not listening to C. F. W. Walther.
Organizations like to suppress discussion. Their favorite word is control. Silence and secrecy help them control everyone else.
Spener really had two major agenda items. One was his cell group method, which is found everywhere in Lutheran synods, whether left, right, or in the middle. Cell groups kill doctrinal purity by making pooled ignorance the key factor in small group happiness. Cell groups are also ideal for promoting the superficial feel-good experience of Pentecostalism.
Spener also promoted unionism at the expense of doctrine and faux-love at the expense of orthodoxy. Nothing promotes bigness like "why can't we all just get along?" I attended Lutheran meetings where the LCA element denounced the LCMS for erecting doctrinal barriers, making them seem trivial. If all the LCA members had known the full truth, most would have run out of the room screaming. Avoiding the issues helped the apostates.
Mergers require doctrinal suppression. Every denominational merger has worked against sound doctrine in favor of just getting along.
Listen for those crying out in pain that discussing the Fox Valley (Appleton) situation is damaging to WELS. Just the opposite is true. The more people engage in discussing the doctrinal issues, the better it will be for everyone. An infection needs to be drained, not sewn shut and covered with a flesh-colored bandage.
This much I know, because the truth comes out - months ago, a group of people made an effort to study the issues and to deal with them in the WELSian way. DP Doug sent his VP to whitewash Ski's Groeschel service. When the ultimate meeting was set, the group found out the DP Doug was not showing up at all. Some would call that a cowardly deception. I call it typical WELS. Instead, the group was treated to a letter from Captain Huffnpuff, where he denounced me and my little blog. In other words, the cowardly DP was telling the group - "I do not take you seriously. You are dimwits fooled by that horrible blog."
I wish I had more details, but everything is a secret in WELS. I found out only by little bits coming in from all directions - a WELSian bit torrent. My take on this is DP Doug's behavior led to the Intrepid blog being formed. DP Doug did something right, something like Carter getting Reagan elected president (not be design).
Did DP Doug solve anything by his amateur tactics? Not at all. The issues are bigger than ever, but that is good. The district is too controlled or frightened to remove him from the ministry, which is the natural course for pastoral incompetence. Now Appleton is a synodical issue.
I have no trouble commenting on all this. My sins have been publicly confessed by so many - in various denominations - that I can rise above them all, purified by the refiner's fire. Just kidding, folks. Once everyone has heard the same story from the same synodical drones, they dismiss the timorous experts and start listening to the facts.
Sound doctrine can withstand the gaze of the public. False doctrine cannot. Recently, Paul McCain's finger-puppet, Father Jack Kilcrease, posted a series of blunders on Extra Nos. Once exposed for his fraudulent argumentation, Jack withdrew, erasing all his comments.
In contrast, laymen Joe Krohn and Brett Meyer are willing to discuss justification by faith any time.
I see that the Intrepids are discussing the issues with their names on the posts. In contrast, the Church and Money Changers are alerting their odious network to start mowing down their opposition anonymously, as they always have. I think the Intrepids are far too polite and patient, but that is their blog, their style.
The apostates stay in their viper-holes for the longest time, hiding in the dark, which is their friend. People will know the serpents are alarmed when they come out hissing. That is the best possible sign of their reptilian defeat. Their poison will not harm anyone. No weapon devised by man can harm the Word of God.
