WELS Abusive Initiation and GA - Now There Are Four Sources. WELS Rewarded the Gay Video Stars - All Received Jobs - One as the District President's Lackey

The linked article  on WELS abusive hazing and GA was copied with added commentary on Intrepid Lutherans.

Polluted WELS found the original link, which I forgot was still posted.

He linked it.

I copied the original post on WELS hazing, while adding graphics and commentary.

So the facts can be found and supported on:
Means of Grace Blog
Polluted WELS Blog
Ichabod the Glory Has Departed
Intrepid Lutherans Blog.

Harmony of Creation - Harmony of the Bible

The first chapter of John's Gospel explains what Genesis 1 implies: Jesus is the Word of God, the Creating Word. All things were created by Him, the Logos (Word).

Every part of the universe - rocks, minerals, stars, comets, animals, and humans - was Created by Christ the Savior. The Scriptures speak often of the Father-Son relationship, witnessed and taught by the Holy Spirit.

Many theories of Creation exist, from the bizarre and obscene to the strangely robotic, with chaos reacting against chaos to produce order. That is like teaching that four little children in the home will eventually clean and paint the interior, simply by playing, fighting, and wetting themselves.

Genesis teaches that God created by the Word, in six 24-hour days. This account is terribly embarrassing to modernist theologians who want to compromise with science, but many of the great scientists of the past believed in Creation. And even if they did not, Creation is revealed to believers through God's Word.

One great miracle is revealed in the Scriptures - God became man, born of a Virgin. No one can explain this with human reason. No one expected it, in spite of centuries of prophecy. The modernists avoid this topic with determination and energy. The whole point of rationalistic theology is to use the words without their meaning.

God created this order (kosmos in Greek, like cosmetics) and man generates disorder by his foolishness and sin. Since man inherited his sinful nature from Adam, God designated His Only-Begotten Son to be the Savior, to restore order by dying for the sins of the world.

God determined that His Word would convey Christ to people, plant faith in their hearts, and sustain their faith. Only God can turn disorder into order, and this is done by faith receiving the righteousness of Christ.

Harmony in the Garden
When beginning gardeners ask me questions about their gardening problems, their pain usually comes from ignoring the basics of the created world. One woman was married to an engineer, but she could not understand why her roses, planted on an incline she built up, were not doing well.

I said, "Gravity.  You put the roses in the driest part, because water moves downhill. You will have to water extra to make up for the elevation."

Timid rose gardeners want the flowers but ignore the rules. "You have very large bushes that will not bloom, because you have let them fill up with dead wood. The roses want to be pruned, but you are preserving them like the bones of saints." My solution was to prune away more than 1/3 of the bushes, with no supervision allowed. Two weeks later, the bushes were packed with blooms, as I predicted. Tears of sorrow flowed after the pruning and tears of joy flowed after the blooming. As Luther observed, women are more easily moved to sorrow or joy than men.

My neighbor has shaped his crepe myrtle into a vase, 20 feet tall, full of blooms.
This one should have been pruned the previous year.
One resident turned his into a few strands of branches with blooms - weird.

My crepe myrtle bush was rather shapeless and ugly in the front yard. Our helper pruned it, and he shaped it very well. Crepe myrtle thrives in heat, and this one gets the run-off from watering the rose garden. Besides that, I placed red wigglers at the base and added organic matter, like clumps of grass scraped off the mower. Those clumps disappeared, as if devoured by grateful earthworms.

The crepe myrtle has been a mass of blooms for weeks now. The bushes can grow to 20 feet, so it will be shaped again this fall to stop crowding the mailbox and bloom with abandon next year.

Moonlit vinca minor blooms well int the shade and holds down soil
with steely roots.

When I was starting Wormhaven I, our garden in Midland, Michigan, I was pretty ignorant about what to plant where. A landscaper suggested vinca minor (periwinkle) for an area always in deep shade. The strands looked thin at first but they rooted and spread like strawberries over time. They bloomed in the shade, like stars in early evening hours.

I just bought this vinca for the area under the maple tree. Pruning has given the area more sunlight, but maple roots are difficult work around, so I will let periwinkle be the ground cover. Vinca major can be invasive, but vinca minor stays in place.

Greetings to Aachen, blooms in the shade,
blooms even better in sunlight.

The perimeter, where I can stack some good soil, will be the place for Gruss an Aachen, a rose which tolerates shade but loves the sun. When I am done sawing away at old branches, the front yard will have even more sun. We are fortunate in having sunlight fall on the entire yard at various times, which gives me a lot of flexibility in planting.

The apostasy of this age, as predicted the pastoral epistles, assumes that we can change everything to suit ourselves if we reverse the rules, natural law. Luther said, "God commands what is good for us."

Fourteen Months of Incompetence - And He Gets His First Biography

Archbishop Justin Welby: Risk-taker and Reconciler
The first major biography of the Archbishop of Canterbury, including detailed analysis of his first 14 months in the role

By Andrew Atherstone
July 14, 2014

‘I am going to make a lot of mistakes, necessarily… Pray for wisdom for me to know what to do, for patience to know when to do it, and for courage to do it properly and not holding back.’
Justin Welby, to friends at Holy Trinity Brompton (July 2013)

Writing in The Guardian in April 2014, Andrew Brown described Welby as ‘the hard-nosed realist holding together the Church of England’, commenting that, ‘Justin Welby now looks like the best archbishop of Canterbury the Church of England could possibly have… His first year in the job has been marked by tremendous energy and rather more physical and moral courage than is expected of an archbishop.’ John Bingham wrote in The Daily Telegraph in a similar vein that ‘a year after enthronement, the Archbishop of Canterbury has proved many doubters wrong’ while Rowan Williams admitted in an interview with Welby’s biographer Andrew Atherstone that, ‘Justin is, frankly, immeasurably better than I ever was at prioritising. He clearly knows where he wants to put his primary energies.’

Last year saw the publication of Justin Welby: The Road to Canterbury by Andrew Atherstone. The first biography of the new Archbishop of Canterbury, the book was researched and written in 10 weeks – starting on the day Welby’s nomination was announced in November 2012 - and published in time for Welby’s enthronement in March 2013. Drawing on archival research, interviews with the archbishop’s friends and colleagues, and various articles and interviews by Welby, Atherstone analysed Welby’s formative relationships, his leadership style and his priorities for the church, as well as his unsettled childhood, his education and his early years of marriage and family life before ordination, to provide a succinct introduction to this fascinating man.

Now - in Archbishop Justin Welby: Risk-taker and Reconciler - Atherstone tells the story of Welby’s life and ministry in much more detail, drawing on further research and including in-depth analysis of the Archbishop’s first year in office from a number of sources. He examines Welby’s conversion to Christianity as a student at Cambridge University, his career as a treasurer in the oil industry and his meteoric rise through the ranks of the Church of England after his ordination at the age of 36 – as a rector in Warwickshire, director of international reconciliation ministry at Coventry cathedral, dean of Liverpool and bishop of Durham. The (mis)adventures of his playboy father who was once engaged to Vanessa Redgrave, Welby’s unsettled childhood after his parents’ separation when he was just a toddler, the secret Bible smuggling activities of Welby and his wife in their early married life, the tragic death of his first daughter in a car accident at the age of 7 months, the impact on family life (and income) of Welby’s move from the oil industry to theological training, his brushes with near-death while in Africa and Iraq – all of these aspects help to present a fully rounded and very human portrait of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The book includes significant material from new interviews with many people close to the Archbishop, including Lady Williams of Elvel - Welby’s mother, who also gave Atherstone access to previously unseen family archives - Rowan Williams and Jackie Pullinger. Other additional material includes a whole chapter on Welby’s formative gap year in Kenya, more details about his work at Elf and his Bible smuggling adventures, a detailed account of his public debate on homosexuality with Adrian Daffern (at Coventry Cathedral, 2004) and more information about Welby’s role as an envoy to dissatisfied African bishops on behalf of Rowan Williams.

Welby’s first 14 months in office have seen him face a number of thorny issues head-on. The man who told the Radio Times in May 2013 that religion was not a private matter but ‘stitched into our public life’ has not been afraid to enter into political and social wrangles, challenging the government on proposed welfare reforms and launching a fierce verbal attack on pay day lenders (notably Wonga). At the same time, he has been drawn into the ongoing debates over women bishops and same sex marriage – the latter of which he described as ‘unbelievably difficult, unbelievably painful and unbelievably complicated’. Atherstone’s critique of Welby’s first year in office looks in detail at his statements and position on all of these topics.

He examines how Welby’s willingness to put himself at risk and his determined desire for reconciliation – as seen in his Bible smuggling days and his work with Andrew White – is demonstrated in his aim to visit every primate in person during his first 18 months in office, including war-stricken South Sudan in January 2014 against all travel advice. He considers the significance of the changes Welby has made to his inner circle of staff as well as various other developments at Lambeth. And he explores the Archbishop’s interactions with GAFCON, his mission-based principles, his model of leadership and authority, his economic and social theory, his relations with Pope Francis, his interactions with liberal campaigners such as Peter Tatchell, the emphases he has announced for his work and comparisons with previous Archbishops of Canterbury. The book includes a 16-page colour photo section.

Having told in one of his early interviews for ordination that ‘there is no place for you in the modern Church of England’, Welby now holds a post which Rowan Williams described as requiring ‘the constitution of an ox and the skin of a rhinoceros’. A regular Tweeter with a heart for interfaith issues, this most modern of church leaders has already shown that he is not afraid to step into the political arena or to face media scrutiny - of which there has been plenty since his nomination in 2012. Atherstone’s critical in-depth biography sheds new light on the man behind the newspaper headlines, exploring how Welby’s personality and priorities have already begun a change of direction for the Anglican Communion - and considering where this might lead in the future.
The book can be purchased at this website: www.dltbooks.com

Planting the Three Sisters - And Planning Ahead

The Hortophile gardener's blog.
The start of the Three Sisters.

The Legend of the Three Sisters

One gardener's approach to the Three Sisters Garden

The Hortophile gardener's blog.
More growth of the Three Sisters.

---

In Midland I planted the Three Sisters Garden behind the garage. First I had a very large hole dug for compost. We took a long time to fill it with leaves, grass, even a Christmas tree. Earthworms came from the rabbits' swimming pools (where we caught manure in soil  harboring earthworms). Some fat worms got this benediction from Little Ichabod, "You about to enter earthworm paradise."

We also added Rabbit-Gro, our patented combination of top soil, rabbit manure, and  hundreds of earthworms per scoop. No, it did not stink. The soil absorbed the manure and the worms sanitized the soil.

The first time warty gourds popped out of the compost, uninvited, and grew faster than Church Growth programs and bad rock bands. They climbed over to the garage chicken wire, where edible pod peas had grown. They raced to the bushes for support, and they grew among the corn. The price of warty gourds crashed that year as the supply over-reached the demand.

Not knowing the Three Sisters Legend, I heard about maxing the garden with pole beans, corn, and pumpkins. I planted the three together on the compost and filled the rows between with newspapers and grass clippings.

Our only weeds were purslane, which is an edible salad plant. The purslane was rampant in Midland and decided to grow up with the corn, very ambitious and opportunistic. I had the biggest, fattest, juiciest purslane in town.

The pole beans were difficult to harvest inside the Silver Queen corn plot, but it was fun to see them climb the corn. I used Atlantic Giant pumpkins, so we had giant leaves shading the rows. We had a few homely AG pumpkins.  My neighbor said, "Your pumpkins are invading my yard." I said, "Chop the vines when they get in your way." They were like the Anaconda horror film, the giant snake, only this one was green, stopped only with a hatchet - or frost.

The idea of pumpkins is to shade the ground and deter the pests. Nevertheless, one squirrel chewed off a pumpkin gourd and tried to drag it away, while it was quite young. People living near creeks or rivers in Midland had a big problem with masked bandits, raccoons, who robbed the corn patch at the moment of harvest.



Although pole beans will help fix the nitrogen in the soil, I doubt whether the pole beans make up for the draining of nitrogen by corn and pumpkins at the same time. However, if the remains are put back in the soil, the loss of nitrogen will not be great.

Our Three Sisters plot is now in practice mode, with sunflowers, spinach, lettuce, egg plant, and kale planted. In the fall the area will be expanded for the spring plot. The time to plant corn is when the soil is warm enough to sit on. Before that time, corn will rot in the soil. Corn loves heat, rich soil, plenty of water and sunshine.

Whether the method is called Three Sisters, organic, square foot, or French intensive gardening, this illustrates how the growing traits of each plant can be used to harmonize with the others. Because so much was happening underneath the surface, all the plants could burst with energy derived from compost and high nitrogen manure.

No pesticides were used, except to invite garden spiders to stay and feast on pests. When the dew covered the webs in the morning light, I could see the spiders were hard at work, stretching their lace across the rows of corn, predators fat with choice insects fattened on organic plants.

The only kind of sweet corn I care to eat
is from my garden.

The neighbor who feared my invasive pumpkin was very anxious to know when my sweet corn was ripe. The other neighbor who smirked at my gardening methods was just as curious. I even had a Dow Agriculture expert come at gawk at the height of my Silver Queen corn. I told him how large the ears were. "Oh, too bad, really tough, huh?" I said, "No, they are gigantic and flawless, soft and sweet."

Each cob was tossed into the yard, after we ate from it, for the squirrels and birds to harvest the rest. The garden's remains were all composted.

The Rules of Creation
Easy organic gardening is inexpensive, a neighborhood project where five families are gathering newspapers for additional expansions. The unused back area will make a great pumpkin garden and the rose garden is bound to grow next spring.

Nothing I do is really new. I have found most of them by reading the books and a few by violating the myths shared by people with very little experience in gardening.

These rules were established at Creation to govern and manage the earth for our benefit. When they are violated, such as with overcropping and stripping hills of vegetation, disaster strikes.

Church leaders think they can lie to everyone and cover up crimes - in the name of public relations. They would rather feed victims to abusers than admit to the abuse. The Church of Rome gets well deserved infamy for this, but equivalent crimes are easily mined from the Internet, or experienced firsthand among the Protestants who shake their heads about Rome.

For some Judgement Day comes when they die. Others may see the fruition of all their evil deeds and teaching. They will say, "Hills, fall on us."

UOJ Advocate Died - Klemet Preus

obituaries

Klemet I. Preus

Review of his Fire and the Staff UOJ book.

Preus, Klemet I. Pastor Died July 9, 2014 at North Memorial Hospice Center in Brooklyn Center, MN. Klemet was born June 13, 1950 in Minneapolis, MN, the son of Robert D. and Donna Mae (Rockman) Preus. Klemet was a joyful theologian his entire life. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from Concordia Senior College, Fort Wayne IN, in 1972, followed by Master of Divinity (MDIV) and Master of Sacred Theology (STM) degrees from Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, IN, in 1976 and 1979, respectively. In 1977, Klemet was ordained as a pastor in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and served congregations, in Ypsilanti, MI, Grand Forks, ND, Woodland, CA, Danville, CA and most recently, Glory of Christ Lutheran Church in Plymouth, MN (1999-2014). Klemet served as President of Higher Things Inc. from 2001-2009. He also served in numerous boards and offices, most recently on the Board of Directors for the Minnesota South District of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, and the Board of Regents for Concordia University, Wisconsin. Pastor Preus authored two books. 'The Fire and the Staff' provides a Lutheran account of the purpose and value of worship in the daily life of Christians; Klemet contrasts the comfort and power of traditional Lutheran worship with contemporary trends. 'What They Need to Hear' is an intimate collection of letters written to Klemet's dying father-in-law, which shows the comfort of Christian truth by answering modern challenges in an honest and compelling way. Klemet also wrote many articles in Lutheran journals and magazines. He had become a popular speaker at conferences for pastors and laypeople alike. Audiences continually appreciated Klemet's ability to convey difficult concepts in clear and simple language with a trademark wit and humor. Klemet loved the Northwoods of Minnesota where he enjoyed a cabin on Gunflint Lake. He was an avid hiker, enjoyed cross-country skiing and snow-shoeing as well. He was an outstanding chef, whose delightful meals will be sorely missed by family and friends. Klemet is survived by his (second) wife, "the love of my life," Janet, his mother, Donna, his four children, Klemet, Rachel (Rob) Mattern, Katrina (Phil) Caron and Eve, nine brothers and sisters and 46 nieces and nephews. Above all, Pastor Klemet Preus took great joy in serving Christ's Church, where he richly and daily announced forgiveness and life, given by grace, through faith in Christ alone, and not because of ourselves. Confidence in the Lord Jesus poured from Klemet's heart and pen to the last. Visitation will take place at Glory of Christ Lutheran Church on Friday, July 11, from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm and the funeral service will be conducted on Saturday, July 12 2014 at 11:00 am, at Glory of Christ, Lutheran Church, 4040 Hwy 101 N Plymouth, MN 55446 followed by the burial at St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church - 9141 Cty Rd 101 N Corcoran, MN 55340. Memorials may be directed to the Luther Academy, 3460 N Brookfield Rd, Brookfield, WI 53045. David Lee Funeral Home Wayzata 952-473-5577 www.davidleefuneralhome.com

Published on July 11, 2014

Virtue Online - Women Bishops Post

YORK: BREAKING NEWS...Synod Votes in Favor of Women Bishops
The votes were as follows:
Bishops for 37 against 2 abstentions 1
Clergy for 162 against 25 abstentions 4
Laity for 152 against 45 abstentions 5
Women Bishops: Statement from Forward in Faith

Forward in Faith thanks its members who serve in the Catholic Group in General Synod for their faithful witness, and for the hard work that has secured the provision that enables us to look to the future with confidence.

We note that resolutions under the 1993 Measure and Act of Synod remain in force. We are preparing advice for parishes on replacing them after November with new resolutions under the House of Bishops’ Declaration.

We welcome the statement issued today by the Council of Bishops of The Society:

http://www.sswsh.com/fullposts.php?id=117

Church of England Approves Women Bishops

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/14/women-bishops-church-of-england-_n_5584266.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000051

The General Synod of the Church of England voted today that women can be consecrated as bishops, two years after a similar measure was controversially voted down.

The vote required passage by a two-thirds majority in the synod's three houses of bishops, clergy and laity. The House of Bishops approved of women bishops 37 to 2 with one abstention, the House of Clergy approved 162 to 25 with four abstentions, and the House of Laity approved 152 to 45 with five abstentions.

In an interview with BBC prior to the vote, Archbishop of Canterbury Rt. Rev. Justin Welby, who supported consecrating women bishops, said there's a "good chance of the first woman bishop being announced very early in 2015, possibly been chosen before that."

In 2012, a vote to approve allowing women bishops passed among bishops and clergy but failed by six votes among lay members.

Like the vote that year, more traditional Anglicans, including evangelicals and Anglo-Catholics, argued in front of the synod that having women as bishops would go against the teachings of Jesus. If Jesus intended women to be among the top church leaders, he would have had a woman among the Twelve Apostles, some of the traditionalists said.

A higher number of more conservative Anglicans were swayed to vote for women bishops this year, ending two decades of controversy over the role of women in leadership since the church started allowing women priests in 1994. Currently, about a third of clergy in the Church of England are women. Women can also be canons and archdeacons.

According to The Guardian, frontrunners to become the first woman bishop include Rev. Vivienne Faull, dean of York Minster; Rev. Jane Hedges, dean of Norwich cathedral; Rev. Rose Hudson-Wilkin, a chaplain for the House of Commons and Queen Elizabeth II; Rev. June Osborne, dean of Salisbury cathedral; Rev. Lucy Winkett, rector of St. James's Piccadilly and Rev. Rachel Treweek, archdeacon of Hackney.

The Church of England, which is the considered the mother church of the worldwide Anglican Communion, counts among it 80 million members in more than 160 countries. The church traces its history to Henry VIII, under whom the church split from Roman Catholics. All Anglicans share the same basic tenets of faith but views on gender, sexuality, worship style and other issues vary widely by region.

For example, the communion includes the two-million member Episcopal Church in the United States, one of the most liberal denominations in the country and as well as in the Anglican communion. Its current top leader, the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, is a woman. Episcopalians also ordain gay priests, bless same-sex marriages and voted in 2012 to ordain transgender priests. In 2003, the church voted to elect its first gay bishop.

Anglican Communion members in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand also consecrate women bishops.

Brett Meyer Shoots Down Anonymous UOJ Fallacies

Polluted WELS Blog Comments:

 Anonymous said...

No, Mr. Meyer. You do not understand. 'Many' in scripture consistently refers to 'the many that are called'. When believers are spoken of, they are the few; the chosen.

Mr. Meyer, you are guilty of emasculating the atonement when you say Christ paid for something and then refuse the idea that His payment accomplished the cancelling of a debt. Yes, there is one justification as you say; the pardon declared for all men: IT IS FINISHED!!! which is apprehended by faith or lost by unbelief.

July 13, 2014 at 6:43 PM

 Brett Meyer said...

Anonymous,
Your statements are faithful to the doctrine of Objective Justification.

They are not founded in Scripture or the Lutheran Confessions.

You state, "You do not understand. 'Many' in scripture consistently refers to 'the many that are called'. When believers are spoken of, they are the few; the chosen."

Actually I do understand. Your confession of Objective Justification - the new gospel of the ELS, WELS, ELCA and LCMS - teaches that the whole world has been forgiven all sin, the whole world's debt canceled by Christ's atonement, the whole world declared justified and righteous. Therefore you teach that the whole world has been called by stretching the meaning of the word 'many' to match the meaning of the word 'all'. Except you fail to quote Romans which teaches that those God has called He has saved eternally (glorified).
Romans 8:30, "Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

Again, you clearly demonstrate why the doctrine of Objective Justification has been charged with teaching Universalism. The only way it doesn't is for the Lutheran Synods to separate salvation from the forgiveness of sins - and they have done so in the doctrine of UOJ. A wicked, convoluted and contradictory mess Objective Justification creates.

Anonymous states, "Mr. Meyer, you are guilty of emasculating the atonement when you say Christ paid for something and then refuse the idea that His payment accomplished the cancelling of a debt."

I refuse the idea...Yes, I do. Because it is only an idea and not the teaching of Scripture. Other WELS pastors have charged me with refusing to 'take the leap' much like your charge that I refuse the 'idea'. The Scripture and Confessional statements I've provided in this short discussion reject the idea and condemn the leap.

Anonymous states, "Yes, there is one justification as you say; the pardon declared for all men: IT IS FINISHED!!! which is apprehended by faith or lost by unbelief."

Lost by unbelief...? And since the unbelieving world has remained in unbelief from conception - at what glorious time were they ever declared pardoned?

Objective Justification is a false rationalistic gospel, contradictory to Scripture and the Christian Book of Concord. The Lutheran Synods are using it to lead men, women and children away from sole trust in Christ.

In Christ,
Brett Meyer

There is not one tenet of Objective Justification that does not contradict Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions.

July 13, 2014 at 10:42 PM

Notice how precisely Quenstedt disposes
the Huber UOJ argument of righteousness without faith.
Pietism took over the false Huber position,
and WELS/LCMS/ELS/ELCA reflect that together.
Walther's dream of unity has been accomplished!
Praise the Lord and pass the popcorn - it's time for church.

 Brett Meyer said...

Anonymous the Christian Book of Concord clearly states that only on account of the gracious gift of faith in Christ alone are men accounted righteous or acceptable to God - not on account of Christ's atonement alone while the unbelieving world continues in unbelief as the false gospel of Objective Justification contends.

Also, 71] "but we maintain this, that properly and truly, by faith itself, we are for Christ's sake accounted righteous, or are acceptable to God. And because "to be justified" means that out of unjust men just men are made, or born again, it means also that they are pronounced or accounted just. For Scripture speaks in both ways. [The term "to be justified" is used in two ways: to denote, being converted or regenerated; again, being accounted righteous. Accordingly we wish first to show this, that faith alone makes of an unjust, a just man, i.e., receives remission of sins".
http://www.bookofconcord.org/defense_4_justification.php

In Christ,
Brett Meyer

July 14, 2014 at 7:03 AM

 Brett Meyer said...

Also, from the Christian Book of Concord:

9] Concerning the righteousness of faith before God we believe, teach, and confess unanimously, in accordance with the comprehensive summary of our faith and confession presented above, that poor sinful man is justified before God, that is, absolved and declared free and exempt from all his sins, and from the sentence of well-deserved condemnation, and adopted into sonship and heirship of eternal life, without any merit or worth of our own, also without any preceding, present, or any subsequent works, out of pure grace, because of the sole merit, complete obedience, bitter suffering, death, and resurrection of our Lord Christ alone, whose obedience is reckoned to us for righteousness. 10] These treasures are offered us by the Holy Ghost in the promise of the holy Gospel; and faith alone is the only means by which we lay hold upon, accept, and apply, and appropriate them to ourselves.
http://www.bookofconcord.org/sd-righteousness.php

Calov was always cited as teaching UOJ,
but the opposite is true.
I found this in Robert Preus' essay
and also in Justification and Rome.

Joel With No Surname - Has Principles!

This is from Joel Lillo, WELS Pastor, Fox Valley, Anything Goes District

Joel said...

I'm making it an iron clad commitment: I will not answer questions posted by anonymous posters. If you want a serious conversation about this, contact me by email with a real name.

July 14, 2014 at 5:11 AM

***

GJ - How about that anonymous comment you sent to me "by accident"? And now - if I click on "Joel" I learn nothing. That is demi-semi-anonymous.

If Gardeners Adopted Modern Church Management Tactics, We Would Only Have Dime Store Roses

"One does not simply plant roses."

One reader phoned last night and said later, "I have to get off the phone so you can post another article." He is interested in Lutheran topics, but he likes to read about Sassy and gardening.

He said this about discussing doctrine in public, "That is the old divide and conquer tactic. Those things should be discussed in public."

Paul wrote that there must be divisions and heresies, to prove what is good.

1 Corinthians 11:19 For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.

The context of Paul's statement is the abuse of Holy Communion in that congregation, which leads his passage on the Words of Institution. 

Controversies arose from the earliest days, as we can also see in 1 John, where the apostle addresses those who deny the divinity of Christ, a popular fad of the last century or so. 

Our managerial society is bogged down with church leaders who promote false doctrine, but have their telescopes and microscopes out for any sign of dissent from Holy Mother Synod.

If these tactics were adopted in gardening, what a mess would follow. 

"I think you are putting the tulip bulbs in upside-down!"

Answer - "God appointed me to this office. He would not let me make a mistake."

"Are you sure you want to plant something so invasive?"

Answer - "My father and grandfather planted these. Are you calling them incompetent?"

"Why are you buying from that catalog when their bulbs are junk? The other catalog has much better bulbs at the same price."

Answer - "All you ever do is cause trouble."

Some gardening practices are a matter of preference, but others are not. Those who want a solid wall of color are going to plant floribunda roses or the new easy-care roses like Knock-Out. They will not get roses that are easy to cut for vases, and the blooms will last only a short time.

However, hybrid tea blooms tantalize us by starting to bloom for a long time, slowly developing the bud, and rewarding us with spectacular flowers that last much longer than florabundas and have long stems for vases.

No one is going to get great roses from dime-store plants that lack the DNA for perfect blooms and the best colors. They are the failed hybrids that sell because someone has waxed them up, placed a cute namecard on them, and sold them cheap.

Thomas Paine wrote in the pamphlet that won the war for the Patriots -

Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. 
Thomas, Paine, The Crisis

Since the fight for the truth is puny and half-hearted, we are surrounded by circus entertainment instead of the Means of Grace, coaching talks instead of sermons, popcorn and soda distributed instead of the Body and Blood of Christ offered.

Pope Francis Talks about the Ongoing Vatican Scandal

Pope Francis: 'About 2%' of Catholic clergy paedophiles

Pope Francis has been quoted as saying that reliable data indicates that "about 2%" of clergy in the Catholic Church are paedophiles.

The Pope said that abuse of children was like "leprosy" infecting the Church, according to the Italian La Repubblica newspaper.

He vowed to "confront it with the severity it demands".

But a Vatican spokesman said the quotes in the newspaper did not correspond to Pope Francis's exact words.

The BBC's David Willey in Rome says there is often a studied ambiguity in Pope Francis' off-the-cuff statements.

He wants to show a more compassionate attitude towards Church teaching than his predecessors, but this can sometimes cause consternation among his media advisers, our correspondent adds.

This is Hochmuth's current LinkedIn profile.

Analysis: David Willey, BBC News, Rome

When is a papal interview not an interview? Sunday's edition of La Repubblica devotes its first three pages to an account of a conversation between Pope Francis and editor Eugenio Scalfari, which took place last Thursday. Papal spokesman Federico Lombardi said in a sharp note that it was not an interview in the normal sense of the word, although he admitted it conveyed the "sense and the spirit" of the conversation.

Mr Scalfari does not use a digital recorder, and Father Lombardi said Pope Francis never checked the accuracy of the interview.

Until now, the Vatican has declined to quantify the extent of clerical sexual abuse scandals in the worldwide Church. Statistics are usually available only for countries in the developed world. In the developing world, information is usually only sketchy.

In the interview, Pope Francis was quoted as saying that the 2% estimate came from advisers. It would represent around 8,000 priests out of a global number of about 414,000.

While the incidence of paedophilia as a psychiatric disorder in the general population is not accurately known, some estimates have put it at less than five percent.

"Among the 2% who are paedophiles are priests, bishops and cardinals. Others, more numerous, know but keep quiet. They punish without giving the reason," Pope Francis was quoted as saying.

"I find this state of affairs intolerable," he went on.

Above the interview La Repubblica ran the headline: "Pope says: Like Jesus, I shall use a stick against paedophile priests."

Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi denied that Pope Francis had said that there were cardinals who were paedophiles.

Last year Pope Francis strengthened the Vatican's laws against child abuse and earlier this month begged forgiveness from the victims of sexual abuse by priests, at his first meeting with victims since his election.

Many survivors of abuse by priests are angry at what they see as the Vatican's failure to punish senior officials who have been accused of covering up scandals.

Asked in the same La Repubblica interview about the celibacy rule for priests, Pope Francis recalled that it was adopted 900 years after the death of Jesus Christ and pointed out that the Eastern Catholic Church allows its priests to marry.

"The problem certainly exists but it is not on a large scale. It will need time but the solutions are there and I will find them."

Father Lombardi also denied that these were the Pope's exact words.

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http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/Blogs/Steve-Lowe/COLUMN-Exposing-abusers-must-give-victims-new-hope-20140713091500.htm

COLUMN: Exposing abusers must give victims new hope

Written by STEVE LOWE

AT long last there could be hope for those historically abused at a former Catholic boys home.

The Government, under pressure itself, is setting up an inquiry into historic abuse.

And the current Pope has also promised to listen and act on allegations of abuse by Catholic priests. St Francis Home, in Shefford, took boys from across the county and wider, where, instead of being cared for, they were systematically abused, both physically and sexually.

While we have been reporting this for more than a decade, so far no arm of the Establishment has taken any action.

They told us of a paedophile ring, which we reported and the Establishment ignored. They told us that at some homes, not necessarily St Francis, boys were ‘hired out’ to paedophiles, some of whom were high ranking and famous, which we reported and the Establishment ignored.

This newspaper also demonstrated that Savile visited the home. Two did take legal action and won out of court settlements. And many of them are currently taking out a class action against the Catholic Church. The police are also investigating claims of abuse, for the third time, but it does not look hopeful.

The Catholic Church has never really commented, other than it cannot comment.

I did once doorstep one of the abusers, Father John Ryan, who also would not comment. He has since died. This newspaper and me personally have been called scum for raising these matters and refusing to let the abuse of hundreds of boys fade away.

Still some of these men, now in their middle age, still suffer the agonies and ‘traumatic emotional turmoil’, to quote one of them.

And many of them, as grown men are embarrassed and ashamed of what was done to them. Historically the Catholic Church, the police, the former Bedfordshire County Council and the political establishment has either ignored these claims, or brushed them under the carpet after a cursory glance.

Now is the time for the church, the police, the politicians to recognise the true horror of St Francis Boys Home, Shefford.

The exposure of the prolific crimes of Savile and the conviction of celebrities such as Gary Glitter, Stuart Hall and Rolf Harris has given abused children the confidence to speak out at long last reassured that they have a voice that will be heard and respected. The walls of protection that were built around abusers within the Establishment are being dismantled and we need to ensure that they are never rebuilt. So the Shefford boys along with other abused children can hold their heads high and in their case, the least that the church can do is pay appropriate damages and say sorry.

24/06/14 Steve LoweSteve Lowe

Read more: http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/Blogs/Steve-Lowe/COLUMN-Exposing-abusers-must-give-victims-new-hope-20140713091500.htm#ixzz37T26q6sY