Using Straw Men Arguments To Argue Against Faith. It Is Not Too Late to Boycott the Emmaus Conference

Ron Pederson is against faith.

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Ron Pederson

April 5 at 11:33am · Edited

“God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting men’s sins against them” (2 Cor 5:19).

What did Jesus accomplish by His life, death and resurrection? Did He accomplish a potential forgiveness that is true only when we believe it? Is our faith like some kind of magical genie that brings the forgiveness of sins into existence? If the forgiveness of sins is not already there, what is faith to believe?

***

GJ - How pathetic - three tired old straw men arguments in a row.

1. Did He accomplish a potential forgiveness that is true only when we believe it?

GJ - That one is especially lame, Ron. Who has said that? You are arguing in a circle and daring anyone to challenge your circular reasoning. You seem to reject utterly the Formula of Concord. See the quotation above.

2. Is our faith like some kind of magical genie that brings the forgiveness of sins into existence?

ELCA argues the same way. "Is the Bible a book that fell from heaven? Do you worship the Bible?" Instead, begin with Romans 4:24-25 and slither your way out of that passage. Luther's Galatians Commentary speaks only of justification by faith.

If the forgiveness of sins is not already there, what is faith to believe?

GJ - Ron, tell us the truth. Is the revealed Word of God dependent upon your darkened understanding? If you cannot believe in a universal absolution and salvation without faith, you cannot believe? How fortunate that so many read and understand the plain words of the Bible, that we are justified by faith.

Darwin could not believe in God creating a wasp that laid its eggs on pests, only to have baby wasps eat the larvae of those pests as they hatched in their warm, juicy bodies. Would that keep you from trusting in Creation too, since it was so hard on Darwin's tender sensibilities?

Two Rose Gardens Mulched - Planting before a Storm

Our helper came by to haul tree rubble and mulch. We will have many small logs left, even if someone gets the bigger pieces for firewood. Logs and sticks are great additions for the yard, unless one covets the billiard table look.

I kept piling up sticks near the Jackson Bird Spa all winter, rather than hiding them in the back. The birds constantly used the sticks and branches for beak wiping and perching.

Logs rotting into the soil are food centers for many animals, large and small.

Our helper was impressed by all the pruning. He said, "Now you will have to build a deck with lots of lumber and provide yourself with some shade back here."

I planted on strawberry plant in the compost, just to see how it would do.

Front Yard
I mulched Mrs. Wright's rose garden myself, because I wanted to see the finished area, which is the sunny side (south) of the house. Now the area boasts the straw bales growing potatoes, strawberries and a few other items. Raspberries are newly planted next to the straw bales, and a few red roses are planted between them.

I put Mrs. Wright's roses in a straight line parallel to the fence between our yards. The walkway between them and the straw bales was grassy. Now it is mulched with shredded cypress.

Back Yard Again
We mulched Mrs. Gardener's roses along the fence. We began the mulching last fall, so the soil had plenty of time to develop more soil creatures. Newspapers, wood mulch, and autumn leaves fed the soil for about six months.

Digging those roses was easy and fun. I put them in the lawn parallel to the fence, so we had lawn to cover with mulch around the roses. This time I had pre-soaked newspapers to lay down. Sassy and I did a quick run to Lowe's for more bags.

Before - grass and weeds grew along the fence. Now mulch has suppressed the grass and weeds, turning them into compost. Roses are leafing out and growing fast.

Storm Arriving
We have been watching the storms develop in the West. Normally we get moisture pulled up from the Gulf of Mexico or rain sweeping across Oklahoma toward us. Often the brunt of the weather heads north to Joplin or south to Ft. Smith and Little Rock.

Today we had a rain so light that I grabbed our new strawberry plants, soaked them again in rainwater, and planted them.

The rose bushes lacking the proper attitude were given an all-cane pruning. Nothing wakes a rose up faster. Two things I suggest, based on recent experience:

1. Soak rose bushes and potted plants for hours before digging them in. They are more dried out than appearances suggest. Rain water is best. Second best is water that has set for a day. Third best is city water. 
2. Prune all the canes upon planting for a faster start. Waking them up means getting the roots to establish themselves.

The rain is pouring out of the clouds now.

The fence and trees make vertical gardening easy.

WELS Musings from a Layman - The Sausage Factory as the Echo Chamber

WELS produces the MDivs who repeat the same bromides,
which are echoed verbatim to show their loyalty to Holy Mother Sect.

Randall Schultz

I propose that the Sausage Factory be given an additional nickname. One could also call it “The Echo Chamber”. Graduates have a habit of repeating certain phrases like Matthew 18, the Eighth Commandment, all are saved, etc. Perhaps a more fancy title might be the Pavlovian Dog School of Polemics. This conditioned response even applies to synod minders who have this mode of operation in place whenever debate is attempted.

The opposite of the echo chamber is an anechoic chamber. I have been in a couple of those. When you speak, it sounds like the words just drop out of your mouth and hit the floor in front of you.  This would be akin to writing a letter to a DP or other synod top dogs.

I remember reading once that Johannes Bading performed 2,182 baptisms. At his funeral, Pastor Gausewitz was one of the pall bearers. At one of the two organ concerts that I attended, Kevin Hastings gave a really interesting informal talk about the history. When he came there, there were members there who had fond memories of Pastor Brenner. He found it humorous that they said that Brenner could get a bit long with his sermons. They joked about wanting a lever a for trap door at the bottom of the pulpit. I am guessing that these members had elderly relatives who talked about Bading.

When I read a bit more about Bading's humble life, it reminded me of what I read about Matthias Loy and even Walter Maier (the elder).

Another tidbit. When we visited St. John's, there about twenty to forty in attendance. After the service, an elderly lady pointed to a young man in a photo hanging in the narthex. She said, "that's my husband". Those who were there probably just had a strong sense of belonging to a church that was so vital to the formation of the Synodical Conference. After St. John's was stolen and Kevin Hastings was locked out, much will be sent down the memory hole.

Then, I read a few entries from the latest WELS Documented blog. It was about many different worship styles yet allegedly, the same doctrine in the WELS. I wondered what the WELS leaders have been smoking. I also noticed that most of the congregations listed were outside of Wisconsin. The one notable exception was St. Paul's Muskego and the Bridge.

I believe that Kevin Hastings said something like, "it was so funny to hear these smart alecky 85 year old members say that they wished that there was a lever connected to a trap door on the bottom of the pulpit. That way, they could pull the lever when Brenner took too much time in a sermon."

I also remember going there with our children when we had maybe only the oldest three and St. John's was still in the WELS. I was a lay delegate at a District convention at the Echo Chamber, I  mean the Sausage Factory. Hagedorn gave his atrocious Cross Cultural paper there. I spoke briefly with Kevin Hastings afterwards about it. He said that he was going to talk with Al Sorum (Zebaoth, N. 7th St) and some other guys in the Metro Milwaukee North circuit about it.

I am sure that by then Jeske had a fairly tight grip on the puppet strings of synod leadership. Kevin Hastings was probably the odd man out in the circuit by then.

Apparently, Thrivent loot and Schwan donations are not enough. When I tried to discuss with some laity a number of years ago the direction that I saw it moving in, I saw a lot of normalcy bias and status quo bias. A lot of members are quite timid. This is probably a lot of history that is playing out. Many of the pastors, like Brenner were probably quite stern. Disagreeing with a pastor was akin to arguing with a police officer.

Worthwhile comments get the anechoic chamber effect.
Bueller? Bueller? Anyone? Anyone?

***

GJ - The creepiest feeling is to have several Echo Chamber graduates repeat the same words when triggered in a conversation. Mentioning D. James Kennedy will get, "He is an Arminian, so at least he believes in the general Atonement."

Say "capitalism" and they will say, "Not capitalism. America is a free enterprise country."

Any criticism of Church Growth elicited, "Don't throw out the baby with the bath water." I said, "Don't wash the baby in dirty water."

Another WELS layman said, "WELS never stops talking about the whole world being forgiven, but I have never seen a more unforgiving, thin-skinned bunch."