Ichabod, The Glory Has Departed: 2016-07-24

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Why Do Words and Ideas Anger and Scare the Leaders So Badly?

These three Lutheran leaders agree about one thing -
they reject Luther's doctrine of Justification by Faith, the Chief Article of Christianity,
the Master and Prince, the Judge of all other articles of faith.
They love bad Bible translations.

I have heard from various people that my posts anger and scare leaders.

That puzzles me, because their words and ideas do not anger and scare me. I have many acquaintances who think the opposite of me. One FB friend just quoted UOJ lovingly, and the actual words were really sappy and wrong.

One LCMS pastor is moving from CPH to Ft. Wayne to teach. He edited Luther's Works, so I asked on FB if he taught Luther's Justification by Faith. That offended his friends.

Paul McCain made sure no one linked this blog on the Steadfast Lutherans Matt for President group blog. The various writers also opposed having anyone defend Justification by Faith.

Steadfast (note the irony) Lutherans did their best to avoid mentioning me, although in the end they had to admit that UOJ came from Pietism. Once they began going full throttle on the Chief Article, the founder Steve Spencer bailed out and said IL was not accomplishing anything, Indeed. They jumped off the blog like fleas from a dying dog.

At the Emmaus Conference, which was promoted as a discussion among the LCMS, WELS, and ELS, one layman was ordered not to discuss Justification by Faith with anyone. However, Jar Jar Webber was not prohibited from discussing UOJ at the conference.

I am prohibited by Luther to offer motives for these reactions, even though my motives are constantly impugned by these opponents. I am often shocked by their confidently telling others that I do not know Greek when classical languages was my major in college. My future wife talked me into taking German with her as well. Ja wohl! Should I send my transcripts?

I enjoyed learning more Greek by writing out my own translations in seminary. Between college, seminary, and Yale - I took beginning French, advanced Latin, advanced Hebrew, plenty of New Testament Greek, if one counts an entire year where most of the classes were either Hebrew exegesis or Greek exegesis.

So I tutored Little Ichabod in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. John Lawrenz coveted our son's Vulgate, so we gave it to him. Our son also learned to be fluent in Spanish and German at MLS.

Most ELCA Lutherans cannot explain the Augustana - the Augsburg Confession.
But the yahoos pictured above can only teach against it,
and their members are no better than ELCA in their prideful ignorance.
This is Augustana College, where I met Mrs. Ichabod - 50 years ago.

I could rehearse their other clear manifestations of fear, anger, and dishonesty.

I went to an inerrancy conference in Chicago decades ago. They gave us free books on the topic, all written by non-Lutherans. I appreciated having them and learned a few things from them, especially from a non-Lutheran perspective.

A tsunami of fear seems to be overtaking Lutherans as they look ahead at their doom and destruction. After all, the endowment-rich seminaries of ELCA are collapsing just in time for WELS and Missouri to import the leaven of the most rapidly dying group. Thrivent will pay them to accomplish these acts of self-destruction.

If the biggest boy on the block is failing, where will the little guys go? If the richest one is broke and firing staff, what will happen to the poor, country cousins?

The Dumbing Down of the Synods and Denominations

Jungkuntz chaired the Seminex board, a portable seminary that became
the official school for the gay Metropolican Community Church sect - 100% gay.
Thus this WELS-LCMS-ALC leader became the chairman of the first
gay Lutheran seminary. That influence continues in ELCA, WELS, Missouri, and the ELS.
Note that Seminex was populated with Concordia, St. Louis faculty,
the ones who walked out and encouraged students to steal the library books.
One Seminex student said to me, "Those were our books!"

Richard Jungkuntz called himself "old school," for the New York Times and mourned the loss of respect for teachers that his father enjoyed. Martin Marty made the same point.

That generation led the Long March through the denominations, appearing to retreat at times - like their hero Mao - but actually regrouping to take over the culture. And they did.

Nothing claimed about the American decline is alien from what the mainline denominations have wrought. They pioneered what the ruling class now certifies as 100% good. The denominations look at the fruit of their labors and make it even worse.

The cause of this calamity among Lutherans is singular: ignorance of Biblical Lutheran doctrine. There is an old principle in sales that also applies to doctrine. If a sales trainer cannot sell, no matter what his words of wisdom suggest, his trainees will not learn to sell. If he has certain hang-ups, such as hating to phone or fearing the close, they will absorb the same quirks and weaknesses.

Applying that to Lutherans, we can see how the seminaries and colleges have been downgrades in service to Holy Mother Synod. I met the Philadelphia (LCA) seminary professor who published an article their Lutheran magazine, showing that homosexuality was against nature and therefore wrong.
That was about 1981. Now Philadelphia and Gettysburg have failed to such an extent, with all lavender faculties, that they now have merged organically while keeping the names. They wanted to fire more professors but had to backtrack a bit.

The Gospel of forgiveness is revealed from the faith of Jesus (Romans, Galatians, Philippians) to the faith of believers who have been converted by the Spirit at work in the Word of God. The Lutheran leaders, who never stop lecturing and writing about their ignorance, cannot teach the basics of Biblical doctrine. They are not stewards of the mysteries of God, but salesmen of the methods of Fuller Seminary.

These leaders do not trust the Word and do not believe in the Gospel as it is revealed in the Bible. Instead, they talk about themselves, their corporations, their need for money, and their great humility. The only things they do not publish are:

Their crimes,
Their apologies for false doctrine, or
Their actual expenditures of money, from offerings, Thrivent, and foundations.

These leaders - with inadequate training - speak on their own authority. They claim eternal verities without the least bit of Biblical support. Most of the time they are teaching directly against the Scriptures. At other times they are improving and clarifying matters, so the articles of faith can be dispensed with later, thanks to those precious amendments. Thus the resurrection of Jesus expresses the "Easter faith of the disciples," meaning - it never happened.

If you think that cannot happen in your hyper-Pietistic sect, ask yourself how many things have been justified because, "According to research from Fuller Seminary..." One might as well say "the Pope" instead.

When I listen to these people blabbering, or read their pernicious works, I wonder if they could teach the basics of Luther's Small Catechism. They clearly reject the Large Catechism, which any layman can read with edification - and teach to others.

But if the leaders cannot explain correctly how one comes to faith, or what the efficacy of the Word means to all our work, then how can the callow seminarians grasp anything more than the current fads: guitars, cheap keyboards, and statistical models.

The Scriptures

The way the LCMS and WELS tumbled for the original, classic NIV is typical of the growing ignorance. No one had enough knowledge or spine to oppose this move, which worsened with the New NIV. The pattern of ignorance and cowardice continued.

Someone asked me about translations. Oddly enough, the super-pietistic holier-than-me ELDONA group was using the New KJV, which is fairly Babtist in all the key passages. They were not united in that, either, because one pastor likes the Calvinist RSV marketed as the ESV. (Paul McCain does too!)

In the area where Lutherans should be most careful, they are especially lax. God help the person who disobeys Holy Mother Sects Chief Dogma (the infallibility of the sect itself) but everything else is up for grabs. That is what we should expect in the Age of Apostasy. The most important articles are neglected while matters of indifference are raised to canonical status.

Moreover, ELDONA (aka Jim Heiser, STM) filled with wrath at the mere appearance of my books, including a concise comparison of translations, which indicted their Babtist New KJV.

Those are the same dudes who had no problem with UOJ for over a decade. Real bright bulbs - or just opportunists?

As far as I can see - the only Bibles to use today are the

KJV - my favorite, the only one I use,
KJV21 - a very slight modernization, or
Third Millennium Bible - another slight modernization.

We are not having a debate because all of us in the world-wide Church of the Augsburg Confession appreciate the KJV and feel no reason to look elsewhere. If people wanted to discuss this topic, we would look at all the key passages in the KJV21 and TMB, keeping in mind that the KJV is also slightly modernized.

But let us face the truth - the Lutheran leaders do not care about the teaching of the Scriptures. They cannot preach from it or teach it to to others.

Bishop Shallow Unleashes the Three Types of Governance.
Watch the Tape Before They Erase It

I would apologize for using this creepy picture of Heiser,
but he used it himself for his profile.
A bold confession of faith in ELDONA by a founder.

ELDONA Pastor Josh Sullivan published the continuing revelation of Bishop-for-Life Heiser, ELDONA.

ELDONA organized in 2006. "The decision was made..." Sure. Heiser wanted to be a bishop and made sure his friends named him bishop-for-life.

This is what Pastor Martin Stephan arranged when his cult landed in New Orleans. Walther and others signed a document making Stephan bishop-for-life, certifying what was already true. Only those who submitted to Stephan in all matters could be in the leadership. One pastor had to apologize to Stephan before he met the man.

"For the sake of good order..." is a mantra in ELDONA, which gives Heiser power over every detail. They even joke about it.

For those who were raised in abusive LCMS, WELS, or ELS congregations, this is just fine. Walther worship and pastoral abuse go hand-in-hand. Ft. Wayne specializes in teaching their graduates that they are the greatest. Everyone bow down to the priest, David Scaer would say.

Heiser has a great line about subscribing to the Book of Concord without teaching the Confessions of the Lutheran Church. And yet, he is the best example of ignoring the Chief Article. He did not even know the truth of Justification by Faith when he read Thy Strong Word in 2000. He was offended that anyone "denied Objective Justification" until he found out from TSW what Objective Justification really meant.

Heiser thought David Scaer at Ft. Wayne was a great dogmatics professor. Ha!

Scaer is another mini-pope following the model of Stephan and Walther.
That is why so many Ft. Wayne graduates come out damaged
by his bad influence.
Examples: Paul McCain, James Heiser, Jar Jar Webber.

And yet Heiser was silent about Objective Justification, welcomed OJ pastors who acknowledged his glorious title, and refused to deal with the issue openly until Paul Rydecki saw the light (after publicly supporting OJ on the Intrepid Lutherans blog). Rydecki became a champion of Justification by Faith and DP Buchholz kicked him out for falling away from the Chief Dogma of WELS (see the idiotic essay by Frosty Bivens, plagiarizing Zarling's sophomoric "Stand in Awe of Justification" (without faith).

Like most graduates of Concordia Seminary in Ft. Wayne, Heiser managed to get his diploma without knowing basic Biblical, Lutheran doctrine and what the Missouri Synod continues to teach opposing it - also a matter of public knowledge, filling the library at Ft. Wayne, summarized in the Brief Statement of 1932.

I imagine that when Heiser embraced the Rolf Preus Synod and began meeting with them - after he knew better - the Chief Article was reduced to an adiaphoron, a matter of indifference.

Readers will notice on the tape that Heiser used "whoever" correctly and then changed that to "whomever," which is never the subject of a relative pronoun clause. Thus the semi-educated seek to use pretentious English to appear more educated.

Minute and second mark - 8.26 "error...whomever (sic) is promulgating it."

There are so many ways to cover the Chief Article with smog,
or just ignore it.

Although ELDONA pretends to enjoy the purist form of fellowship, the union of opposing doctrines without settling their differences is proof of doctrinal indifference and unionism.

Some would object and say, "But now ELDONA has defended Justification by Faith and the Rolf Synod has scurried back to the ELS. You have slandered Holy Mother Diocese!"

Recent events and the various eructations of ELDONUTs have convinced me that the Chief Dogma of ELDONA is the infallibility and authoritarian rule of Bishop James Heiser, "for the sake of good order."

ELDONA pastors are told how they must conform to the most minute details of Heiser's demands in conducting worship.

As I have noticed before with characters like Jar Jar Webber, the more they pay attention to their Eastern Orthodox/Roman influences from Ft. Wayne, the less they care about sound doctrine, especially the Gospel.

The Episcopal Church USA is additional proof of high church people caring nothing about doctrine, though any form of church government can be subverted by greedy, power-mad, narcissistic leaders.

More could be said about the chit-chat interview. There is no Biblical foundation for the claims, but who needs that when they have the continuing revelation of Heiser? Notice on the tape that "voting" is bad in electing officials, without clearly stating that Heiser is following the examples of

DeJaynes, his former bishop,
Martin Stephan, the first Lutheran bishop in America, and
Walther the Pope and Great Prophet of Missouri.

Bold Confession at one ELDONUT Congregation.
"We Believe...the ELDONA Banner"

Father Hudson is on the right.
For his confession of faith, email Bishop-for-Life Heiser.

What We Believe
At Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church, we believe and accept:

***

GJ - This saves a lot of time when Bishop-for-Life Heiser changes his mind, after enjoying a new revelation from the throne of his heart. After all, he ignored the Chief Article for a decade or so, welcomed fellowship with UOJ fanatics like the Rolf Preus Synod and Eric Stefanski.

Then, with Paul Rydecki and a large church building came Justification by Faith.

Erasing a lot of text is a bother, and old pages can be called up with special software. Leaving the page blank and posting the banner is a great time-saver.

Father Stefanski is a crock ever full of himself.

Waiting for your sermon on husband of one wife, Richard.

ELDONA is the most Pietistic sect claiming the Lutheran name.
They have raised shunning to an art form.

Who else was the enforcer for a bishop-for-life in the good, old days?
And coveted the property of others, then grabbed it?
And ruled like a pope?
ELDONUTs are the true Waltherians.

Monday, August 1, 2016

The Guys Who Are Leading the Views Again -
Ski and Glende, Jeske and Patterson. From 2009

Ski posted this photo of MariQueen in his Facebook photo albums.

It is still there if you follow the link.

Update - after a long interval, photos disappeared from public view -

Ski and Glende.

Tell Me This Is NOT a Scheme To Get Ski Back to Appleton

Glende still features this photo with Katy Perry, age 25, on the

home page of his Facebook account.
She is famous for Ur So Gay and I Kissed a Girl.
The Glende-Ski supervisors should look up the videos and lyrics to these masterpieces, especially since much is made of her growing up Christian and singing Gospel.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "WELS - The CORE - Features Movies for Advent":

Where do those pictures of Pastors Ski and Glende come from?

I believe Mariqueen Maandig is married to Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails. So it's not like she's hitting on him. Still, Google her and you find plenty of pictures of her in various states of undress, and even naked. I can't say that having her pose for a picture with him would be wrong. But why would he want such a picture? Moreover, if he meets a celebrity and she agrees to pose, why would it be one that feigns intimacy? And perhaps most perplexing, why would he then make it public? It shows a lack of judgment so profound that that, in itself, would seem to disqualify him from ministry. It's disrespectful to Mrs. Ski. And it raises the question of what a pastor does to strive to be "beyond reproach." [GJ - 2 Corinthians 6:3 Giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed]

***

GJ - I mentioned before that many of these WELS people are techno-dolts. Pastor Tim has now locked down his photo albums and other information, but he still features the photo (above) on his main page. Ski has not privatized his photos (as of this writing). The photo above is found among his photo albums.

I am always finding these Changers bragging about themselves on the Net, for everyone to see, and subsequently erasing the evidence or hiding it when people get linked to it.

Dom Perignon Patterson is listed as a Facebook friend among all the Changers I found. The same names keep cropping up. Patterson and Jeske are on all those lists. Jeske's information is open, but good luck with Patterson. You will get a copy of Obama's birth certificate before you see anything about Don. I guess the safari and fishing photos were painful experiences for him when published elsewhere. I was told he had another free vicar this year, but the vicar is not even listed on the church website. Nor is SP-in-Exile Gurgle, who was hired for pay by skimming the salaries of the staff.

Long ago, my grade school teacher admonished us not to go around writing on walls or in textbooks. She said, "Fools' names and fools' faces are often found in public places."

Ski's reputation in A-town is for posting all his celeb photos in his office and bragging about them. He even does that with people who come in for spiritual counseling.

Ski and Glende represent the Peter Pan segment in WELS, the pastors who never want to grow up. They often come from the athletes, the same ones who would not get the position as Second Water Boy in a big school. At a tiny school they can be varsity. There are mature, Lutheran pastors in WELS.

Someone wrote that SP Schroder has to act, but I ask, "Where are the Fox Valley pastors?" Some belong to the same Reformed cult as Ski and Glende, but there must be some Lutherans there, some grown-ups. And where are the Fox Valley laity?

Rainbow is the WELS mascot.

---

Try to deny it now, Kudu Don Patterson.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Fools' Names and Fools' Faces Often Appear in Publ...":

Your take on Dom Patterson is right on. He is a Changer to the Core but has recently tried to hide his affiliation as he is being exposed. Patterson's Reason for Hope is a replica of Mark Jeske's Time of Grace. Dom is also under the tutelage and direction of Gurgle.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Fools' Names and Fools' Faces Often Appear in Publ...":

I opened Ski's Facebook profile from your link. Did you notice that under his "Interested in" the only thing he has listed is "Women." Did someone hack his site and post that? I can't imagine a pastor posting something like that. If it's his, I would think his ministry is done.

People keep harping that it's Pres. Schroeder's job to discipline Ski. It isn't. It's his circuit pastor's job first. Who is his circuit pastor?

---

Joe Krohn questioned the infallible Kudu Don Patterson
and wondered about the huge fees wasted on fund-raising,
another Church and Change tie-in.

LutherRocks has left a new comment on your post "Fools' Names and Fools' Faces Often Appear in Publ...":

"...who was hired for pay by skimming the salaries of the staff."

This remark is so far off the mark, I just needed to call attention to it. It shows what a buffoon you are.

"Anonymous Anonymous said...

Your take on Dom Patterson is right on. He is a Changer to the Core but has recently tried to hide his affiliation as he is being exposed. Patterson's Reason for Hope is a replica of Mark Jeske's Time of Grace. Dom is also under the tutelage and direction of Gurgle.

December 18, 2009 5:04 PM"

Only someone who gets their info from this sheistblog (sic! - no such word) would say something like this.

***

GJ - My informant says that staff salaries were reduced to pay for Gurgle's invented position. Patterson wanted two positions funded and "only" got his free vicar.

I am not sure what German word LutherRocks was attempting. Ichabodians, do you accept official denials to come from someone who knows not that he knows not German?

Don Patterson on his friends list? Ya think?

---

Best Comment of the Month!

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Fools' Names and Fools' Faces Often Appear in Publ...":

Please! What is going on here? Isn't it o.k. to post a picture with your wife and her arm lovingly wrapped around your belly? There is nothing wrong with you showing your wife, family, kids, or niece, who loves you and shows it. I would have a little talk with my daughter if she dressed so provocatively though and my wife for that matter. But other than that, I think it's o.k.

Perhaps this could also just be a very loving congregation. "Greet each other with a heavenly kiss." Doesn't the Bible say that?

***

GJ - There are pictures of Ski with his wife, on Facebook, but they do not steam up the camera lens. Those photos have been shut down, along with the babe shot. Here is a boat picture of the family. And there are others, too.

---

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Fools' Names and Fools' Faces Often Appear in Publ...":

Is he going to post more pictures with hookers? Why is he spending time with these x-rated females? What about setting a good role model? This female is not even a celebrity and is married to a man who doesn't even believe in God. He writes hateful songs about God.

[GJ - The rest is deleted, for obvious reasons. We don't need links to porn stars.]

---

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Fools' Names and Fools' Faces Often Appear in Publ...":

The author of this blog consistently refutes the fact that he is breaking the 8th Commandment. Regarding his claim that staff salaries were "skimmed" to pay for Gurgle's salary at Holy Word, that is a blatant lie. Their is no credence to that whatsoever. GJ's informant broke the 8th commandment when he shared this lie with Mr. (not pastor) Jackson. GJ broke the 8th commandment when he posted that lie. To you Mr. Jackson...your informant is not as in touch with things as he or you would like to think

***

GJ - Would anonymous and unfounded accusations qualify as slander? I think so. Send me the before and after budgets at Holy Word, Austin, and I will publish a retraction if the audited figures prove the claim posted above. Just to be sure, include your name, address, birthday, last four of your SS, and your mother's maiden name. I can't be too careful in dealing with Chicaneries.

I am also interested in the disappearing Vicar at Holy Word. Is there one or not? Why is he not on the websty if he is? And where is Gurgle? Is he afraid of a process server? Just wonderin'.

---

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Fools' Names and Fools' Faces Often Appear in Publ...":

Mr. Jackson, why would anybody send you a copy of their church budget? What an idiotic request. It seems that request was just your way of trying to deflect the fact that you are publishing lies. As a man of God, which you claim to be, when another man of God, which I am by grace, lets you know that you printed a lie, I would hope that you would take that seriously and consider retracting it. Our Lord takes breaking the 8th commandment seriously, which you have done. If you still demand proof, ask your informant for proof since it seems they think they know what is going on, which they clearly don't. But I 'm sure you made sure their information was correct before you dragged a church's Gospel ministry through the dirt once again. Make a trip to Austin and visit one of their Bible classes and church services. Sit down with one of the lay leaders in the church. You will realize quickly their knowledge of the bible is substantial. To your chagrin they will not be able to quote the Lutheran confessions, however, they do have a thorough knowledge of the Bible and a genuine love for their Lord and Savior. May the Lord bless your Christmas celebration and hopefully you will find some time to share in the JOY of the Christ-child, instead of dwelling in your bitter state. Hopefully the plank in your eye will be removed sometime with the Lord's help. By His grace, I am working on my plank on a daily basis.

***

GJ - Oh-oh: another wounded heart comment. And this came from Mumford, Texas, not far from Round Rock and Austin.

Why does Patterson hide so much? He makes blogging interesting.

Why are we spending $45,000 on a WELS-LCMS
fundraising guy?
Ka-pow. Kicked out.

Avoiding the Monoculture with Interplanting - Mints and Borage

I posted the Jessica Walliser list of flowers that host beneficial insects,

When a lot of roses are planted, some will fail to come out of dormancy and others will die later. I have had empty spots from roses never leafing out, from Rose Rosette disease (where weird growth signals the disorder), and from sudden death in KnockOut roses.

In each case, the loss means a hole in the garden and in the soil. I fill holes with composted cow manure or mushroom compost. Both will help clay soil mix with the organic material, thanks to soil creatures always at work.

I have two farm teams in the back, the fence roses and the last free ones that came to replace the ones that never grew. However, I am going to use the openings to plant more beneficial plants - mints and borage.

Borage is an easy beneficial insect plant. Bees love it, so the plant is also called Bee Bread. The herb drops seed and keeps starting new plants. Last summer, when I bought a huge packet of Borage, I had the plant all along Mrs. Wright's fence and also just off the front patio, where Mrs. I could pick the flowers every day - they taste a bit like cucumbers. The point of beneficial insect plants is to attract a whole series of good insects, and borage is definitely a game-changer.

Three Well-Behaved Mints: Mountain Mint, Horse Mint, and Catmint
Mints are known for taking over, and caution is urged when planting certain kinds, such as planting them in the soil in pots, to contain the invasive growth. Or just leaving the pots on top of the ground.

But some mints are clumping rather than stoloniferous (invasive underground through their stolons, like grass and violets). Bamboo can be clumping or stoloniferous - but I suggest using bamboo only for a small, well placed forest.

I like the well-behaved mints because they flower easily and attract many beneficial insects, including butterflies.

Mountain Mint attracted this butterfly.

Bee Balm is also called Horse Mint.
This variety is called Monarda and makes
a big, clumping clump.

Catmint is a substitute for Lavender,
but Almost Eden said,
"I like Lavender."
Their plant is 25 years old.

Jessica Walliser's List of Plants That Support Beneficial Insects

From Jessical Walliser's blog post:

Achillea millefolium – yarrow
Ammi majus – laceflower
Anethum graveolens – dill
Angelica species – angelica
Baccharis species – baccharis
Boltonia asteroides – boltonia
Coreopsis species – tickseed
Cosmos bipinnatus – cosmos
Eriogonum species – native buckwheat
Eupatorium perfoliatum – common boneset
Helianthus annuus – sunflower
Leucanthemum x superbum – shasta daisy
Labularia maritima – sweet alyssum
Phacelia tanacetifolia – lacy phacelia
Pycnanthemum species – mountain mint
Ratibida pinnata – praire coneflower
Rudbeckia species – black-eyed Susans
Solidago species – goldenrod
Spirea alba – meadowsweet
Symphyotrichum species – hardy aster
Veronicastrum virginicum – Culver’s root
Zizia aurea – golden Alexanders
Zizia aptera – heartleaf Alexanders

In addition to planting these plants, always allow your garden to stand through the winter months so beneficial insects have a place to overwinter. Check out this post for more reasons why you shouldn’t clean up your garden in the fall.

***

Toads do no like poisons either,
but they love to eat insects and slugs.

GJ - Only 1% of all insect species are considered pests. The remaining 99% are neutral or beneficial. If we use insecticide in the garden, we knock out everything, including the spiders - but the pests come back quickly enough.

Harry Butte - the Tachinid Fly
lays eggs that produce aphid eating maggots.

Sunday, July 31, 2016

Strange Reasoning from the ELDONUTs - Bishops Must Rule

CFW Walther did not call himself bishop or wear a mitre,
but he was the boss of everything and really coveted property.
Walther stole Bishop Stephan's property in Perryville,
then talked Stephan's son out of the other property in that town.
That involved fraud and theft with the first piece of land,
coveting and deception with the second one.
"We should fear and love God that we may not craftily seek to get our neighbor's inheritance or house, and obtain it by a show of [justice and] right, etc.,
but help and be of service to him in keeping it." Ninth Commandment, Small Catechism.
Walther also talked Loehe out of the Ft. Wayne seminary property,
asking that Loehe also keep sending gifts for the school.

Bishop-for-Life James Heiser has church property owned by the LCMS, from 1922 until 2004, when they left the LCMS and kept the real estate.
Baptist Trained Kent Heimbigner has an enormous church from the LCMS. Its "history" begins in 2009, when they left the LCMS and took the property. The LCMS started the church in 1975.
Pastor Paul Rydecki has a large property from the WELS, which began the parish in 1987. Many left the parish over UOJ and the remainder joined ELDONA in 2012.

Apart obtaining these properties by leaving the synod that bought and built them, these men did not buy or build much of anything. ELDONA has almost no real estate of its own. Pastor Hudson has a small church they actually built.

Pastor Josh Sullivan went on YouTube to defend Episcopal government.

St. Ignatius Seminary, ELDONA
was not named after the founder of the Jesuits,
but after Ignatius of Antioch.
Drawings of the new addition were not available.

As I wrote before, the priests of ELDONA are mostly from the Ft. Wayne LCMS seminary, which remains a champion of Universal Objective Justification. This practical seminary was created for those with inadequate preparation for the ministry and light requirements in Greek and Hebrew.

Jay Webber also studied at Ft. Wayne but was not approved for LCMS ordination, so Robert Preus got him into the ELS. Ft. Wayne has been a nest of Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman fanaticism, more EO than Rome, it seems. However, Robert Preus wrote Justification and Rome to combat the Romanism he saw around him.

Ft. Wayne graduates bullies who feel insecure about their inadequate training and long to be as pompous and threatening as their hero David Scaer.

Ft. Wayne is the School of Peacocks,
strutting around in their majesty peacock robes,
but betraying themselves with their harsh and raucous voices.

Thus ELDONA is populated by MDiv graduates who wish to teach the entire world while lacking the academic requirements for the teaching office, which the Reformation insisted upon. For Chemnitz to be a bishop, a real doctorate was required - and he earned the degree.

More importantly, the Lutheran Reformation made its points always from the Scriptures, starting and ending there with occasional references to the early Church Fathers. If one looks at the Church Fathers set of books, they are enormous in volume, enough to let anyone pick a topic and find support for it.

Church government is lightly treated in the New Testament, and the term we translate as bishop really means "supervisor," not Prince of the Church.

The video above, by ELDONA priest Josh Sullivan, shows how they defend their Episcopal governance by starting with St. Ignatius. That may answer the question: "Why is their seminary with one student (a son-in-law) named St. Ignatius?"

Father Sullivan acknowledges that the St. Ignatius model is man-made, but he gives it two thumbs up. His division of church government into three categories is debatable too, but that is another matter.

St. Ignatius said it, and I believe it! But why? From Ignatius, Sullivan works back to the Pauline Epistles, but there are few bricks and mortar to build up what man creates with that one title - supervisor. Epi-skopos - to look over, a supervisor, not one who rules over and dictates to others.

From St. Paul, Sullivan leaps to the Reformation and Melanchthon. at least distinguishing the Preaching Office from man's model for governance.

Another annoyance from the Synodical Conference veterans is the Roman style emphasis on the "Holy Office of the Ministry" while preaching against the Chief Article, Justification by Faith. ELDONA existed for a long time before discovering and defending the Chief Article. They were happy to be in fellowship with the Rolf Preus Synod, with or without Rolf. Nowhere is UOJ more concentrated than the Rolf Preus Synod, perhaps even more than in ELCA.

This video is rather lame in promoting Bishop-for-Life Heiser's desire to be another control-freak bishop. Everyone must agree with Bishop Heiser, even the details of worship and the robes they wear. The ELDONUTs deny this and yet also admit it.

Like all false teachers, Heiser sent himself. He wanted to be a bishop after the thrill of working with Bishop-for-Life Randy DeJaynes in the short-lived - in fellowship with ELS/WELS - Lutheran Confessional (sic) Synod.

Heiser later gathered pastors who submitted to his episcopal hobby first, and then had himself appointed to the office he sought for years.

I have no problem with the title bishop, but I do with the pretensions, whether they come from District Presidents, their fawning Circuit Pastors, or some other title.

I still agree with the 19th century Lutheran sociologist J. H. W. Stuckenberg. He taught that power was not taken but given. That is apparent in all the bullying and threats accepted in Lutheran bodies today, from the largest to the dinkiest. Congregations can call any qualified man they want, but they are told which ones they really can call - or which one. One LCA bishop would not give a congregation a pastor until they called him. They voted him down, so he refused to give them anyone else. They finally surrendered their power. He wanted to be in his daughter's congregation. That was Lotz in Ontario. Thus with controlling the call they control all the congregations through the servile pastors.

Likewise, only ELDONA pastors are members of ELDONA. The congregations are not. If they have any kind of ELDONA meeting, no one can attend except certified, homogenized, pasteurized ELDONUT priests.

ELDONA studied and worshiped with the UOJ Rolf Preus Synod,
a group which openly denied the Chief Article. They will be welcomed back
into the fetid bosom of the ELS, thanks to Jay Webber.
Heiser's parents and his Lutheran Brethren brother
communed at a UOJ WELS congregation,
so perhaps the quest for purity should start with Heiser.