Saturday, May 17, 2014

From Zak Stowe - Recent Martin Luther College (WELS) Graduate.

MLC was going to let Zac Stowe graduate with his degree, not give him an assignment, and he was supposed to keep quiet for a few years.
"Half the campus knew about Zak and his deal, according to my sources."
This link shows the WELS GLBTQ Facebook page he posted on his FB page.

Inherit the Wind - which Schone had canceled.
A WELS member asked me to re-install
the gaydar dish at MLC.
Be sure to see the stars of the MLC gay video.
MLC photo - Zachary Stowe graduates from Martin Luther College, WELS.
They stopped him from directing Inherit the Wind - God be praised.


Zak Stowe just came out of the closet, after collecting his degree from MLC.

To my fellow LGBT brothers and sisters still closeted at MLC (and yes, I know you are there). As I leave college, freer then ever, I want to leave a word of encouragement. After hiding for 12 years, denying who I am, praying for God to change me, and living in fear for people finding out what I am, I now believe with all my heart that God loves me just the way I am. My Jesus does not discriminate, he does not come with conditions. His love is freely given; his grace and mercy are mine no matter who I love. I want to leave MLC with this message to those who are scared to except (sic) themselves: God loves you, Jesus loves you, I love you. I pray that one day you will love you too. I believe that wanting a call should not mean you have to give up on love. I truly believe that when everyone gathers for daily chapel, talking smack about those who don’t go regularly or who don’t adhere to the strict guidelines laid out in This We Believe, there are those of us who hide in our rooms, scared of the world and being seen for who we are. I believe that Jesus is sitting there, in the dorm room, comforting the scared and trembling soul. For those of you who want to argue doctrine with me, condemn and lambast me, please do it in a private message and I will happily respond. This post is meant to be one of encouragement so please leave the comments for supportive messages only. I know what it’s like to think that life isn’t worth living and to contemplate the unthinkable. But the world is truly a better place with us in it. I feel so blessed to have a family who loves and accepts me for who I am and I pray that you find a supportive environment wherever God's plans lead you. I am always here if you want to talk. You are not alone "'Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,' says the LORD, who has compassion on you." --Isaiah 54:10
---

http://www.bluestemprairie.com/bluestemprairie/2013/09/inherit-the-stupid-ii-when-a-martin-luther-college-homecoming-video-was-too-gay-for-wels.html


Inherit the stupid II: when a Martin Luther College homecoming video infected WELS with the gay

PartyinthemlcstillThe reporting and reaction continue to Josh Moniz's story in the New Ulm Journal about the cancellation of a production of "Inherit the Wind." Dan Linehan supplies more details in Saturday's Mankato Free Press article, New Ulm theater cancels play after controversy, while free-thinking Christophobe and science professor P.Z. Myers takes it up inMartin Luther College looks like a total waste of time and money.
Not surprisingly, this isn't the first time that Martin Luther College  (MLC) students' self-expression ran into disapproval by the WELS faithful.
Party in the MLC
Rummaging through MLC closets, Bluestem has stumbled over an old social media tale that involves student self-censorship after a popular dorm homecoming video hit YouTube.  The September 18, 2009 MLC Update High School edition reported in Dorm Videos:
For Homecoming festivities, the four dorms put together a video to entertain the student body. (Well, not Augustana— they must have forgotten.) Concord, the frosh and sophomore men, starred NateWordell(West) in a series of misadventures to arrive at chapel on time. Centennial, the frosh and sophomore women, featured Claire Czaplewski (KML) and a team of students on a mission to conquer the Swine Flu Sprite. By far the crowd favorite was the Summit men’s video rendition(pictured)  of “Party in the USA” by Miley Cyrus.
That sounds innocent enough in the pre-twerking days of 2009.
Here's the video preserved on the Facebook page Bring back the MLC version of party in the USA!!!!!! :
Why did the video--which received over 80,000 hits before its makers pulled it--need to come back?
The Martin Luther College  (MLC) parody of a Fire Island Pines (FIP) parody
The "Party in the MLC video was based on the Fire Island Pines (FIP) parody tribune video of the Miley Cyrus music video for "Party in the USA."   Fire Island Pines:
. . .has been a jewel in the gay community for over 60 years, and continues to be the premier vacation destination for residents and vacationers. Located just 50 miles east of New York City, The Pines is home to the most expensive real estate in Fire Island.
Here's the FIP version:
While both videos are silly rather than sexy, the fact that the MLC version was based on a gay-friendly video didn't escape notice long from either the LGBT community online nor from the WELS faithful.
To what cultural aspersions do we owe the phenomenon of remaking the remakes of music videos? The Fire Island Pines boys, who created the Miley Cyrus send-up “Party In The F.I.P,” receive their own homage with “Party In The MLC” from a bunch of dormmates at a “homecoming summit.” At, uh, Midland Lutheran College [sic]?
Keep watching, ’cause there’s a blooper reel.
Those commenting are divided about whether the video is homage to the FIP video, insulting to gay men because of the fem stereotypes that the schoolboys prance around, or totally inappropriate because the young Lutherans just aren't cute enough to be in front of a video camera.
A rather oddball Lutheran blogger posted about the video a few days later in October 2009  in Mary Lou College's Own Flock of Seagulls--or-- Girls Gone Wild:
A WELS member sent me the link to this video, which makes the previous one (the statue fight) look positively confessional in comparison.

Familiar names like Huebner and Krause star in this travesty, which includes prissy lip-synching and crotch grabbing. I thought Michael Jackson was sick when he felt compelled to do the same, but this is worse and comes from the WELS "College of Ministry."

Read the comments on the video and notice the great impression made on the audience.

Wisconsin Lutheran College mined the Marvin Schwan guilt trust
for many millions of dollars -
and hired the gay Roman Catholic Archbishop to lecture
at WLC with a group of his priests.

The sound and the fury signifying whatever
Oh the outrage! The attention from both communities lead to the creators of the video to remove it, the blogger notes in a mid-November post, Wisconsin Lutheran College Paper Defends "Party in the MLC" Video On Its Front Page! As Wise As Doves, As Innocent As Serpents:
The Wisconsin Lutheran College (WELS when raising funds) student newspaper, "The Sword," ran a Front Page! editorial / story on the MLC video, quoted in part (blue type in original):
But once the video left the context of the MLC campus, it came under unforeseen criticism from some who failed to see the humor in the video.
The most pronounced critic of the video was independent Lutheran pastor and blogger Gregory Jackson. Posts from Jackson, as well as comments left by the blog's readers, labeled the actions of the MLC students featured in the video unbecoming to future WELS pastors and teachers.  
These claims were based on the video from which the creators of "Party in the MLC" took their inspiration--a previous YouTube video known as "Party in the FIP." Set to the tune of "Party in the USA" by Miley Cyrus, "Party in the FIP" shows a group of men performing choreographed routines on a beach while lip-synching the lyrics of the song."
         "Party in the MLC" is a parody of the video, using the same soundtrack and many of          the  same routines.
     
         The controversy over MLC students parodying "Party in the FIP" is derived from the            lifestyle associated with "the FIP."

But makers of the "Party in the MLC" agree with other viewers that none of the actions in the "Party in the FIP" video would be considered blatant homosexuality. They also admit no previous knowledge of the reputation of Fire Island Pines. Ben Reichel, MLC student and video contributor, revealed, "We didn't find out until two or three days after we posted it that that's what it stood for. After we learned that we were kind of taken aback."
         After learning of the offense caused by the video, the students decided to remove              the video "out of Christian love" for those who found the video inappropriate. The                decision to remove the video was a personal decision made by the creators of the              video.

Reichel stated, "We all got together as a group --the guys who were in the video--and we realized that this caused way too much commotion and way too much negativity, and we all decided together that we were going to take it down."
After meeting amongst (sic) themselves, the students sought the advice of college administration. Reichel continued, "We went and talked to the administration here at MLC--the president and vice-president--and we got their thoughts on it too. But we knew before we even talked to them that we were going to take it down."

Matt Rothe, classmate of Reichel and video contributor, along with the rest of the students involved with the video, are ready to put "Party in the MLC" and the attention it has received in the past; "The group of guys who made this video only wished for good to come out of this video, and I must express firmly we wish for no more negative attention from it."
GJ - The WLC student newspaper has a lot of facts wrong. They did not make any effort to seek clarification. They are now drawing even more attention to the video and revealing that the students were not at all repentant, just resentful they got caught.

First of all, a WELS layman was furious over the video, which was posted on You Tube for all the world to see. Many people provide information to this blog so the rest of Lutherdom can see it. This layman was unable to watch more than a minute of it. I posted the video so people could see for themselves, as he wished.

The MLC students jumped in to defend the video right away, and now WLC has joined them. Their defense is to attack me, but the video stands on its own as a dubious production, whether I like it or not.

The defense of the video was so ridiculous that I did a little more research and found the original, "Party in the FIP." They knew what they were copying, and they acknowledged it rather quietly in the notes. Apparently the original went viral right away, thanks to various homosexual websites.

College students know how to use Google. Where else would they copy their homework from? Kelm, Parlow, and Limmer have shown that slavish copying is a good career move in WELS. To plead ignorance about Fire Island Pines is a bit absurd. All of the sudden these guys just fell off the haywagon when they landed in Metropolitan New Ulm.

And they thought the FIP video was straight? They should be on SNL, in a skit about their lack of gaydar. . . .
Bluestem is left to ponder what it means that "Party in the MLC" was the overwhelming favorite of Homecoming Dorm Videos at Martin Luther College.  We couldn't possibly comment on that.
Screenshot: The article in the September 18, 2009 MLC Update High School edition.

[End of Bluestem article.]

----

Thursday, February 6, 2014


WELS Facebook Evasions. Eighth Commandment and Matthew 18.
Forget Luther's Large Catechism.


lolling at the WELS over here
Like ·  ·  · 12 hours ago · 
  • Jim Schulz So he's a Michigan Lutheran Seminary grad?
  • Ethan Schulz yep, and spent some time at MLC
  • Jim Schulz Is his partner a gay cougar? He looks 20 years older.
  • Gregory L. Jackson He could have found plenty of action in WELS. I am shocked he left: videos, hymnal design, public relations at the Love Shack, and pastoral or teaching ministries.
  • Caleb Schmiege None of this is helpful to anyone.
  • Ethan Schulz I think reposting the article is helpful in that it shows how *not* to deal with a situation like this. It looks like Scott's pastor and other mentors in the WELS system hated both the sinner and the sin, and now they're paying for it in press like this.
    7 hours ago · Like · 1
  • Caleb Schmiege Fair enough. We definitely have a long way to go as Christians in our understanding of the whole issue. I often see people flying into the devil's traps of total tolerance, complete insensitivity, or hate. None of these are God-pleasing or acceptable. I was more frustrated by the comments that seemed to make light of the situation.
    7 hours ago · Like · 4
  • Gregory L. Jackson WELS is not honest about its problems. Two men were caught in the act at the seminary, years ago. Both were ordained. Both got married. That is just one example.
  • Jake Gawel (And in swoops Gregory L. Jackson with a speculative story containing names he can't or won't recall). That's as sound of proof as me saying I saw you doing 'the act' on some dude in your hometown just last night. It's true baby, I saw ya.
  • Gregory L. Jackson I have names, and so do others who know about this and many other examples. But WELS is perfect and therefore perfectly snide about anything that detracts from this perfection.
  • Jake Gawel Hey pal, no one in their right mind would say that. However, I have two things:

    1) I did totally see you in 'the act' with that dude.

    2) Until you are perfect or know the answer to being the best human/Christian/confessional moralist, why don't you just tone down your awesomeness and read your Bible. 

    Here's a third, I guess:
    Would you be willing (and this is a serious undertaking, so answer carefully) to take the rest of your life and write down everything you believe (we all know it's perfect and inerrant) and that's what us WELSers will use as sacred text? We need ya, man, so don't leave us hangin' over here!
  • Gregory L. Jackson Given the number of children abused by WELS teachers and pastors, you are in no position to play the smart-aleck, Jake.
  • Gregory L. Jackson Your public relations director, Joel Hochmuth, had hundreds of files of man-boy rape at WELS headquarters and at home.
  • Jake Gawel Again, no proprietary information reporting the abuses. Do I have to do this again? (I saw you abuse a kid last night.)

    As for that guy - he got what he had coming to him, God-style. Were the churches records on abuse released to the public when the FBI took him down? You have knowledge of that stuff how?
  • Jake Gawel And I like that as a professional, confessional satirist, you are poo-pooing me. Hah! What's the saying about giving and not having the capacity to take...?
  • Gregory L. Jackson Jake, you are in the right sect.
  • Jim Schulz Get ready. It's coming. (And seriously, his lover looks like he could be his father. What up wit dat?)http://www.massresistance.org/.../par.../religion/index.html
  • Caleb Schmiege Mr. Jackson, the thing that troubles me the most is that it seems like you go looking for all the bad you can find. What has happened to your gospel motivation? Where is your passion for the lost? It pains me to see so much tearing down with very little building up. Do you take words and actions in the kindest possible way? The kindest possible way? You are in an influential position. I wish you would use it to point people to Christ.
  • Jake Gawel Mr. Greg (can I call you Greg?), I'm not looking to receive vindication from you about my spiritual or religious beliefs. I'm just asking for a little more journalistic integrity (read :: facts, names) and for you to put down what it is you believe in canonical form so we (WELS, ELS wrongdoers) can read it and see if there are massive errors we aren't already trying to fix.

    Every business, non-profit, synod, church body, religion, government, family or friendship features mismanagement to some degree or of some nature. If you had the CLC-GLJS (Confessional Lutheran Church - Gregory L. Jackson Synod), I'm sure even there, in that bright spot against the dingy WELS backdrop, there would be negligence and mismanagement.
  • Gregory L. Jackson Warning people away from abusive sects that cover up for rape and murder and the abuse of children - that is positive. Provoking the sophomoric rage of smart-alecks is also worthwhile.
  • Jake Gawel Pardon me, Mr. Jackson (I am for real). Still waiting for the Journalism 101 level facts and names here. Can you send me (us) the documents you have become privy to? As a WELS member, I probably have a right to at least see those...

    Your last sentence
    ...See More
  • Gregory L. Jackson Jake - ask about the murder of Mrs. Al Just and his marriage to his children's baby-sitter. Ask about Mrs. William Tabor, whose husband moved to a new call after she was plugged by his mistress in the parsonage. Ask about DP Ed Werner, who went to the...See More
  • Caleb Schmiege I meant positive as in directing people to forgiveness and hope in Jesus. Have you talked to the individuals in authority who handled those situations to understand why they did what they did? I cannot speak with authority about the situations to which...See More
  • Gregory L. Jackson Clever smoke-screen, Caleb. You would have made a good defense lawyer at Nuremberg.
  • Jake Gawel Asking for fairness against nameless accusations isn't "trying to be smart" (although you might see it no other way, which again is ironic), it's simply asking for facts. I appreciate the names. 

    Now, with those in the limelight and me not having seen
     my parole officer in years, can you give me some website where I can drum up these stories. Otherwise it might be like me saying..."So, Greg. You are gonna sit here on Facebook and tell me that you've never heard the tale of little Jimmy Zolinski and his abuse by the CLC-GLJS? It was so heinous his parents left the CLC-GLJS, but not before shooting their minister!"

    A fact site or police report would be greatly appreciated.
  • Gregory L. Jackson Keep braying, Jake. I know you didn't take the time to check anything out. You never would. That would take integrity and courage.
  • Gregory L. Jackson Don't Matthew 18/8th Commandment me when people are murdered and the synod covers it up. Try reading the Large Catechism, 8th Commandment. It's in the Book of Concord.
  • Jake Gawel All I asked for was a little guidance getting started in my search. I'm willing to do the leg work if you're willing to point me down the path. 

    In regards to your implication of having courage and integrity and me not having any...I'm ok with you saying that about me (though those who actually know me might stand for my character), but please don't imply that you have integrity. Look at what you do (here or on your blog), how you carry it out. That takes neither of those characteristics - we both know it's the easy way and that's why you've taken it.

    Now, uncovering and undermining parties which you believe to be personally responsible for terrible actions. That does take courage. I'll be willing to spot you on that if you help me get started down a path where I might one day be able to agree with you on the facts of those "crimes" (I only put crimes in quotations, because I haven't witnessed a police report on them, not because I wholeheartedly don't believe you that they took place).

  • Jake Gawel Oh sweet, sweet diversional tactics. 

    I am glad you put that there, because I would have no way to get that out to an audience (oh wait, we are on Facebook...). But back to the meat and potatoes, if you have knowledge of these events and know where yo
    ...See More
  • Caleb Dietrich Greg...I don't know you nor am I going to do any research on who you are or what you do:fact. You are who you are and believe what you believe:fact. Jake has both integrity AND courage: fact. No one is perfect:fact. Every organization has flaws because...See More
  • Gregory L. Jackson Talk, talk, talk. Check out the facts and report back. Anyone can post on FB, as you two have shown.
  • Caleb Dietrich You're funny man. I don't honestly care what you say. So go ahead. Post something so you can feel as though you got the lAst word in. Or don't... I don't care
  • Gregory L. Jackson Says Caleb, trying for the last word.
  • Jake Gawel Anyone with fingers or an AAC machine can run a blog or indeed post on Facebook (I used by (sic) forehead to write this whole thread...). 

    Until you produce websites, your points (which I remind you, started with a gay, ex-WELS member) remain here-say (sic), just like little Jimmy Zolinski and the CLC-GLJS. Please back up your talk and produce websites where police reports can be examined empirically. You could even start by stating what states each incident was reported in and I can see if they have a CCAP system like Wisconsin....
  • Kyle Bence Aahhh, yes... I miss seeing stuff like this. This is what I love about you jake. You make ignorant and dumb people (aka Greg) look like a moron. I love people like this. 

    I picture Greg as Harry Potter. A man who lives under a stairwell, and posts ignorant statements on Facebook. 

    Congrats Greg! You've won the award for biggest jackass of the day.

***

GJ - Does anyone wonder why people are leaving WELS in droves? They snark over murder and sexual abuse, pretending it is contrary to the Word of God to discuss their felonies.

They pulled their thread, which I anticipated.

Luther on public sins, such as when a murderer or abuser is convicted by his peers:

284] All this has been said regarding secret sins. 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.


This class - and others - know about
The Mattress Room Incident.
Both men were ordained and married.

Friday, May 16, 2014

Lear (sic) from Joel Lillo - Who Cannot Spell Archeological.

He corrected himself later, but only caught one of two errors!
Write first, party later, Joel.

Fox Valley WELS Pastor Joel Lillo;
Greg, I hate to tell you this, but it looks as if someone has hacked your account.  There is an article that has been published on Ichabod today that doesn't feature any photoshopped images of WELS pastors in clown suits.  It only has information about an important archaeolgical (sic)  dig in Galilee with an intimate connection to the work of Jesus.  It's actually interesting and informative.



You need to look into it and make sure that whoever posted it isn't able to access your account again.  Otherwise, your moronic followers will actually have to lear (sic) to read instead of just pointing at the pictures and saying, "Ha ha! Funny looking pastor!"
Just thought you needed to know.


---

WELS Pastor Joel Lillo responded:

"Write first, party later, Joel."

I grow tired of asking this, but I must ask it once again: Are you accusing me of being an alcoholic? It's an easy yes-or-no question.  Will you please answer me this one question you bilge rat?

---

More Joel:
That wasn't an answer, pusillanimous poltroon!

---

Former WELS member:

Hi Greg,

Does Lillo realize that he called himself moronic?  It's obvious that he follows your blog too.

There are many self-help tests and tools available to help those who may be wondering about their own condition as it pertains to drinking. Most of these tools are in the form of simple tests. One of the more popular is the CAGE Questionnaire.
The CAGE Questionnaire asks four questions. Answering yes to two or more of the questions may indicate a problem.

    1. Have you ever felt you needed to cut down on your drinking?
    2. Have people annoyed you by criticizing your drinking?
    3. Have you ever felt guilty about drinking?
    4. Have you ever felt you needed a drink first thing in the morning to steady your nerves or to get rid of a hangover?

Joel can answer his own question about being an alcoholic.  

Quietly Becoming One of the Most-Read Posts.
Jack Hyles Circle of Abusive Ministers



Hyles' son-in-law is the latest to be caught.

Here is the list of pastors from the Hyles circle who have been caught abusing women and girls.

That post has over 4500 views now, and the number increases each week as people read about it. I am guessing that the victims and their families are wondering how many others suffered.

Jack Hyles was the ultimate hero to the Church Growth gurus, who only worshiped numbers.

He had the LARGEST church attendance in America in the 1970s. He was in all the Church Growth books. I read them at the Trinity Seminary library in Columbus.

Now Hyles is recognized as man who destroyed families and taught others to be exactly like him. He never went to prison for his criminal acts, but his son-in-law did.

When a sect covers up and lies about abuse, as WELS and Missouri have done, that is a good sign that the problem is widespread.

Missouri protocol is to destroy all evidence, because one case alone could cost them millions of dollars. If a DP has taken notes on clergy sexual abuse, he has to shred them.

If a blogsite like Steadfast (get the humor?) Lutherans articulates a DP welcoming a convicted sex offender into ministry training, the entire thread is erased by command of Matt the Fat.

When abusive clergy are moved around from district to district, so everyone can play dumb - that is an abusive sect.

When clergy and laity are trained to worship Holy Mother Synod and protect one another, abuse is bound to happen.

Sect members built this altar to worship Jack Hyles and his long-suffering wife.


Thursday, May 15, 2014

Ancient Site Found by Notre Dame's Pontifical Institute

Continue reading the main storyVideo
PLAY VIDEO|2:43

Spades Strike History in Galilee

Spades Strike History in Galilee

While preparing to dig foundations for a religious retreat near the Sea of Galilee, archaeologists found the vestiges of first-century Magdala, where some believe Jesus and Mary Magdalene once walked.
CreditRina Castelnuovo for The New York Times
Continue reading the main storyShare This Page
Continue reading the main story
MIGDAL, Israel — For the Rev. Juan M. Solana, it was the spiritual equivalent of striking oil.
When he set out to develop a resort for Christian pilgrims in Galilee, he unearthed a holy site: the presumed hometown of Mary Magdalene and an ancient synagogue where experts say Jesus may well have taught.
The project, which Father Solana, a Roman Catholic priest, describes as “providential,” will be blessed by Pope Francis during his visit to the Holy Land this month.
The story starts in 2004. Father Solana, who directs the Pontifical Institute Notre Dame of Jerusalem Center, a century-old complex that provides accommodations and a serene gathering place for Christian pilgrims, thought of building a similar facility in the Galilee region of northern Israel, where the Bible says most of Jesus’ ministry and miracles took place.
After a search for suitable land, four privately owned plots were acquired on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee near the small Israeli town of Migdal and the destroyed Arab village of Al-Majdal. Both were named for the ancient town of Magdala, where the name of Mary Magdalene, one of Jesus’s most faithful followers, suggests she was from.
Photo
Remains of a synagogue from the first century were found at the site of a planned spiritual resort.CreditRina Castelnuovo for The New York Times
Father Solana’s plan was to knock down the holiday cabins of the old Hawaii Beach resort, built there in the 1960s, and erect in their place a hotel for 300 guests, a restaurant and a lakeside spirituality center for prayer and contemplation. Architects were hired, and the building permits finally came through in 2009. All that remained before construction could begin in earnest was to carry out a salvage dig on the site, a routine requirement in Israel. The Roman Catholic Church and the archaeologists dispatched by the Israel Antiquities Authority did not expect to find anything significant, and intended to get the dig over with as quickly and cheaply as possible.
But their spades struck history only a little more than a foot below the surface: a stone bench that, it soon became evident, was part of the remains of a synagogue from the first century, one of only seven from the Second Temple period known to exist, and the first to be found in Galilee. A local coin found in a side room of the synagogue was dated from the year 29 — when Jesus is thought to have been alive.
Those involved in the project say it immediately brought to mind a biblical verse, Matthew 4:23: “Jesus went all through Galilee, teaching in its synagogues, preaching the good news of the Kingdom of God, and curing the sicknesses and the ailments of the people.” The site of the dig was only about five miles from Capernaum, a known center of Jesus’ activities.
Soon it was clear that the site was not just near Magdala; this was Magdala. The dig went on to uncover an ancient marketplace and a separate area of rooms with adjacent water pools, presumably used for producing the salty cured fish that Magdala was famous for; a large villa or public building with mosaics, frescoes and three ritual baths; a fishermen’s neighborhood, scattered with ancient hooks and other equipment; and a section of a first-century harbor. The ancient synagogue was discovered at the precise spot where the architects had planned to erect an ecumenical chapel, to the right of the hotel entrance.
The discovery of the ruins meant that the building plans had to be changed to accommodate them, and the restaurant and hotel are still under construction. But the new spirituality center is completed, with a boat-shaped altar that blends with a view of the harbor and the Sea of Galilee. “Jesus used to preach to the crowds from Peter’s boat, so we tried to reproduce that idea here,” said Father Solana, who belongs to the Legionaries of Christ, an order founded in Mexico. “Our plans, with a higher providence, merged very, very strongly.”
The pope is not scheduled to visit Magdala during his three-day trip to the region, which will include stops in Jerusalem, Jordan and Bethlehem. Instead, the tabernacle from the boat altar will be taken to the Notre Dame Center in Jerusalem to receive his blessing. Afterward, on May 28, the site will be officially inaugurated as the Magdala archaeological park, and the adjacent spirituality center will be dedicated in the presence of Israeli government representatives and the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Fouad Twal.
A tract of land next to the site has belonged to another Catholic order, the Franciscans, for decades. Excavations there found some ancient ruins, but nothing of the significance of the first-century ruins of Magdala. The Franciscan property remains private, but Magdala has already been opened to the public.
Photo
The dig went on to uncover mosaic floors, frescoes and a section of an ancient harbor.CreditRina Castelnuovo for The New York Times
Two Canadians, Roy Fu and Elsie Chew, toured the ruins on a recent rainy weekday.
“It’s not so deep,” Ms. Chew said. “It’s amazing to me that nobody found this before.”
The ancient synagogue had some unusual features, including an ornately engraved stone block that archaeologists say was probably used as a table for reading the Torah. It is carved with columns and arches, a seven-branched menorah with vessels for wine and oil to each side, a 12-leaf rosette and chariots of fire. The stone appears to be a miniature of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, which was destroyed in the year 70, adorned with symbols also meant to commemorate the First Temple.
“We do not fully understand the power of this stone yet,” said Arfan Najar, an archaeologist and co-manager of the Magdala dig, who first came to the site on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority and now works directly with the church. “Whoever did this saw the temple with his own eyes.”
Mr. Najar said that Magdala, a Jewish town believed to have been destroyed by the Romans around the same time as the temple, was an especially important discovery because it is not obscured or overlaid with later construction. Every stone that has been found there was from the first century, he said. “It is the window we were missing,” he said, “Jesus in the Galilee.”
Dina Gorni-Avshalom, the archaeologist who manages the dig on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, said the synagogue and the reading table provided researchers with extraordinary insight into the nature of the link between the Jews of the north and the temple in Jerusalem, as well as the connection between Judaism and early Christianity. On top of that, she said, there was sufficient “circumstantial evidence” to assume that Jesus may have set foot there.
In all, the site of the Magdala Center, as Father Solana’s project is now called, occupies more than 20 acres of land, which cost some $16 million to acquire. Completing the project will bring its cost over $100 million, Father Solana said, and only about a third of the necessary funds have been raised so far. Donors are offered sponsorship of one square meter of archaeological digging ($150) or building construction ($1,000). Two Mexican universities — one secular and one affiliated with the Legionaries of Christ — have joined the dig, and nearly 1,000 volunteers from around the world have taken part.
The domed antechamber of the new spirituality center is dedicated to the women who followed Jesus. Mary Magdalene’s presence was prominent at two crucial points in the story of Jesus, the crucifixion and the resurrection; over the centuries, she has been conflated with other biblical women and has come to be associated with the figure of a repentant prostitute and a symbol of redemption.
Here, in a side chapel dedicated to her memory, she is depicted in a large mosaic as Jesus casts out seven demons from her body, with the ancient town of Magdala behind her, an artist’s portrayal based on how the place looks today.

Virtue Online - More of the Same Bad News from Those Traditional Episcopalians

The ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton - transvestite.

Another transvestite -
Presiding Bishop Katie Schori.
Not that there is anything wrong with a woman dressing as a man.
It is just that Paul said women were not to usurp authority over men
or teach them.


UPPER SOUTH CAROLINA: Bishop Waldo Permits Congregations to Perform Same-Sex Blessings

NEWS ANALYSIS

By David W. Virtue DD
www.virtueonline.org
May 13, 2014

The Bishop of Upper South Carolina, The Rt. Rev. W. Andrew Waldo told his clergy he will permit congregations to perform blessings of same-sex couples, a decision reached after two years of intense theological discussions with pastors and parishioners. He went on to say that no clergy would be required to perform the rite. He said he will support all 61 of his congregations whether they choose to carry out the blessing ritual or not.

VOL: We have seen this logic applied before over women's ordination. When it was first brokered into the Episcopal Church via the pansexual Paul Moore Bishop of New York, the act was deemed illegal. Never mind it was soon accepted on the understanding, of course, that no diocesan bishop would be forced to have women priests into their dioceses or ordain them. Over time that all changed, then it became mandatory in the name of women's rights. The same will happen with gay marriage in The Episcopal Church. Sooner or later, voluntary will become mandatory. You can count on it. A next generation sodomite bishop like Gene Robinson with an even greater capacity for public narcissism will make the case. History will repeat itself.

The decision, which came in the form of a pastoral and theological reflection, is expected to once again roil a state where Lowcountry Episcopalians already have exited the U.S. church in great numbers. Waldo, who often describes himself as a “radical centrist,” believes that by staking out a middle ground, he can keep his diocese from splintering. Yes, the tried and true "middle ground" strategy. Let everyone do what is right in his own eyes. What could possibly go wrong, opined one blogger?

There are only a handful (you can count them on one hand) priests in the Diocese of Upper South Carolina who believe that action is wrong, unbiblical and unhistorical. Most will either go along with it or stay silent. True Episcopalians (now Anglicans) who fully disagree with Bishop Waldo's stance are in the Diocese of South Carolina, which recently split into two with most coming under Bishop Mark Lawrence. Yes, they have exited in great numbers and will continue to dribble out of TEC. In time, aging and dying congregations and the failure to evangelize Millennials and Nones will catch up with this diocese as well.

WALDO: We would prefer to be together rather than apart even though opinions on the issue run from conservative to liberal.

VOL: The handful of conservatives in the diocese will not rock the boat, however conservative they might be. They will not resign, they will carry on as usual and stay as far under Waldo's radar as they can. (This happened with the handful of conservatives in the Diocese of Pennsylvania when Bishop Charles Bennison's horrendous reign was in full flower). If those handful had been in the Diocese of South Carolina, they would have departed and joined Bishop Lawrence. There is no split likely in Upper South Carolina. Waldo knows that so he is on safe ground in his endeavor to be "gracious" to conservatives. This is temporary. The diocese is already stacked in his favor and he knows that.

WALDO: I don't expect a flood of inquiries about performing the rite. I will require congregations and clergy to study the issue before seeking permission. Same-sex couples, like heterosexual couples, would undergo counseling, and at least one must be a baptized member of an Episcopal congregation. 

VOL: Sure he will. They will get about as much counselling as Gene Robinson whose "marriage" to Mark Andrews fell apart recently. Gay marriages universally last between 18 months to 2 years before they fall apart. The 2003-2004 Gay/Lesbian Consumer Online Census surveyed the lifestyles of 7,862 homosexuals. Of those involved in a "current relationship," only 15 percent describe their current relationship as having lasted twelve years or longer, with five percent lasting more than twenty years. While this "snapshot in time" is not an absolute predictor of the length of homosexual relationships, it does indicate that few homosexual relationships achieve the longevity common in marriages. A study of homosexual men in the Netherlands published in the journal AIDS found that the "duration of steady partnerships" was 1.5 years.

WALDO: An Episcopalian whose congregation chooses not to perform the rite could approach a priest at a congregation that does.

VOL: For the moment, but that will change, history has shown that to be the case. The homosexual juggernaut and the homogenital fascists in The Episcopal Church will see to that and Waldo will roll over when the time comes.

WALDO: In making the case for the blessing of same-sex relationships, I “went head-on” with biblical scriptures that depict homosexuality as a sin against nature; studied the half-century debate within the U.S. church and the Anglican Communion over same-sex relationships; and examined the modern secular movement toward marriage equality and recognition of same-sex marriage. Recognizing that there is deep disagreement about this, I will argue that there is a firm biblical basis from which to shape a common life in which lifelong, monogamous same-sex relationships can receive the blessing of the church. Waldo.

VOL: Total garbage. This action was pre-ordained by General Convention. There is not a shred of evidence that Waldo would ever defy General Convention because General Convention resolutions trump Scripture and Waldo would not want the dragon lady Jefferts Schori breathing down his neck if a single priest were to file a complaint against him for his lack of inclusivity. Waldo said he found no biblical basis opposing same-sex marriage! Really. If he had gone "head-on" as he said, he would have come to a totally different conclusion. Just what Bible is he reading?

Did Waldo and his Task Force seriously read and study the seven passages in Scripture that expressly forbid homogenital sex or did he spin them into making them mean what he wanted them to mean to suit his post-modern understanding, deconstructing Scripture to accommodate the next generation Gene Robinson’s? Did he or his Task Force wrestle with Dr. Robert Gagnon's magnum opus The Bible and Homosexual Practice or The Truth about Homosexuality: The Cry of the faithful by John F. Harvey O.S.F.S. or Thomas Oden'sREQUIEM: A Lament in Three Movements or the less theological but still relevant Homosexuality and the Politics of Truth by Jewish psychiatrist Jeffrey Satinover, MD. Obviously not. The truth is Waldo fell for cultural accommodation not scripture or gospel truth.

Waldo said he has been moved by stories of faithful gay and lesbian parishioners who have felt marginalized by the church. Really. I have heard those stories. My brother in law used to tell me about them. He was a practicing NY therapist and in his 11th year of a "committed" relationship when he and his partner died of AIDS.

So should fornicators and adulterers who feel "marginalized by the church" be accepted into the church without repentance and amendment of life? Should the church marry all the sexual varieties that are coming down the pike….lesbitransgay… because one or two say they are in a committed bisexual relationship! Where does it end? The Roman Catholic Church still maintains that homosexuality is “intrinsically disordered” and they won’t even allow a divorced and remarried lay person to take communion for heaven’s sake! Somehow they hold onto their people while TEC slowly implodes. So why haven’t a bunch of serious Catholic priests and laymen formed a Task Force and declared the Church, the Pope and Magisterium all wrong on the issue and then go ahead and take communion anyway. Truth is they wouldn’t dare violate church teaching.

WALDO: Over the course of many decades, the Episcopal church “has made a discernment that this is a community that needs to be heard, a community of Christian brothers and sisters who need to be heard and responded to not just because they want to but because there are, in my view and in the view of many others, biblical and theological reasons to listen to those cries.”

In my judgment, and in the eyes of many Episcopalians, the fruits of righteousness can be as manifestly evident in the lives of partnered Christian gay and lesbian couples as they can in the lives of married heterosexual couples.

VOL: What biblical and theological reasons are there exactly? What about those Scriptures that say that "fornicators, adulterers, the effeminate and homosexual will not inherit the Kingdom" (I Cor. 6:9 & 12-20) if they continue in their behavior. Did Waldo miss those portions or was he beaten down with the notion that St. Paul was not into loving committed same-sex relationships and had no idea about 21st century sexual habits. Better still, write him off as a latter day homophobe or perhaps he had a bad spirit as Jefferts Schori thinks he did. The deeper truth is Waldo is gambling with the eternal destiny of people (including his own) by blessing these faux marriages.

WALDO: I expect my decision will ignite a flood of reaction and I am prepared for the vitriol that may ensure.

VOL: Happy to oblige. A few tepid voices will be raised, but they will be ignored or glossed over. There is no stomach left among a handful of orthodox priests to go against their revisionist masters. Those days are long gone. Most have left and joined the ACNA or are fighting legal battles over properties in dioceses like South Carolina and Ft. Worth.

Waldo said he also wants to “let the rope go slack” in the metaphorical tug of war that has splintered the church. He said he asks of his parishioners the kind of sacrifice that Jesus described in John 15:12-14, the passage known as the Great Commandment, “that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

This is a total misuse of Scripture. There is nothing "sacrificial" about sodomy and loving one another. What Jesus taught had nothing to do with same-sex sex, nor is it a license to promote same-sex behaviors.

WALDO: Some will say that you have to have a principle for justice; some will say you have to have a principle for scripture alone. I think John 15:12-14 calls us to something radically in the center.”

VOL: "Radical centrism" is a complete myth, made up by bishops like Waldo. There is no "radical center" any more than there is "generous orthodoxy" manufactured by former PB Frank Griswold. Those are license words to do anything you damn well please and then demand the church bless you and your behavior. The Anglican Church in North America is living proof that there is no "radical center". Furthermore, if Mark Lawrence had found it, he would have used it to prevent the legal and personal mayhem that has been visited upon him.

Waldo emphasized that this is strictly an ecclesiastical decision. South Carolina has not legalized same-sex marriages or civil unions, although 17 states and the District of Columbia now recognize same-sex marriage. "In the end, there is no legal force to what we do. It is a way for a gay or lesbian couple to live within the deepest Christian values for relationships between two people who are going to give their life to each other.”

VOL: So Waldo jumps ahead of secular law to promote some "new thing" that the state has not approved of because he wants to be an advocate ahead of his times…a latter day prophet. This is not prophecy; this is accommodation and capitulation to the culture and zeitgeist. Waldo is a theological light weight.

WALDO: We have opened the door to dialogue. Our deepest prayer is that it would lead to reconciliation throughout the church.

VOL: What world is he living in? Reconciliation disappeared a long time ago when hundreds of priests, dozens of bishops and the ACNA was formed. There is virtually no one left in The Episcopal Church to “reconcile” with. Does he think bishops Bill Love of Albany and Greg Brewer of Central Florida will be tamed into reconciliation? Again, what universe is he rotating in? we have a major world realignment of Anglicanism going on and he talks about reconciliation!

Waldo said he has no idea how many of his clergy and congregations will step forward to participate in the blessing. 

One priest who won’t comply is the dean of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Columbia, SC who says he will not authorize the blessing of same-sex relationships in his congregation, but remains committed to “respectful conversation” on an issue that has divided the church in South Carolina and across the nation.

The Very Rev. Timothy Jones posted the letter to his congregation Thursday, the same day Bishop
Waldo, announced he would permit the provisional rite.

“As to my own prayerful reflection on this important issue, I do not believe that Scripture, Christian tradition, nor the Book of Common Prayer authorize me to bless same-sex relationships,” Jones said. “I know well, from years of conversation and study, the arguments brought forward by those who advocate such a blessing, but I have not been persuaded.”

But Waldo has other troubles. He faces a lawsuit from one of his former priests, the Rev. Dr. Ernie Pollock for defamation, civil conspiracy, invasion of privacy and economic hardship.

Pollock, 67, an adjunct professor of religion at Midlands Technical College who serves on the pastoral staff of Lexington Medical Center as a volunteer, alleges that Waldo sent letters to three health care facilities in the Midlands of SC alleging that Pollock had misrepresented himself as an Episcopal priest. 

Pollock told VOL that he was ordained by the late Episcopal Bishop of New York, the Rt. Rev. Paul Moore in 2001. He described Waldo's letter as "libelous and defamatory, placing him in a false light."

Diocesan attorney Tony Rebollo told VOL that the case is “still pending”.

Last year Waldo settled another lawsuit for libel and slander after he fired the Dean of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Columbia, SC, Philip C. Linder and then publically badmouthed Ellen, his wife. The insurance company representing Trinity Episcopal Cathedral paid $75,000 to the wife of the former Dean to settle a civil lawsuit related to his ouster from the cathedral's top post in July 2010.

END

Always on the move.