

All about me, me, me...

• In a recent paper Jean Twenge examined changes in pronoun use in American books published between 1960 and 2008, using the Google Books ngram database
• She found that first person plural pronouns (we, us our etc.) decreased in use by 10% while first person singular pronouns (I, me, my etc.) increased in use by 42%

He found that although high self-esteem frequently had a positive correlation with success, the direction of causation was often unclear. For example, are high marks awarded to people with high self-esteem or does getting high marks engender high self-esteem?

And a third variable can influence both self-esteem and the positive outcome.

"Coming from a good family might lead to both high self-esteem and personal success," says Baumeister.

"Self-control is much more powerful and well-supported as a cause of personal success. Despite my years invested in research on self-esteem, I reluctantly advise people to forget about it."

Continue reading the main story

Am I a narcissist?

The Narcissistic Personality Inventory asks 40 questions, then ranks you on a narcissism scale

• Take the narcissism test

This doesn't mean that under-confident people will be more successful in school, in their careers or in sport.

"You need to believe that you can go out and do something but that's not the same as thinking that you're great," says Twenge. She gives the example of a swimmer attempting to learn a turn - this person needs to believe that they can acquire that skill, but a belief that they are already a great swimmer does not help.

Forsyth and Kerr studied the effect of positive feedback on university students who had received low grades (C, D, E and F). They found that the weaker students actually performed worse if they received encouragement aimed at boosting their self-worth.

"An intervention that encourages [students] to feel good about themselves, regardless of work, may remove the reason to work hard," writes Baumeister.

So do young people think they are better than they are?

If they are, perhaps the appropriate response is not condemnation but pity.

The narcissists described by Twenge and Campbell are often outwardly charming and charismatic. They find it easy to start relationships and have more confidence socially and in job interviews. Yet their prognosis is not good.

Continue reading the main story

How self-esteem become a movement

• The Self-Esteem Movement is said to have its roots in the civil rights movement, which promoted group solidarity - but also the rights of individuals to be who they want
• A series of seminars were held in the 1960s on achieving happiness and fulfilment by tapping inner potential - it was called The Human Potential Movement
• First popular book on self-esteem published in 1969 - The Psychology of Self-Esteem by psychologist Nathaniel Branden
• Werner Erhard (above) held sessions aimed at boosting self-esteem in US prisons in the 1970s - there were similar programmes in the 1980s to try to reduce teen pregnancy rates and crime
• Interest is still high - there were more than 40,000 articles about self-esteem in newspapers and magazines between 2002 and 2007

"In the long-term, what tends to happen is that narcissistic people mess up their relationships, at home and at work," says Twenge.

Narcissists may say all the right things but their actions eventually reveal them to be self-serving.

As for the narcissists themselves, it often not until middle age that they notice their life has been marked by an unusual number of failed relationships.

But it's not something that is easy to fix - narcissists are notorious for dropping out of therapy.

"It's a personality trait," says Twenge. "It's by definition very difficult to change. It's rooted in genetics and early environment and culture and things that aren't all that malleable."

Things also don't look good for the many young people who - although not classed as narcissists - have a disproportionately positive self-view.

A 2006 study led by John Reynolds of Florida State University found that students are increasingly ambitious, but also increasingly unrealistic in their expectations, creating what he calls "ambition inflation".

"Since the 1960s and 1970s, when those expectations started to grow, there's been an increase in anxiety and depression," says Twenge.

"There's going to be a lot more people who don't reach their goals."

'via Blog this'

***

GJ - My response to a reader, whose name I just forgot -

When I joined WELS, all I heard was how superior their education was. They even imagined that was a great reason to join. There still is a constant stream of stories (from them alone) of how much better they are, how dumb and poorly educated the LCMS guys are.

One of the readers was a WELS teacher. She said the children of WELS leaders had to receive high grades, no matter how poorly they performed in class. She thought it was hilarious that I pointed out their mistakes with the Latin (sic), which only means - "thus" - not my typo. I learned over and over that this enraged the WELS pastors. One wrote, "I never want to see another sic again.

The seminary professors and DPs prove that being stupid is a career advantage, that pretending to be dull and forgetful is a good substitute for raw ignorance.

The systemic bullying and abuse in the WELS system is going to lead to more tragedies. I do not know how many murders, adulteries, and child attacks are needed to wake up the membership.

Some teachers are excellent, but they will be replaced with synodical dullards. The worse things get, the more they need an amen corner in every WELS institution.

---

Pastor emeritus Nathan Bickel has left a new comment on your post "WELS Proves the Answer is "No!"BBC News - Does con...":

Ichabod -

When I read the title of this blog article; my mind recalled a Shakespeare line:

"I do hate a proud man as I hate the engendering of toads."

Also, I thought of the German adage [translated into English]:

"Self-praise stinks."

Nathan M. Bickel

www.thechristianmessage.org
www.moralmatters.org

Here Is a Contrast - Robert Preus versus Klemet Preus

2138 has left a new comment on your post "Justification in Klemet Preus' The Fire and the St...":

I skimmed and took notes on the first couple chapters of this book a year ago. Here are select quotes that stood out to me then, some of which you allude to in your review. My notes are in [brackets].

[Another multiple choice question:]

Page 62— “7. A. Justification happened 2,000 years ago and is received by faith. B. Justification depends on faith and did not happen 2,000 years ago. …The correct [answer is]…7. A.”

[He then goes on to discuss OJ and SJ.]

Page 65—“They are just two ways of looking at the same thing. But you have to be objectively absolved in order to be subjectively absolved.”

[Regarding a mid-nineteenth century controversy over who is absolved (all people or only believers), Preus wrote:]

Page 65—“The first side talked of absolution in objective terms. That way it could be spoken of with certainty. The second side refused to speak in objective terms and had great difficulty speaking with certainty. The first side was correct theologically. The second was condemned.”

[On pages 71-72, Preus compares faith to…a trick-or-treating bag. He then writes:]

Page 72—“When you don’t have [faith], you are lost. When you do have it, all you think about is what’s in it. When a person does not have faith, we say, ‘They are lost. You can’t get to heaven without faith. Faith is necessary.’ But when a person believes, you stop talking about faith and talk only about Jesus. The way to get a person to believe is not to discuss the importance of faith. Instead, you have to talk about Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”

Page 72—“I once heard a sermon where the preacher proclaimed, ‘God has done His part. He has sent His Son to die for you. Now you have to do your part. You have to believe in Jesus.’ That is bad theology.”

[Was he talking about Walther’s Easter absolution sermon, I wonder?]

Page 74—“Then what makes faith so important? Walther quotes Adam Osiander: ‘Faith does not justify in so far as it is obedience in compliance with a command,--for thus viewed, it is an action, a work, and something required by Law,--but only in so far as it receives and is attached to justification after the manner of a passive instrument.’”

[Who is Adam Osiander, and what makes him an authority on justification and faith?] 

***

GJ - The previous post was too crowded with photos to add more. Google stamped its servers on that one.

Justification in Klemet Preus' The Fire and the Staff

Todd Wilken, left (Lutheran Public Radio), Mollie Hemingway (journalist),  the late Klemet Preus, pastor and author.
Wilken chuckled on his show that justification by faith was Calvinism.
Steadfast Lutherans is strictly a UOJ cult.

Klemet Preus, The Fire and the Staff, Lutheran Theology in Practice. Concordia Publishing House.
479 pages.

Family Tree
First - a family tree. Minnesota Governor Jake Preus begat Jack Preus the LCMS Synod President and Robert Preus, the Ft. Wayne seminary president.

Robert Preus begat Daniel, Klemet, Rolf, Peter, and a few others.

Rolf begat about dozen more.

The Preus family has been involved in many synods. I wonder how many people realize how prominent the clan was at Luther College, for example. Add Minnesota politics and the Lutheran insurance business.

This bizarre statement was endorsed by Robert Preus, 
seconded by Jack Cascione,
and recently reproduced by Paul McCain.
McCain also published the graphic - Mary's statue breastfeeding a saint from a safe distance.

Robert Preus - Universal Objective Justification
Robert Preus wrote about UOJ a number of times. Jack Cascione quoted Preus' most UOJ essay. I had another essay (now in the Brett Meyer collection) where Preus combined anti-UOJ quotations with long UOJ quotations. Sebastian Schmidt (ever hear of him?) was often quoted, but so were the orthodox theologians cited in his final work, Justification and Rome.

Although Daniel and Rolf Preus are listed as the editors of Justification and Rome, they left a devastating attack against UOJ in that book. One person observed that there were signs of heavy, clumsy editing. Of course, we have no idea what the original manuscript said, so it could have been rather incomplete when they laid their Enthusiastic hands upon it.

No one in the UOJ universe has come to grips with the problem of Robert Preus' final work being completely in line with justification by faith and obviously opposed to UOJ. The two are not compatible, proven by:
UOJ fanatics always attack justification by faith and show a demonic hatred for the word faith.
The advocates for UOJ resort to all kinds of logical fallacies to promote their cause.

Chapter Two - The Fire and the Staff - Justification
The subtitle says it all, but the rest of the chapter elaborates the many errors associated with this position.

Justification? Why not Justification by Faith?

In line with Walther and other Pietists, Klemet plays with words to say the entire world is declared free from sin while pretending to teach justification by faith.

Claiming to be a theologian, Klemet opened his chapter with this honker:

The Biblical teaching that we are justified before God because of the death of Christ through faith is the central and most important doctrine of the Bible. (p. 55)

This clumsy statement confuses the atoning death of Christ with justification by faith. The rest of the chapter applies justification by faith statements to UOJ, as if that dogma from Halle University Pietism is found in the Bible, Luther, and the Book of Concord.

Let's parse the statement in blue and add some punctuation.

The Biblical teaching--that we are justified before God because of the death of Christ [OJ], through faith [SJ]--is the central and most important doctrine of the Bible. (p. 55) GJ - see page 80 for the unveiling of UOJ.

Objective Justification (OJ) is that notion that God declared the entire world forgiven of all its sins, the moment Christ died on the cross, or perhaps the moment Christ rose from the dead. According to distant relative Edward Preuss, who became a papist, everyone is born without sin. This delusion is in perfect harmony with Universalism, but the UOJ Enthusiasts cannot face this doctrinal fact.

Subjective Justification (SJ) is not faith in Christ. No, believing is bad - and faith is worse. Faith in Christ is a work of man, they imply, although that sounds rather stupid in a sermon. SJ is faith in OJ, as Walther stated so clearly. As Walther explained below, in a quotation dearly loved by the ELS and others, the atonement is universal forgiveness without faith. Salvation is making a decision for OJ.

Correct Quotations - Dishonest Application
Klemet does what every UOJ stylist attempts. He uses the classic quotations about justification by faith and applies them to UOJ, as if UOJ were the Gospel.

"This article on justification by faith is the most important of all Christian teaching, without which no poor conscience can have lasting comfort or recognize properly the riches of Christ's grace." SD III, 6.
[GJ - And what, pray tell, is this article in the Formula of Concord called? - The Righteousness of Faith.]

Krauth is quoted - but he never taught UOJ. Neither did Luther, nor did Melanchthon. Nor did Chemnitz. Nor Chytraeus. Nor Gerhard. But why change the subject once UOJ is introduced?

"Where this single article remains pure, Christendom will remain pure, in beautiful harmony and without any schisms. But where it does not remain pure, it is impossible to repel any error or heretical spirit." Quoting Luther, from Krauth, Conservative Reformation, p. 203.
[GJ - Where is Luther more plain than his Galatians commentary, never cited by UOJ, that the entire book is his treatise on the doctrine of faith? This book was commended by the editors of the Book of Concord.]

Klemet has the gall to quote Chemnitz, summarized first this way, in the words of Klemet hisself - 
"If you are wrong on this doctrine, everything else will fall apart, Chemnitz says." p. 55
[GJ - Chemnitz studied under Luther and Melanchthon and steadfastly taught Luther's doctrine of faith, in harmony with the Word of God. How pathetic, to abuse Chemnitz' words, to support UOJ.]

UOJ is the amputated Gospel - no Gospel at all.
Where is the rest of it?

Reagan - "Where Is the Rest of Me?"
Ronald Reagan's famous movie line comes from a man who wakes up with his legs amputated. The UOJ advocates remind me of this problem. Where is the rest of their Gospel?

Missing always are the Means of Grace. Like all Enthusiasts, the UOJ Stormtroopers love to talk about grace without God's Instruments of Grace.

Where is the Holy Spirit? God only acts through the Holy Spirit's power in the Word, whether in the invisible Word of teaching and preaching, or in the visible Word of the Sacraments.

Faith is reviled and put down so much that UOJ can truly be called Justification Without Faith.

As all students of Luther's Galatians commentary know, there can only be justification by faith or justification by the law. Therefore, UOJ is a law religion. No wonder that its adherents are attracted to Rome, which is all law, or the Fuller frenzy, which is equally the law (but lacking in smells and bells).

Osiander

Osiander? - Thou Must Be Kidding Us
As one layman said, Klemet is reacting against criticism of UOJ. The typical UOJ talking points have been obliterated by posts from Brett Meyer, Dr. Lito Cruz, and others. Romans 4:25 is not longer cited, since most people realize the entire fourth chapter of Romans is a justification by faith argument.

Nevertheless, this straw man or red herring is a shock. In fact, I wonder how the chapter got past the editors at CPH. Now I remember - Paul McCain and his boss are as clueless as the rest. They all know Biblical doctrine better than God, so they can foist any bad argument on the masses and just act upset if anyone questions them. Stephan and Walther started that game and they continue it.

DP Buchholz and Jay Webber favor the Halle Pietist Rambach
over Luther, Melanchthon, Chemnitz - and St. Paul.

So Klemet poses Osiander as the alternative to UOJ. On page 60 he contrasts Chemntiz with Osiander, without revealing that he (Klemet) has refashioned the Gospel in the image of Walther, Knapp, Samuel Huber, and Rambach the Halle Pietist.

Bente, Historical Introductions, on Osiander:
Andrew Osiander was the first to fulfil Luther's prophecy. In 1549 he began publicly to propound a doctrine in which he abandoned the forensic conception of justification by imputation of the merits of Christ, and returned to the Roman view of justification by infusion i.e.,by infusion of the eternal essential righteousness of the divine nature of Christ. According to his own statement, he had harbored these views ever since about 1522.He is said also to have presented them in a sermon delivered at the convention in Smalcald, 1537. (Planck 4, 257.) Yet he made no special effort to develop and publicly to disseminate his ideas during the life of Luther.

When I found a quotation from the liberal Albrecht Ritschl on Osiander, I wondered if Klemet got his strange comparison from that theologian. The theme of 19th century modernism was - do not make salvation contingent on faith. This is also the theme of mainline Protestantism today - a Universalism without naming it as such. But do not criticize - UOJ or Universalism - both solve all the problems of ecumenism, doctrinal battles, and Law/Gospel distinctions. One can place his brain in neutral and coast, reaping the benefits.

Walther approved the double-justification language that Woods used in the translation.
Halle was the mother ship for missions and also for the new breed of rationalistic theologians
like Schleiermacher and Tholuck.

Ritschl studied at Halle University and was greatly influenced by Schleiermacher, the Halle leader of apostasy. Any study of modern theology starts with Schleiermacher or devotes a lot of time to him. My first reaction to UOJ was, "That sounds just like the mainline Protestants - all grace, no faith."

Klemet dishonestly quotes Luther again on page 61:

"This doctrine [of justification] will be obscured again after my death." Bente, p. 152.

Klemet's brackets are dishonest, too. Luther's doctrine was always - justification by faith - not the implied UOJ.

Missing the point entirely, Klemet argues from the Augsburg Confession and the Formula of Concord III (The Righteousness of Faith) that there was never any reason to allow Osiander a foothold in this debate. While it is true that Osiander caused plenty of trouble in his day, he is even more obscure than Agricola today.

Agricola's Antinomianism is dominant today, a byproduct of UOJ. Antinomianism is the  anti-law notion that lets UOJ clergy dump their wives for their mistresses, divorce, remarry, and tell everyone how to be good, faithful pastors.

Osiander Test
One test question will suffice -
1.A - I am righteous before God because Jesus lived for me in time.
B. - I am righteous before God because Jesus lives in my heart.

"A" is a lousy answer because it passes over justification by faith, the Chief Article of Christianity, ignores the Means of Grace, and fits any Hindu, Muslim, or atheist. The point of Romans 4, about Abraham, is absent, too. Klemet has an STM? In what?

"B" is unclear - certainly not distinctly Osiander's point of view and vague enough to fit many confessions of faith.

The rest of the test is equally slanted, deeply flawed from a testing or doctrinal point of view.

Apparently the reason for citing Osiander is to impugn Christian Contemporary Music, especially the sentimental side of that genre. Why do we find an enormous thirst for CCM and Baptist style Lutheran services? UOJ has no Gospel, so Missourians, WELSians, and ELCAns look for a substitute.

This is so clear in the deceitful use of Chemnitz on page 64, the conclusion of the section, p. 64.

Klemet:
"It [the crucifix] tells me that my ministry as a pastor is to proclaim 'God [who] imputes to us the righteousness of the obedience and death of Christ." Chemnitz, Enchiridion, p. 72

Now - the actual quotation -

In this very thing, that God imputes to us the righteousness of the obedience and death of Christ the Mediator and thus justifies us freely out of grace, without our works or merits, alone by faith that apprehends the grace of God the Father and the merit of Christ; that is, He forgives us [our] sins, receives [us] into grace, adopts [us] as [His] sons, and receives [us] to the inheritance of life eternal. Romans 4:24-25, 28; 4:5; 10:4; Galatians 3:24; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5-7.
Ministry Word and Sacraments, An Enchiridion. Martin Chemnitz, trans. Luther Poellot, CPH, p. 72.

Note that Klemet omits "alone by faith." Chemnitz cites Romans 4:24-25, not just Romans 4:25 (as if the resurrection of Christ was the moment of world absolution - the Pietists' claim).

The Enchiridion was used as a primer for testing pastoral students. The Synodical Conference pastors of today, especially their leaders, fail this test completely. There are exceptions among the clergy, but they are a minority in the LCMS, WELS, and the Little Sect on the Prairie.

OJ and SJ - The Veil Is Removed from the UOJ Agenda
Klemet finally introduces the agenda late in the chapter and rather late in the book. A common trick of UOJ Enthusiasts is to say, "One side sees it as OJ. One side sees it as SJ. Really, these are two sides of the same coin."

As Luther said, analogies do not persuade. They beautify an argument. In this case, there is no chance of adding enough cosmetics to make universal absolution attractive.

Justification by faith is not a coin, and UOJ is a late-comer to the Reformation. Samuel Huber's UOJ was demolished by the Wittenberg faculty, by Hunnius and Leyser. That fact does not matter, because the SynCons today start with UOJ and filter/distort every Scripture, every Book of Concord citation to make justification by faith into Huber's and Knapp's UOJ.

Klemet also mentions the predestination controversy, which I just visited with Walther's little book, translated by Ken Howes. That is another case of taking faith away from a topic where all the elements of the Christian religion are to be viewed together. There is only One Doctrine, not many doctrines, only One Truth, not many little Lego pieces to put together or discard. Divorcing faith from any part of the discussion is simply absurd.

The sole purpose of the Scriptures is to plant faith in those who hear and read the Word of God, to sustain faith in believers. Arguing against faith is not grace, and certainly not the Gospel.

Teaching faith in Christ is teaching people how we are forgiven, by receiving the Gospel Promises in faith.

Klemet's inventions about faith are not edifying, but bent and distorted to fit the Walther paradigm of faith  - a dried up, withered hand receiving the UOJ trick-or-treat candy.

Klemet has no grasp of justification, so his dalliance with the Holy Spirit's work is just as flawed. In Chapter 3 is more of the same UOJ claptrap.


Klemet:
Jesus' death pronounces the world "not guilty." (This verdict is our justification, as chapter 2 of this book shows.) p. 80

I would pursue additional errors, but there is no need. When someone is wrong about justification by faith and the Means of Grace, anything else is to be expected.

The book is poorly written, with zillions of examples of "you" and "your" mixed with third person (he, she, they - for Mequon grads). This is more proof that CPH editors are overpaid and underworked.

The homiletical examples are difficult to endure. I have posted some graphics to show how far Klemet is from Lutheran orthodoxy and his father's final book.

---

2138 has left a new comment on your post "Justification in Klemet Preus' The Fire and the St...":

I skimmed and took notes on the first couple chapters of this book a year ago. Here are select quotes that stood out to me then, some of which you allude to in your review. My notes are in [brackets].

[Another multiple choice question:]

Page 62— “7. A. Justification happened 2,000 years ago and is received by faith. B. Justification depends on faith and did not happen 2,000 years ago. …The correct [answer is]…7. A.”

[He then goes on to discuss OJ and SJ.]

Page 65—“They are just two ways of looking at the same thing. But you have to be objectively absolved in order to be subjectively absolved.”

[Regarding a mid-nineteenth century controversy over who is absolved (all people or only believers), Preus wrote:]

Page 65—“The first side talked of absolution in objective terms. That way it could be spoken of with certainty. The second side refused to speak in objective terms and had great difficulty speaking with certainty. The first side was correct theologically. The second was condemned.”

[On pages 71-72, Preus compares faith to…a trick-or-treating bag. He then writes:]

Page 72—“When you don’t have [faith], you are lost. When you do have it, all you think about is what’s in it. When a person does not have faith, we say, ‘They are lost. You can’t get to heaven without faith. Faith is necessary.’ But when a person believes, you stop talking about faith and talk only about Jesus. The way to get a person to believe is not to discuss the importance of faith. Instead, you have to talk about Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”

Page 72—“I once heard a sermon where the preacher proclaimed, ‘God has done His part. He has sent His Son to die for you. Now you have to do your part. You have to believe in Jesus.’ That is bad theology.”

[Was he talking about Walther’s Easter absolution sermon, I wonder?]

Page 74—“Then what makes faith so important? Walther quotes Adam Osiander: ‘Faith does not justify in so far as it is obedience in compliance with a command,--for thus viewed, it is an action, a work, and something required by Law,--but only in so far as it receives and is attached to justification after the manner of a passive instrument.’”

[Who is Adam Osiander, and what makes him an authority on justification and faith?] 

---

Pastor emeritus Nathan Bickel has left a new comment on your post "Justification in Klemet Preus' The Fire and the St...":

Ichabod -

Nice posting. I will have to go back and read thoroughly. However, I must ask you the question?

"Why did you have to (partially) denigrate this fine article of yours with a McNasty pic?

Nathan M. Bickel

www.thechristianmessage.org
www.moralmatters.org

P.S. I liked that Ronald Reagan pic. I remember that movie when he woke up only to horridly discover that he was bereft of his two lower limbs........

A Milwaukee Roman Catholic - On Wisconsin Lutheran College's Special Speaker - Archbishop Weakland

Unknown has left a new comment on your post "Ordain a Lady - Non-Viral Video Shot Outside an Ep...":

1) I can assure you that the Catholic blogosphere's biggest reaction to this video has been side-splitting laughter.

2) The ladies in the video are young, but the vast majority of "Catholic" advocates of women's ordination are elderly. Many of them have given up on the "institutional Church" and have priested themselves and set up their own churches.

3) Re Archbishop Weakland: I am a Milwaukean. He was more of an embarrassment to his flock than he was to Rome. And also to his monastery, as St. Vincent's made it very clear that he was not welcome back there. He has very few devotees left, and while the damage he has done has not entirely been repaired, the Archdiocese of Milwaukee is in better shape than it was 11 years ago. 

***

"You oppose women's ordination?"

GJ - Thanks for making my point, Unknown. WELS took one of the worst Roman Catholic leaders (doctrine, character, honesty) and made him a featured speaker.

Later WELS lied about the event, which included a series of lectures by his priests as well. WELS said it was a private luncheon of some type, not a public lecture series.

I once had the brochure for the public lecture series.

No one believes a story about WELS until it is officially denied.

Independent Churches Will Increase in Number

Pastor emeritus Nathan Bickel has left a new comment on your post "Ordain a Lady - Non-Viral Video Shot Outside an Ep...":

Ichabod -

I found (without looking for it) this video (you highlight) as it was the first one on my one website blog list posting for yesterday.

I think your perspective is spot on; but, will be rejected by those very same church bodies and perspective "leaders," with which you reference. "Hard of spiritual hearing" might be more, the [cause] case.

You certainly do know how to make the best of material found on the web. Thank you for all the information relative to your commentary where Lutheran church bodies are; and where they are headed. I have no doubt that as the decadent culture spirals downhill, Lutheran denominations will follow. After all, what better way to attract people to the already existing many (spiritually dead) church buildings, than to become more and more like the culture? Why heed Scripture about not being conformed to the world? [Romans 12:1-2]

May I make a prediction? As the culture continues to go south; and, as Christian denominations follow; there will become more and more Independent Lutheran churches. I maintain that there are faithful Lutheran pastors (and their perspective congregations) who will not continue to tolerate all the damning spiritual foolishness which emanates from their perspective synodical headquarters.

Nathan M. Bickel

www.thechristianmessage.org
www.moralmatters.org 

Time Out, Episode 200 – Time Out

Time Out, Episode 200 – Time Out:

Time Out, Episode 200

Dec 27th, 2012

by Dan.

Text: Micah 7
Hymn: 393, Infant Holy, Infant Lowly
Kretzmann Commentary: Micah 7
Bonus Bumper: Holst, “Jupiter,” from The Planets
Overtime Bumper: Praetorius, “Vom Himmel Hoch,” from Mass for Christmas Morning

Merry Christmas!

Wait for the God of our salvation…he comes born of a virgin and lying in a manger. Lizzie Palmer brings this out further in her singing of “Infant Holy, Infant Lowly.” Christ the child is Lord of all and born for you.

Special thanks to our overtime contributors:
Jon Ellis
Ed Lamberton
Rev. William Weedon
Steve Stearns
The IggyAntiochus trio
Matthew Pancake

Those who sung on Hark! “The Herald Angels Sing”:
From Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, Columbus, OH:

• Dan Engle and daughters
• Mark Fergus
• Molly Leithart
• Lizzie Palmer

From Risen Savior Lutheran Church, Palm Bay, FL:

• Gary Held
• Ruth Lanning
• Jay Lanning
• John Brahn
• Phyliss Derda
• Cynthia Livingston
• Marguerite Medina
• Lois Deibel
• Matthew Pancake

Setting from Lutheran Service Book © 2006 Concordia Publishing House. Used by permission.

Infant Holy, Infant Lowly

1. Infant holy,
   Infant lowly,
   For His bed a cattle stall;
   Oxen lowing,
   Little knowing
   Christ the child is Lord of all.
   Swiftly winging,
   Angels singing,
   Bells are ringing,
   Tiddings bringing:
   Christ the child is Lord of all!
   Christ the child is Lord of all!
2. Flocks were sleeping,
   Shepherds keeping
   Vigils till the morning new
   Saw the glory,
   Heard the story,
   Tidings of a Gospel true.
   Thus rejoicing,
   Free from sorrow,
   Praises voicing,
   Greet the morrow:
   Christ the child was born for you!
   Christ the child was born for you!

'via Blog this'

***

GJ - I am going to link blogs more often. Blog This! is a handy tool.

Ordain a Lady - Non-Viral Video Shot Outside an Episcopalian Church

Is there a WELS pastor nearby looking for extra work?

Pastor Nathan Bickel sent me this video. I decided against embedding it, so watch "Ordain a Lady" at your own risk. Usually YouTube comments are obnoxious, crude, or obscene - often all three.

"Ordain a Lady" was shot outside an Episcopalian church, perhaps one closed by their Presiding Bishop - Katie Schori.

Very few denominations have resisted the pressure to ordain women. As the star of the video says, "Don't listen to Paul, cuz I have a call."

Many theological trends can be associated together, since each one nurtures the others.

Enthusiasm is the foundation. Once people ignore the Scriptures as the revealed Word of God, the only norm for faith and practice, something else must become the norm. In the Church of Rome, the pope can generate or verify any dogma he wishes - "from the throne of his heart."

Pentecostals were the first to ordain women. Mainline denominations followed.

Mainline Protestants began by questioning the text and canon of the New Testament. I know of liberal ministers who said from the pulpit, "The New Testament could have 15 or 100 books in it." Therefore, the Bible is just a convenience, so we can baptize societal trends with a few stained glass words.

Feminism, abortion-on-demand, and political activism all paved the way for gay liberation. The jokes I published about ELCA in 1987 have all been fulfilled. For example - "There is plenty of storage room at ELCA headquarters. The closets are all empty." But - when have I been wrong? The only problem is being 25 years early.

WELS and Missouri have already approved the ordination of women, and they have started the process. Everything is a process. Look up Diaprax on ChurchMouse.

http://churchmousec.wordpress.com/

WELS and Missouri work with ELCA feminist leaders - and they love their fellowship together. ELCA looks down on its smaller partners in ministry with compassion and understanding. They were once led by male clergy alone. WELS and Missouri will gain much from ELCA insights, and ELCA calls the shots on all cooperative work. Thanks - Thrivent.

WELS already "ordains" women in several ways. John Brug, at the Sausage Factory, endorsed women's ordination years ago, in The Popes Speak, aka the Wisconsin Lutheran Quarterly.

Stadler and crew promoted women's ordination, cheered on by Herman Otten's sister, Marie Meyer. I saw them both at Ft. Wayne.

Remember Iver Johnson? He was part of the Stadler team of three pastors. Instead of liberating women , he was liberating the Sixth Commandment. He celebrated his 50th wedding anniversary by divorcing his wife and marrying his mistress.

Iver was an editor of Tiefel's Cult Worship, the Booze and Broads edition.

WELS and Missouri advance women's ordination in baby steps. For example, the Latte Church had a woman ministering the Means of Grace, her words, at its couch and coffee location, which flopped almost as fast as Paul Kuske's Pilgrim Community Church.

WELS used the offering money from its congregations to give women assistants plush salaries for helping to start Church and Change missions. Several got $50,000 a year - very impressive when ordained pastors are not able to make ends meet, choosing between buying meds or groceries.

Missouri does these little skits too, such as having a couple give a "Bible study" at a "prayer study" that looks just like a formal worship service. Al Barry attended one and had no problem with it.

Or Missouri will invite an ELCA lady (pro-abortion, gay ordination advocate) to preach at their congregation. Nothing is done, of course. Feelings would be hurt.

Glende and Ski, who take pride in never telling the truth, mounted an expensive evening service in another part of town, pretended it was a "new urban mission," and appointed Bishop Katie as the assistant to Ski. Church and Change spends church money lavishly, foolishly, reverently.

Soon Katie was jetting around with Glende and Ski, attending all those ministry conferences, such as the Drive raves hosted by gay advocate Andy Stanley.

Just as WELS and Missouri advance women's ordination step-by-step, so also they move gay ordination forward the same way. They already ordain known homosexuals, obviously knowing who they are. They move each one around until there is one scandal too many.

We already know that one notorious homosexual was working at WELS headquarters when he was arrested on felony charges of man-boy porn sharing. Notice how he was absolved immediately by SP Mark Schroeder and given the best lawyer money could buy. In time the charges were reduced and a very light sentence handed out.

It all goes together - signs of the times. Martin Luther College students produce an obvious gay video and claim in print, in the Wisconsin Lutheran College student paper, that they "did not know" they were copying a gay video - Party in the Fire Island Pines. The director of that classic was "Mike Fudge."

Wisconsin Lutheran College - isn't that the Church and Change school where the notorious homosexual archbishop, R. Weakland, gave a public lecture? Oh yes, I still have the graphic.

It all goes together - apostasy. Depart from the Word of God, make excuses, and join the Satanic amen corner of cultural decline.

Archbishop Weakland was such an embarrassment to Rome - think of that -
that his retirement was forced.

Missing Fathers - The American Scene

bruce-church (https://bruce-church.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "Separating the Sheep from the Goats":

In the decade after the millennium, many more families in America became fatherless.

Toward the bottom of the article is an interactive map with census results that show the areas with fathers, and the areas without fathers in America. The South is the worst region for fatherlessness:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/fathers/

http://www.washingtontimes.com/multimedia/image/fathersjpg/

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/dec/27/missing-dads-not-problem-only-poor-households/  

---

Pastor emeritus Nathan Bickel has left a new comment on your post "Missing Fathers - The American Scene":

bruce-church -

Thanks for your comment, and links. Yes, this is a huge problem - and, epidemic in scope.

Have you heard of the whole "'Friend' of the Court" and "Paternity Fraud" problem in our country? Big government does not reinforce the traditional family; but by its actions contributes to its demise:

"Equal Justice Foundation - Families and Marriage:"

http://www.ejfi.org/family/family.htm 

Separating the Sheep from the Goats

DP Jon-Boy Buchholz rides his Dominican
into battle against justification by faith.

Most readers will be glad to hear that December ended with the largest monthly page-view total of all time, with two exceptions.

The latest spike came from the commotion DP Jon-Boy Buchholz caused when he led the attack against justification by faith, aided by his trusty Dominican (hound of the Lord) Jay Webber.

I appreciate all the promotional efforts by Glende, Ski, Paul McCain, Martin Luther College faculty members, the COP, and SP Mark Schroeder. Nothing makes a site more appealing than banning it.

Concordia U. System - Another Node in the Higher Education Crisis

All we ask is that you support the professors in luxury while
they scramble to do as little real work as possible.
God bless...

bruce-church (https://bruce-church.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "LCMS Seminary Cost Scandal: Fabulous Costs To Supp...":

Concordia U System took the LCMS to the cleaners. Instead of the LCMS helping establish the system until it could be independent, the CUS used the LCMS offering plate as a permanent source of operating funds, and the necessary endowments never occurred because professors kept demanding higher salaries. Worse still, the seminary professors demanded higher salaries based on the idea that their salaries ought to be competitive with the CUS professorships, and talk about inter-generational sustainability was ne'er heard, since it was assumed that no institution would ever need to outlast the Baby Boomers. That's similar to how Washington has run up a great debt since, after all, doesn't life end with the Baby Boomer generation?:

http://steadfastlutherans.org/?p=25787

You mean Steadfast UOJ!

....The synod at its 2013 convention will need to talk about financial support for its universities. The latest Reporter describes some of that discussion and new proposals for a “CUS 2.0″ (see reporter.lcms.org). We also need to keep in mind the latest LC-MS Treasurer’s Report, which states “When the CUS was formed, it was not specifically provided with any funding mechanism to allow it to accomplish the last of its goals (i.e., capitalizing the schools and the System)” (see Lutheran Witness 131 #11 (Nov. 2012): 24; also Reporter 38 #11 (Nov. 2012): 8; and online here). I thought that when the CUS (version 1.0) was originally introduced, the primary purpose was to provide a funding mechanism for capitalization of the schools and the system. I’d say that the synod “got taken to the cleaners” on that promise. Proper capitalization of the CUS and “living within its means” is way overdue.

Although some restructuring, down-sizing of individual campuses, down-sizing of the number of campuses, consolidation, or expense-reduction to match revenue may certainly be in order, the synod should not abandon its universities or let them “run free” of synodical oversight. We have, over the years, invested too much in their campuses, faculties, congregational relations, and other tangible and intangible assets to just let them “wither on the vine” or sever their connections to the LC-MS altogether. As to what should get restructured, cut, merged, expanded, or reduced I can’t say and won’t guess. It is a complex problem for the LCMS Board of Directors and CUS administrators to figure out.

Don't take treasure from the dragon Smaug.