Ichabodians - all I have to do is search on names to come up with more Church Shrinkage garbage than anyone could imagine. The facts are there in the words of the WELS Church and Change leaders (or copied verbatim from the teachers they admire most).
These people will fight SP Schroeder to the death to see who will guide the spirit of the Wisconsin sect. The strong will prevail over the weak. In the last 30 years, the few who follow the Lutheran Confessions have been weak, divided, meek, and easily mislead (there I go again, damaged from reading WELS posts. I meant - misled.)
I chortle when I see one name on the anti-CGM list. My only contact from him was a raving email against Thy Strong Word, a book written to destroy the Church Shrinkage Movement. He wanted a "free review copy" and got it. His response was typical WELS - see if Christ or Satan is winning at the moment, then go with the winner.
So it will take more than a frown to defeat these Church and Change people. One of their board members, Bruce Becker, is senior at The Love Shack. I recall when Wayne Mueller needed a job after being eased out of The Sausage Factory. Suddenly WELS needed a full-time leader of Parish Services. That happened to be Wayne Mueller. Soon the adult education and youth education people were replaced and the job names changed to Adult Discipleship and Youth Discipleship. Subtle? I think not. The Church Shrinkers have bet the farm on manufacturing disciples, which they learned at Fuller. Search "making disciples" or "The Great Commission" in the writings of WELS Enthusiasts and you will find Fuller doctrine verbatim. Kent Hunter and Waldo Werning, both Fuller vets, parrot the same things.
Wayne Mueller's son, Adam, is a key person at Church and Change.
The Church and Change leaders are rooted at The Love Shack (most of the staff), The Sausage Factory (Sorum, etc.), Wisconsin Lutheran College (Our Valpo), and Martin Luther College (Lawrence of Pasadena, etc). They run the District Mission Boards and World Missions. They have their own TV show, Time of Grace, Mark Jeske, where that evil word Lutheran is not mentioned. They have their own theological conference each year or so. They trot off to the Church Shrinkage conferences together, scorning the fellowship of their classmates and co-workers to drool at the feet of false teachers. Luther said, "I will not have any fellowship with them (the Enthusiasts)." Valleskey said, "They are Christians. We can learn from them, too."
If the WELS clergy and laity confront these Church Shrinkers with the plain, clear Word of God, with the Confessions, the wolves in sheep's clothing will rage and gnash their fangs, but retreat finally to the sects where they belong. They will follow Mark Freier, Randy Cutter, Kelly Voigt, and many others they trained to be anti-Lutheran, anti-Means of Grace, anti-Word of God. Some may even convert to Lutheran doctrine.
The Holy Spirit is so powerful that He can use the worst of experiences to raise up pure doctrine again. That could even happen in the LCMS. WELS has more opportunities than Missouri to defeat the CGM scorpions. Every circuit meeting, conference, and gathering is a chance to address the issues with the Word. The first two articles of the Formula of Concord alone can leave the Church Shrinkage Movement shattered and twitching.
Boomers in WELS - you grabbed the best calls and drove out the opposition. It was fun and profitable for you and your pals. Now you are getting closer to the greedy grave. What will you finally say in your defense?
- "My parking lot covered six acres"?
- "I earned a DMin at Fuller?"
- "We won the making disciples debate"?
- "No one can tell we are Lutheran"?
