Judica Sunday, The Fifth Sunday in Lent, 2014. John 8:46-59

Judica Sunday, The Fifth Sunday in Lent, 2014

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

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

Bethany Lutheran Church, 10 AM Central Time

The Hymn #12                 This Day                                         4:80  

The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual       

The Gospel              

Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #40            The God of Abram Praise                         4:94 

 "I AM" - The Name of God

The Communion Hymn #305:1-5            Soul Adorn Thyself             4:23

The Preface p. 24
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn #410               Jesus Lead Thou On                   4:27

KJV Hebrews 9:11 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; 12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. 13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: 14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 15 And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

KJV John 8:46 Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? 47 He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God. 48 Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil? 49 Jesus answered, I have not a devil; but I honour my Father, and ye do dishonour me. 50 And I seek not mine own glory: there is one that seeketh and judgeth. 51 Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death. 52 Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death. 53 Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself? 54 Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God: 55 Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. 57 Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? 58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. 59 Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

Prayer

O Lord Jesus Christ, we thank Thee, that of Thine infinite mercy Thou hast instituted this Thy sacrament, in which we eat Thy body and drink Thy blood: Grant us, we beseech Thee, by Thy Holy Spirit, that we may not receive this gift unworthily, but that we may confess our sins, remember Thine agony and death, believe the forgiveness of sin, and day by day grow in faith and love, until we obtain eternal salvation through Thee, who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.

"I AM" - The Name of God

KJV John 8:46 Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? 47 He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God. 

This is a discussion that depends on the Holy Spirit opening our eyes to its meaning. In other words, someone can read this and miss the message entirely, perhaps making fun of it.

I write that because the rationalistic Biblical people never liked John's Gospel. It has too much about faith in Jesus. Worse - Jesus speaks directly about the necessity of faith in Him. Therefore, the rationalists (who began their work at Halle University, mothership of Pietism) liked to say the apostle did not write the Gospel. They claimed it was written about 300 years later.

Some may think this is irrelevant, but it is an exact parallel to the situation today. Unbelieving clergy do not like John's Gospel and they shy away from it. The reason is exactly the same. Jesus speaks clearly and pointedly about faith in Him. Although many have called it the Gospel of Love, the Fourth Gospel is fundamentally the Gospel of Faith in Jesus. Naturally, love is the fruit of that faith, so the other label is perfectly fair.

Those who object to the clear teaching of the Gospel are unbelievers. There is no middle ground.

48 Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?

When unbelievers are taught the necessity of faith in Christ, their reaction is hateful, spiteful, angry, and accusatory. Luther expressed well the reason for Jewish religious leaders opposing Him. Jesus said, "Your righteousness comes from faith in Me." But the Jewish leaders said to their followers, "Righteousness comes from following us and relying on your works of piety, as we do."

Jesus attacked their concept of righteousness, and nothing could stand up to it. Besides, He backed His teaching with miracles no one could deny or copy.

49 Jesus answered, I have not a devil; but I honour my Father, and ye do dishonour me. 50 And I seek not mine own glory: there is one that seeketh and judgeth. 51 Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death. 

The debate with the religious leaders highlights the message of Jesus. Did Jesus seek His own glory? John's Gospel is especially clear about His suffering and death. And yet He warned them about the One who seeks the glory of Jesus and judges. The judgment of the Father is between faith and unbelief. God the Father glorified Jesus and condemned those who remained in unbelief or turned away (apostasy) from faith.

When people get angry about the Gospel, it is because they feel the judgment. They have pangs of conscience, even in their blindness. Sometimes that drives them to contend against the Gospel, to use the Word of God to condemn and destroy. They often become converted by the Word, which is more powerful than their ideas. 

Or, circumstances develop so they see the truth of the Gospel simply because of jolting experiences, often traumatic and tragic, or disappointing and disillusioning.

Jesus has a Gospel Promise - "If a man guard My teaching (logos), he will never see death." (Jackson Revised Living Translation)

 52 Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death. 53 Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself? 

The truth sent the leaders into a tizzy. John's Gospel is especially good at showing us why they wanted to silence Jesus. The response is to cite "the fathers," which is always a clever way around the truth. "The fathers" may be Medieval for the Roman Catholics, or seminary professors for the Synodical Conference. The tactic is clear, "You are opposing figures sacred to us, so you are evil!"

The religious leaders made this very personal, so Jesus, knowing their hearts and their tactics, used the personal attack to make His Gospel statement. The first part is tantalizing and draws out a hostile rebuke, which is met by the revelation.

54 Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God: 55 Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.

The Father Son relationship is crucial in the Fourth Gospel but not lacking in the others. The apostle simple offered more sermonic passages on this theme and made Jesus' mission clearer. Jesus is not honoring Himself but the Father. The Father honors Jesus and they bear witness to one another. They work in harmony, as the Holy Spirit reveals. 

If Jesus denied the truth, He would be a liar like these religious leaders. Sad to say, religious leaders with no faith rely on deception. Everything is a clever game of posing piously while covering up for felonies.

Since they brought up their father Abraham, Jesus used him as His reference. Abraham saw the coming of the Messiah - Jesus - and rejoiced.

57 Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?

Unbelieving leaders may be clever, but they are never smart. They let their cleverness walk them into bad situations, as these did. Jesus is just a young man, really a nobody, as they imply. How could Abraham have seen Jesus? That is patently absurd. Unfortunately for them, Jesus will tell them.

58 Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, Before Abraham was, I AM. (Jackson Living Translation)

I wrote the only translation that gives proper credit for I AM. Many translations use the statement as equivalent to "It's me." When Jesus is walking on the water - "I AM." To translate otherwise is to miss the Old Testament parallel that is so clearly  revealed in the tenses was and am.

The ordinary translations also miss why Jesus would cause soldiers to fall down when He said, "It's me." He was not answering the phone or the door, He was identifying Himself as the great I AM, the voice in the Burning Bush, the foreshadowing of the Two Natures of Christ.

No matter how little people might know about the Old Testament, almost everyone knows that Moses saw a bush that appeared to be burning but was not consumed. That is not possible in the natural world. I saw a truck like that, on fire. I could see all the details of the truck glowing red in the fire, but that would soon be a melting and perhaps exploding mess.

Moses saw a fire and a bush, two things together, each one partaking of the other's nature, but neither mixed nor merged.

Lutherans have always seen the Burning Bush as the foreshadowing of the Two Natures of Christ, especially because God revealed His Name as "I AM."

Jesus intention in this claim is clear from the tenses used, which are impossible for anyone but the Son of God. An ever-living human being would say, "Before Abraham was, I was." Only God can say, "Before Abraham was, I AM."

"I AM" is the Name of God. For Jewish people, the actual Name of God is so sacred that they avoid using it directly. Even in English, they write "G-d" so they do not write it out completely. For Jehovah or Yahweh, they say, "The Name."

59 Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

Needless to say, when Jesus told them the truth, the leaders wanted to kill Him at once. That is what happens all the time when unbelievers hear  a statement of faith. It may not always be so dramatic, but there is always the urge to silence. And it tends to unite a group in silencing, exiling, or killing someone. The Roman Empire did this, as the Roman Catholic Empire did later.

The Synodical Conference honors the papal empire by continuing the same heritage. A "conservative" Lutheran college like Wisconsin Lutheran College will honor ELCA's Martin Marty and Rome's Archbishop Weakland, but their synod will scold or expel their own Lutherans who teach justification by faith.

Foundational Faith

The human tendency is always to start at works and to judge works, to compare works, and so forth.

The Scriptures teach us to begin with faith in Christ. The Gospel is faith in Christ. When we are lacking, this comes from little-faith, as Jesus often pointed out. The Gospel is a positive energy - always - in every aspect of our lives.

Masters of Mammon Love Mammon Masters

Christian Post
When asked about the conviction of David Yonggi Cho, founder of world's largest Pentecostal congregation in South Korea, for embezzling $12 million from his church, popular pastor John Piper took the opportunity to warn pastors in the U.S. who might "love money," in a recent message.

"With every public dishonoring of Christ, every public dishonoring of His Word and His Gospel, and His Church, it makes me angry and it makes me sorrowful," said Piper in a recent episode of Ask Pastor John.
Yonggi Cho who pastors Yoido Full Gospel Church and oversees a network of churches numbering 800,000, was found guilty by a South Korean court for committing breach of trust and corruption amounting to $12 million, according to Yonhap News Agency.

He received a suspended sentence of three years in prison with a five year probation and was ordered to pay a penalty of $4.7 million by Seoul Central District Court on Feb. 20.

One of Cho's sons, Hee-jun, who serves as secretary general of Yeongsan Christian Cultural Center and was a former chairman of Next Media, was sentenced to three years in prison.

Glende demonstrates pastoral counseling -
at least he didn't take this sheep to court!

***

GJ - Mrs. Ichabod and I went to the Billy Graham School of Evangelism at Wheaton College when I was in the LCA. Don't judge - Paul Kelm and WELS sent people there too.

Cho was quite famous already, and this was in the mid-80s. When he was done with his talk, I went up on the stage and shook hands with him. I try to meet celebs, because there is only one chance - usually. That is how I shook hands with Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) and the CEOs of Walmart and Sam's Club.

Cho had the weakest handshake I have ever experienced, second only to Charles Colson (Watergate fame), who was also a speaker at Wheaton College.

Later I read Cho's horrible Fourth Dimension book, where he promoted Asian occult religion in the name of Christianity. The basic theme was - God can only give you what you demand in prayers. Be specific and he will give you every single thing you want. Not a bike, but a 15 speed with a bell and a leather seat and a special light. The so-called Vision Statements are a reflection of Cho's sick, narcissistic, pagan religion. As you can see below, WELS was lapping it up like ice cream about to melt in July.

When Paul Kelm ran his evangelism school, I was required to go. The place was packed with Shrinkers and minders (but I repeat myself). One of these dolts began extolling Cho. I raised the objection that Cho was a pagan false teacher. The Assemblies of God kicked him out, and the AG is not known for its discipline.

My critical response was met with awkward silence. I had panned someone's favorite author, his hero, his path to fame and fortune. Later, Jim Huebner (one of the Shrinker-minders) said they laughed at me behind my back for objecting to Cho.

The Shrinker who followed Rogerz Zehms in St. Louis sold Cho books out of a case of them he brought to a WELS seminar on campus ministry. WELS used every single structural element to promote Church Growth, because the Church Growth stars were already in charge of the apparatus.

You like Andy Stanley, the gay activist son of Charles Stanley? Charles went to South Korea to study under Cho.

You like Fuller Seminary? Cho lectured there. In fact, Cho toured America, lecturing Christians about how to use the spirit world to get what they want. We spoke to two hynotized Pentecostals who just loved Cho.

Robert Schuller wrote the introduction to Cho's Fourth Dimension. Schuller's cathedral was sold off to pay for his debts.

WELS leaders promoted Cho because the South Korean phony had the same covetous eyes for loot. They have wasted millions of dollars on their pet plans and yet insist on even more to lavish on their favorites. If you want to know where WELS and Missouri are headed, look at Cho and his son.

Paul Revealed Why the UOJ Hive Cannot Grasp Justification by Faith - They Only Buzz and Sting

Many clergy slowly become unbelievers - and apostates - by allowing the weeds of Mammon and career advancement to choke and smother what little faith they had in the beginning. The result is not unlike a weed-choked plant, which still lives beneath the aggressive weed's foliage but produces no fruit.

This happens overtly in the WELS abusive sect, because every parson has to be a Kokomo cheerleader to exist. Just as publicly supporting Rauschenbusch was rewarded in the mainline denominations. so is bowing to the errors of JP Meyers and Sig Becker recompensed in WELS. The stupider the essay, the more likely the apostate will be teaching at The Sausage Factor in Mequon - where faith dies among the lies.

The process is subtler in the LCMS, because they no longer make an issue of UOJ. Being a Bronze Age Missourian, with heart-felt loyaty to F. Pieper, is no longer a selling point, now that the Bronzies are dead or retired.

Instead, the same effect is created when a pastor is punished for being fanatical about the Confessions (he actually reads them) or unionism - not wanting to march robed with ELCA women pastors. The entire ELCA-Thrivent-LWF-UN con game is really a victory for UOJ. No one can have any faith, discernment, or conscience left to work with any of those entities, let alone all four.

I can imagine the synodical responses:

"Do you recall that we voted overwhelmingly to continue work with ELCA? The synod convention - the ultimate authority, far more authoritative than the Scriptures?"

"If we don't spent all that Thrivent money, then ELCA will get it. Do you want that, you legalist?"

"We decided a long time ago that we can work with others in LWF to send relief to the poor in the Third World. I suppose that grieves you."

"What? You are in favor of malaria? I would love to tell all the dying masses that one."

But - as Grampaw used to say - "Lie down with dawgs, git up with fleas." The clergy who remain in the same stall with false teachers soon partake of the same Universal Salivation - thirsting for every god but the One True God. They handle the same warm asphalt that builds the road to perdition and think their hands are not stained and reeking.

Does St. Paul Contradict Himself?
The UOJ stylists have abandoned Romans 4:25 completely, because too many people opened their Bibles and read Romans 4:24. Sorry. Some of them ventured to read all of Romans 4 and saw that the theme of that chapter was not justification without faith, but Abraham counted as righteous because of faith. Instead of UOJ being as ancient as Stonehenge, it was re-discovered in Genesis in that citation about Abraham  - "he believed as it was counted as righteousness." Genesis 15:6

How can we believe that the Holy Spirit teaches justification by faith with utmost clarity in Romans 3 and 4, only to abandon that doctrine in favor of justification without faith in Romans 5 - if we only ignore Romans 5:1-2. The Mequon faculty is praying that you read Romans 5, minus the first two verses, with their guidance, of course.

Notify the NNIV committee, now meeting at the Gold Base of Scientology. They have a lot more additions and subtractions to make, in case people read past Romans 3.

Romans 10 KJV 
Here is another major section of Paul's inspired writing that demolishes UOJ. For now I am skipping over their thread-bare rants about reconciliation and "the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." I will get to them in a future post or two.

I would just like readers to consider Romans 10 and judge for themselves whether the dark shadowy dogmas of UOJ disappear completely in the bright light of that chapter.

Romans 10 follows Paul's lament in Romans 9 that his own Jewish people do not believe in Christ.

He disposed of righteousness through the Law and any other righteousness except the righteousness of faith. Note - there is no article in the Formula of Concord called Righteousness Without Faith, but there is a crucial article, III, on the Righteousness of Faith.

Romans 10 Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.

2 For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.

3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.

5 For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.

6 But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)

7 Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)

8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the Word of faith, which we preach;

9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.

13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?

17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.

18 But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.

19 But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you.

20 But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me.

21 But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.

This chapter clearly shows the Order of Salvation, in reverse. To put it in ABC order -

• Preachers must first be sent. As Luther emphasized, the pastoral office is the Preaching-Office, not the Entertainment-Office, not the Sheep-Counting-Office, not the Synod-PR-Office.
• The Gospel must be preached, because faith comes from hearing the proclaimed Word.
• The only righteousness that saves is the righteousness of faith, the effect of preaching the efficacious Gospel.
• The Gospel is expressed in Isaiah 53 - who shall believe our report (sermon) - an vivid account of the atoning death of Christ, the purpose of His death, and our sinful weak souls being redeemed by His suffering.
• Those who call on the Name of the Lord will be saved, and that happens only through faith, which is created by preaching the Gospel. Christ is the end of the Law, for those who believe.
• This is the salvation message (10:1) that Paul brings to Jews and Gentiles.

WELS in the News

On March 27, MLive previewed the WELS/ELS All-Star Game in Bay City, Mich., which culminates the season of the Tri-City WELS/ELS Men's Basketball League.

The March 26 edition of The Journal in New Ulm, Minn., highlighted a presentation given by Martin Luther College Professor and Heresiarch Theodore Hartwig about his 1938 visit to Nazi Germany at age 16.

The March 21 edition of The Daily Courier announced the Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary concert at Christ, Prescott Valley, Ariz.

The March 20-21 edition of many papers featured the story of another WELS pastor arrested for child pornography.

The March 1 edition of The Herald-Palladium shared how Michigan Lutheran High School in St. Joseph bought a senior citizens’ complex from Martin Luther Memorial Homes to be used as housing for its students, including many international students.

Fruits of UOJ in WELS

 "Jesus is my rice." - Jeff Gunn,
a self-absorbed Jeske disciple, promoted and protected by DP Buchholz.

From Mark the Bookkeeper

Last summer the synod convention approved a ministry financial plan (budget) that called for a four percent increase in Congregation Mission Offerings (CMO). The adopted plan not only maintained current levels of ministry in most areas but also provided for limited expansion of our mission and ministry. New home mission starts were to be increased, and mission efforts around the world were to be expanded in a number of different ways. In addition, the plan enabled the financial position of our ministerial education schools to be strengthened at all levels.

CMO subscriptions for 2014 did not result in the four percent increase envisioned by the adopted plan. In fact, subscriptions for 2014 actually decreased from actual 2013 offerings by about one percent. This resulted in a $1.2 million difference between what is needed for the adopted plan and what can be expected based on the subscriptions.

Many congregations did increase their CMO commitment. Other congregations, for a variety of reasons, either kept their CMO commitment the same or actually reduced it. Regardless of the amount, we are truly grateful for all gifts made or committed that support our common mission. But if CMO remains at the levels indicated, reductions for the coming fiscal year (which starts July 1) will need to be made.

Both the Synodical Council and the Conference of Presidents (COP) have been addressing this situation. The Synodical Council is responsible for maintaining a balanced budget.  It has directed the areas of ministry to develop a prioritized list, totaling $1.2 million, that states what existing ministry would need to be reduced and what new ministry could not take place if nothing changes. That list will be finalized at the end of April.

The COP is responsible for encouraging congregations to provide needed financial support for our mission and ministry. At its regular meeting next week, the COP will be discussing the best way to address this situation from the other direction (increased financial support) so that revisions to the planned work will not be necessary. Those plans will be shared as soon as they are finalized in the coming days and weeks.

God continues to place many opportunities before us to proclaim the saving gospel to more and more people. We pray that God will bless our efforts to seize those opportunities and faithfully carry out the mission that God has given us.

Serving in Christ,
President Mark Schroeder

Perhaps people do not see the need to send money to clods who give $500,000 away to a rich congregation (St. Peter in Freedom) so the parish can buy a bankrupt bar and liquor license for wine-bibbers (Ski Glende).

Joel Lillo Has a Tiny Circle

Fox Valley WELS Pastor Joel Lillo posts most mornings, and he makes my heart glad.

Here is one sample:

"You slander Joel Zank without knowing a thing about him. That's not just unchristian (par for the course), that's also childish (also par for the course). I'd call you a loser, but that would be an insult to the 1976 Buccaneers."

Gregory Jackson

1 second ago

 

Edit

I was quoting one of your WELS colleagues. Didja see the quotation marks? I knew you would jump on it, Joel. I have no opinion about Zank. All of the WELS clergy identify themselves with false doctrine, so I figure one DP is as bad as the next. 

I decided to investigate Joel's circles, a Google Plus concept. He has a total of three (3) in his circles:

Joel has three people in his circles

Ski

Stephen Turselli

Karen Schroeder

Who's In Your Pulpit? Luther - Or Craig Groeschel?

"The pulpit is ever this earth’s foremost part; all the rest comes in its rear; the pulpit leads the world. From thence it is the storm of God’s quick wrath is first descried, and the bow must bear the earliest brunt. From thence it is the God of breezes fair or foul is first invoked for favorable winds. Yes, the world’s a ship on its passage out, and not a voyage complete; and the pulpit is its prow."

Herman Melville, Moby Dick

Universal Salivation - The Weak Twin Pillars of Falsehood

No one can miss the angry, hectoring tone of the UOJ Storm-Brownies as they salivate about their two talking points:

1. Grammar
2. Philosophy.

Their talking points are their weaknesses - not their strengths. In fact, they destroy themselves as they carefully lay the foundation for universal salivation. They deny their devotion to universal salivation, but they always salivate when chewing on their favorite victims - Luther, truth, the Gospel, and common sense.

Grammar
I am not at all opposed to grammar. I teach it and use it daily. But the glorious grammar rules the UOJ experts cite are derivative. One example from Mequon still makes me laugh, because it reveals their confused thinking. I was asked in class whether a genitive phrase was an objective genitive or subjective genitive. The "correct answer" determined the meaning.

Later I asked the seminarians if Paul paused and said, "Should I make this a subjective or objective genitive?" There is no difference in spelling. The distinction is applied after the fact, so it is a tautology (A = A) to say that the phrase means X because it is an objective genitive. To question this grammatical gnosticism is blasphemy, because it threatens the high priesthood of Universal Salivation.

The deep, dark - and often imaginary - secrets of Greek grammar are used to cloud the issue and represent the Roman Catholic view of the Scriptures. The papists claim the Word of God is so difficult to understand that only the priesthood, headed by the Antichrist Hisself, can tell us what it means. No one dare read the Scriptures and claim to know what the Word of God says.

The Word of God is so clear that anyone can learn all he needs to know and grasp from the Scriptures. He does not need to know Hebrew and Greek. A faithful translation certainly helps, but a believer can see through the defects of a phony paraphrase, like the NNIV, which adds an "all" to Romans 3 to make one verse sound like the Universal Salivation that makes Wendland drool. I tried the NNIV on a class of believers. The smartest student at the college, a doctor's son, said, "The chapter still teaches justification by faith, even with that added word."

Here is the UOJ diamon, their Precious - "all have sinned and are justified in Christ Jesus" is changed by the NNIV to "all have sinned and all are justified in Christ Jesus."

But that is not what the Greek text says, and it is not honest English. Paul often used concise language, with key words left out but easily understood. One reason for that - emphasis. I just wrote the previous incomplete sentence to prove my case.

My paraphrased version, to make it clearer, as I would in a sermon, reads

- "All people have sinned and are justified only in Christ."

Contrary to Jay Webber's confused thinking, "in Christ" only applies to believers. To argue that the entire world is "in Christ" is another tautology. Please offer one example in the entire Bible where the whole world is "in Christ."

That paraphrase is derived from context. As I pointed out in our Romans class at Bethany Lutheran Church, Paul's opening argument eviscerates every form of righteousness except the righteousness of faith. Civic righteousness is removed by his powerful argumentation. So is righteousness through the Jewish Law. All have sinned. All deserve death. Men try but fail to justify themselves through the Law or through man-made laws. Justification - the forgiveness of sins - can only come from faith in Jesus Christ.

Grammar can certainly be used to untangle the twisted argumentation of the Universal Salivationists. The UOJ Hive remains immune to this because their imagined power comes from confusing people and ending, "But you did not study Greek, as I did, so you could not possibly understand the Bible." That is the feeble argument used by Tim Glende to evade and deny his plagiarism of Craig Groeschel and his lies about that fraud.

Philosophy
Notre Dame taught me about Roman Catholic leaders being imbued with philosophy and philosophical maxims. Protestants are used to basing their claims on Biblical texts, but Catholics have a philosophical framework that determines their dogma.

Here are some:
"The Holy Spirit will not allow the pope to err." No Catholic priest or brother ever said that in class, but is is a common claim in WELS about their inebriated leaders.
"The pope is like the Supreme Court, determining what the Bible actually teaches."
"That is necessary but not sufficient." Almost any discussion could be ended that way.

The Universal Salivationists are completely divorced from Biblical language and meaning, unless they choose to abuse a word to make a point. One must always start with their philosophical assumptions, which remind me of an ocean, vast in size but only three inches deep.

1. Walther is the greatest theologian of the Christian Church, and all who dissent are anathema.
2. Pieper is the second greatest theologian, because he was trained by Walther and maneuvered into Walther's job as seminary president and infallible pope. Those who doubt? - anathema sit!
3. Justification without faith is the Chief Article, the Master and Prince of Christian doctrine, the article that judges all other articles, even though Luther never mentioned it.
4. The Brief Statement of 1932 is the Rosetta Stone of the Scriptures, Luther, the Book of Concord, and the Age of Lutheran Orthodoxy. Those who question this are anathema.
5. Those who agree with the infallible Walther and Pieper are infallible by virtue of their agreement. Those who disagree are anathema.
6. If false teachers--like the Halle Pietists, the German rationalists, the mainline liberals, and ELCA--agree with UOJ and oppose justification by faith, change the subject.

Wooden Stakes for the UOJ Vampire
UOJ, which became dominant after Gausewitz died and the Brief Confession of 1932 was foisted upon Missouri, has sucked the lifeblood out of the Synodical Conference. As Bram Stoker's classic tale describes, the ensnarement of victims is slow but inexorable. As long as the Walther myth is told and sold, UOJ will draw in all pestilences of false doctrine:

• Entertainment evangelism.
• Despising the Means of Grace.
• Chrislam - the fusion of Islam and Christianity.
• Unionism - or - any circuit meeting today.
• Clergy life-coaches who cannot keep their own Dreck together.
• Management by deceit - the synodical style today.
• Altars replaced by stages, Confessions displaced by plagiarism.

But there are two wooden stakes available, to drive through the heart of this vampire.

One is the efficacy of the Word, as taught by Isaiah 55 in its clearest form, and ratified throughout the Scriptures. God's will is accomplished only through His Word and never apart from His Word.

The second weapon - the Means of Grace, is directly related to the efficacy of the Word.

The Means are the Word and Sacraments. They are the only instruments of God's grace. No one receives God's grace apart from the Means. One description is easy to remember and use - they are the invisible Word of teaching and preaching, the visible Word of Holy Baptism and Holy Communion.

Deputy Doug Will Not Run for Re-Election as DP of the Anything Goes District. "Zank Will Be No Better - Another Hack."

Deputy Doug handed Boy Wonder Ski over to Kudu Don Patterson.
The Mark Jeske Mafia protects its own, no matter what.

Engelbrecht can no longer function as a Demonic Pest, but he will hang on until the summer elections. After all, it is difficult to un-resign.

When Engelbrecht proposed that Ski be put on double-secret-probation, was he thinking of his own immediate future? After all, Doug could experience a miraculous recovery and smile wanly as pastors say, "Doug, are you still alive?"

Serving as an infallible pope is not that stressful, although the much-abused office creates a lot of stress.

The Jeske Mafia is fond of rewriting the Bible, so they could fashion a new set of pastoral qualifications for the installation of Boy Wonder Ski.

If they actually read from the Pastoral Epistles, the audience will have trouble suppressing its laughter.

But - if they do not apply to Doug or Don, they do not apply to their subordinates.

"In a little while, you will not see Me,
and in a little while you will see Me again,
and again, and again."

---

Here's a hoot from the call list

Becker, Dr Bruce H Salem - Milwaukee WI 03/18/2014 Associate Pastor
Dr? of what?

Drive-by DMin from Trinity International University, which bills itself as a "Top Christian University."

http://www.tiu.edu/

In other words, Trinity in Deerfield, where WELS spent so much of your offering money that the sect was named twice in the TIU report one year. Guess who was in charge of Perish Ministries that year? Yup. Bruce Becker.

Wikipedia:

Tracing its roots to 1897, TIU formed in the late 1940s as the result of a merger of three schools:


A school run by the Swedish Evangelical Free Church, founded in 1897 in Chicago, initially as a 10-week Bible course and then growing into the Swedish Bible Institute of Chicago and finally becoming the Swedish Department of Moody Bible Institute and Seminary 
A three-year Bible school, the Norwegian-Danish Bible Institute and Academy, founded in 1910 by the Norwegian-Danish Free Church, established in Rushford, Minnesota and later moving to Minneapolis and becoming Trinity Seminary and Bible College 
The Evangelical Free Church Bible Institute and Seminary, established in Chicago in 1925.





Salem Milwaukee is where William D. Tabor's mistress murdered Mrs. Tabor in the parsonage. The very Rev. Tabor never served a day in the slammer, but his mistress did. As they say in all the novels, "She pulled the trigger, but he aimed the weapon."



Roger Zehms is the circuit pastor who facilitated Tabor being welcomed into WELS, down in Cape Girardeau. Zehms is a member of Mark Jeske's Mafia headquarters church, St. Marcus.

Tabor had been at Holy Scripture, Cape G - which is now ELS.



WELS created a mission church, so Tabor could take a group out of Holy Scripture and continue his fun.
WELS gave Ski three different man-caves in Fox Valley,
the last one with a beer and wine license.
Ski was on the Jeske Church and Change board with...
Bruce Becker.