ELDONA's UOJ Connections - The Rolf Synod and Higher Things

 Higher Things is one of many side-businesses run by LCMS clergy.
Too bad this leader is a fanatical UOJ advocate.

 In doing research on "What happened to ELDONA pastor Clark Brown?" -
I realized that Bishop Heiser was very tight with Higher Things
and the Rolf Synod - both hissing pits of UOJ snakes.
A decade later, this Ft. Wayne graduate discovered
Justification by Faith, even though the issues were articulated
in a book he sold - Thy Strong Word - in 2000.

A Shining City on a Higher Hill—

Christianity and the Next New World

by Rt. Rev. James D. Heiser, M.Div., S.T.M.

Bishop of the ELDoNA

A collection of thirteen essays (twelve presented to conventions of the Mars Society and one to the Higher Things’ Youth Conference in 2004), this volume is essentially unique, contributing to the dialog between Christian and scientific circles in the field of space exploration. Its contents cover a wide range of topics, from the origins of the conflict between science and religion in the 16th century, through modern developments in the Intelligent Design debate. 

Reverend George Borghardt III

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Reverend George F. Borghardt III, Senior Pastor: graduated from Louisiana State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Classics and then received a Master of Divinity from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO in 2000. He served for ten years as the Associate/Youth Pastor at St. Mark Lutheran Church in Conroe, TX before accepting the call to serve as Zion’s Senior Pastor in November of 2010.

Pastor Borghardt voluteers his time in various youth organizations, serving as the President aof the national Lutheran youth organization Higher Things and as a board director at Faith Lutheran in Crystal Lake.  He plays second base on Zion's softball team.  He is also a huge sports fan loving his LSU Tigers, the New Orleans Saints, and the New York Mets.

Pastor Borghardt and Amy, his wife, have three children: George, Thomas, and Sophia.

President of Higher Things

This Calov quotation, which I obtained from Robert Preus'
Justification and Rome,
destroys UOJ in a few words.

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What Do Lutherans Believe?

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All that we believe, teach, and confess must faithfully be taken from the Holy Scriptures. We believe that the Holy Scriptures are God's divinely inspired word, without error, that is able to make us wise unto salvation...

Jesus took the burden of our sin upon Himself at the cross enduring our punishment. His love is so great for us that He gives us His perfect righteousness. By virtue of the cross, God declares that our sins are forgiven and we are righteous and welcome in His sight.

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Higher Things and the Forrest Bivens Deception about the Chief Article

The first and chief article is this: Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, died for our sins and was raised again for our justification (Romans 4:24-25). He alone is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29), and God has laid upon Him the iniquities of us all (Isaiah 53:5). All have sinned are justified freely, without their own works or merits, by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, in His blood (Romans 3:23-25). (Smalcald Articles II.I.1-3).

That right there is the heart of the Lutheran Confession. All have sinned. All have been justified freely without work or merit. Justification--becoming right with God--is something that happens outside myself, apart from myself. It's objective. My redemption is in Christ Jesus, in the blood that He shed.

***

GJ - This video is the worst UOJ message I have seen, but I am glad Higher Things and Pastor George Borghardt III are out in the open about their Universalism, instead of hiding it behind ambiguous and misleading language.

The Brief Confession of 1932 uses completely erroneous Scripture citations to back up "God has forgiven the entire world," without connecting the citations to the claims. Here are claims without even a mention of Scripture.

My take is this -  the UOJ Stormtroopers are rattled by the laity who see through their false doctrine and challenge them on every point. The Higher Things websty clearly misrepresents Luther and the Book of Concord about the Chief Article.

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Who Redefined the Chief Article - Cheaply. Dishonestly. Cowardly?

The Primary Doctrine in Its Primary Setting: Objective Justification and Lutheran Worship [Prepared for the WELS National Conference on Worship, Music and the Arts Carthage College, Kenosha, Wisconsin, July Wisconsin, July 23, 1996. By Forrest L. Bivens]

The article of justification is the master and prince, the lord, the ruler, and the judge over all kinds of doctrines; it preserves and governs all church doctrine and raises up our consciences before God. Without this article the world is utter darkness and death.”1 Luther’s appraisal of the doctrine of justification is also ours. We hold it to be the primary doctrine of Scripture, that is, the central and most important teaching revealed by God for us sinners.2

The truth of justification, above all others, distinguishes Christianity from all other religions. If this teaching were obscured or lost, attempts to show significant differences between the Christian religion and others would ultimately prove to be futile. Also, as revealed and emphasized in the Bible, all other doctrines either prepare for or flow from this chief article of faith. Without this truth, all others would mean little. This doctrine is the source or basis of the benefits and blessings which mankind receives from God. 

[GJ - Oh, Oh, Oh, Frosty - define the Master and Prince, the Lord, the Ruler, the Judge of all kinds of doctrine for us.]

What precisely is this “master and prince, lord, ruler and judge” over other doctrines? Justification is a declaratory act of God, in which he pronounces sinners righteous. As revealed in the Bible, this declaration of God is made totally by grace and on account of Jesus Christ and his substitutionary life and death on behalf of mankind. To phrase it somewhat differently, God has justified acquitted or declared righteous the whole world of sinners. He has forgiven them. They have been reconciled to God; their status in his eyes has been changed from that of sinner to forgiven sinner for the sake of Jesus Christ. Since all this applies to all people, the term universal or general justification is used. In our circles an alternate term, objective justification, is also used. If justification is universal, it must also be objective - sinners are forgiven whether they believe it or not. This is precisely what Scripture teaches in Romans 3:23-24, when it says, “There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."

Higher Things joins the New NIV in adding the second all to Romans 3. All have sinned - no argument there. But the text does NOT say "all are justified." Even the old NIV, which was packed with problems, failed to add the second "all."

Shame on George and Higher Things for joining ELCA in its Universalism, grace without the Means of Grace, declarations without any Scriptural or Confessional support, Halle Pietism triumphant.

Take down the Luther statues and put up Lord Vader.

From 2013 - Top Ten Views for the Week

The Holy Spirit Teaches Man Better Than Books May 23, 2012	7075
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Project Gutenberg - Apology of the Augsburg Confes... May 14, 2012	203
This Is the Cross Fashioned by the People Who Atte... Feb 27, 2013, 5 comments	198
Another Plea for UOJ: Tragedy, Pity, Incomplete Se... Feb 22, 2013, 10 comments	173
A Pope You Need? Feb 22, 2013, 1 comment	169
Dr. Church Asks, "Is The CORE Necessary with So Ma... Feb 27, 2013, 2 comments	133
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Phony Baloney Perpetrated by Martin Luther College - WELS. Note the Missing Information

 Olson is one of many DMin frauds in WELS
and the LCMS who call themselves "Doctor"
and insist on honors they have not earned.
Church Growthers like Kelm and Witte are
too lazy to attempt a real PhD.

After graduating from seminary Olson went on to earn two additional graduate degrees, a Master of Sacred Theology degree in exegetical theology and a Doctor of Ministry degree in practical theology with an emphasis in evangelism. His doctoral dissertation dealt with understanding and responding to inactive members in our congregations.

https://mlc-wels.edu/directory/name/lawrence-olson/

Olson's only congregation never grew.
But Steve Spencer wrote, "Olson is harmless.
Everyone knows he's a heretic."

***

GJ - 

First of all, seminary is not a graduate degree. They took on the designation Master of Divinity because it looked better. The original professional degrees were Bachelor of Divinity, Bachelor of Law, Bachelor of Medicine. The physicians changed that to "doctor" but they get a master's degree when earning a specialty after the MD.

Next - the STM in exegetical theology. Where? It sounds like Mordor, but Larry also went to Trinity Divinity, the nearby Church Growth school for WELS.

D.Min. - He has tried so hard to hide his study at Fuller Seminary, but his essay is found in the Martin Luther College Library. I saw it - a DMin from Fuller Seminary. 

A DMin is another name for the STM. The seminaries wanted to get ministers back for additional study and cash-flow. They got nowhere with an STM degree, so they changed it to DMin. They pump all kinds of money out of ministers for the DMin.

Larry did not write a "doctoral dissertation." He wrote a windy essay. If he had entered a PhD program, he would have had at least two years of resident study at Fuller Seminary. They do offer PhDs in some of their programs. If he passed written exams after those two or three years of resident study, he would have entered the dissertation phase, which often takes years. 

Instead, Larry took a few courses, as he boasted in Christian News, and wrote his Church Growth essay. A "Doctor" he is not.

How Long To Wreck a Denomination or Its Schools? - One Short Generation

Exegesis is the fancy word for explaining the Scriptures.
The Church Growth Movement - also promoted by Otten and Christian News -
is rationalistic marketing,
which is like making ice cream by measuring the weight of a cow.

I have enough perspective to write about the destruction of private schools and denominations. My thesis is - In one generation, a short one at that, a denomination or a private school can be ruined.

A short generation is only 20 years.

Let me start with the mainlines. I went to a Lutheran Church in America college, Augustana, which was the center of the old Augustana Synod, a denomination named for the Augsburg Confession, protesting against revivalism and that generic Evangelical doctrine that included everyone and offended no one but God.

When my wife and I met at Augustana, 50 years ago, the college had required chapel, a Lutheran chaplain, and liturgical worship was the norm in the LCA and LCMS. I was one of the few who had attended a WELS parish (only for a wedding). The Lutherans I knew in Moline were traditional, and our Augustana congregation was antique by today's standards.

Likewise, Waterloo Lutheran Seminary in Ontario, Canada, was also a throwback by ELCA standards today. But the retired systematics professor, Otto Heick, often studied in WELS, was replaced by Paul Tillich fan, Aarne Siirala, whose favorite book was The Shining Stranger until I mocked its pseudo-scientific Gnostic nonsense in class.

ELCA has sunk so low that it embraces Pastor Horst Gutsche, jail-bird, in Canada, and the WELS jail-birds in America.

How does this happen?

Denominational schools are controlled by a committee that makes the hiring decisions. They only need to get a majority on the committee to carry out their agenda. Then they replace the rest with their own kind. That happens without fanfare and the faculties are changed, professor by professor. The head of the institution can make a difference, but the bureaucracy carries out the real change.

 Waldo Werning, Otten's buddy, was a Who's Who in Church Growth in the LCMS,
but also linked with the ELS and WELS.
Valleskey paid homage to Werning in his Figs from Thistles essay in WLQ.

WELS-LCMS-ELS Examples
The Fuller Seminary, Church Growth money factory absorbed the LCMS, WELS, ELS, and the snarly, dying CLC (sic) in only 20 years. In fact, all the Lutheran sects are dying now, as shown by their mergers, closings, out of control tuition costs, and blatant doctrinal apostasy.

Beginnings - Fuller Seminary cleverly invited world mission leaders from all denominations, then American mission leaders, to their money factory. That enabled denominational leaders to have one Enthusiastic voice in getting everyone else to join the Church Growth Movement.

Like the Social Gospel Movement of the early 20th Century, the true believers could be spotted by their gushing about this new movement, which came under fire but prevailed by brainwashing the simpletons in charge of WELS-ELS-LCMS-LCA/ALC (now ELCA).

 The dunces of the 1970 Mordor class
became the leaders of WELS.
DP Rutschow has a traditional church but
forces CGM on his underlings.

During the years of conflict, those objecting were silenced, expelled, or hated out. In Lutherdom, no one was teaching the efficacy of the Word in the Means of Grace. Oddly enough, some generic Protestants found time to expose the Church Growth Movement. An engineer told me at a gathering, "Fuller has ruined every Calvinistic congregation through its Fuller-trained pastors."

Needless to say, all this Fuller Seminary study was funded by the denominations - but that is none of your business. Thrivent gave grants - but that is not your money, so stop complaining. It is their money - whichever

In the secondary and tertiary stages of this Church Growth cancer, the ambitious knew they could get ahead by borrowing their way through Fuller Seminary's DMin program. There they would be confronted by a feminist committee if they wanted to uphold the Pauline standards on women teaching men and usurping authority from men. They could learn from Chief Tiddlywink C. Peter Wagner, whose Pentecostal ravings set a new, low standard in teaching.

Church Growth is a Stage 4 cancer now. The apostates no longer need to use the magical phrase Church Growth Movement. Now it is equated with Evangelism or Missions or Diaper Changing Academies (Pre-Schools).

Mark Jeske's Church and Change? - straight outta Fuller Seminary, with stops along the way at various occult thinkers like Cho, Schuller, and the gypsy palm-reader on the corner.

Church and Change Founder John Lawrenz passed the Baton of Apostasy to Steve Witte, illiterate DMin, just another C and C Founder, who served two (2) congregations in the Appleton area.

Worst Professor at Martin Luther College - WELS - Larry Otto Olson

 At one point, long ago, Olson tried to deny
earning a precious D.Min. at Fuller Seminary.
Like Bivens and Valleskey, he found his Helen of Troy,
but he cannot teach, according to his own students.
Evangelism is a Church Growth publication.

Rate My Professors - Larry Otto Olson - 

Martin Luther College - WELS

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RATING: ALL	CLASS: ALL	COMMENT
07/14/2016 AWFUL 1.0OVERALL QUALITY 4.0LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY	THE3001For Credit: YesAttendance: N/ATextbook Used: YesWould Take Again: NoGrade Received: N/A	TOUGH GRADER Makes a class on religion into a miserable ordeal. Assignments are confusing and he is harsh if you do them incorrectly. Olson assumes the worst whenever a student makes a mistake and seems to be hateful of all students. He brings down my opinion of an otherwise fine college. Cannot teach 0 people found this useful0 people did not find this useful report this rating
08/20/2015 AWFUL 1.0OVERALL QUALITY 5.0LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY	THE2001For Credit: YesAttendance: N/ATextbook Used: YesWould Take Again: N/AGrade Received: N/A	I have never taken a class with Olson, but I have heard terrible things. He focuses on the Law and belittling students. While I recognize the importance of the Law, Olson uses it to chastise students and never builds them up with the Gospel. He is the very opposite of Christ like. He is nothing more than a bully on a power trip. 0 people found this useful1 person did not find this useful report this rating
04/24/2013 AWFUL 1.0OVERALL QUALITY 4.0LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY	REL3001For Credit: N/AAttendance: N/ATextbook Used: NoWould Take Again: N/AGrade Received: N/A	If you can avoid this professor, do so at all costs. He's rude, inconsiderate, boring, and doesn't know how to teach. Takes your money if you don't bring your book. Expects us to write papers at a level such that of an English scholar, which few of us actually are. This is not a grammar course, Olson, its religion. 0 people found this useful1 person did not find this useful report this rating
11/10/2008 AWFUL 1.0OVERALL QUALITY 1.0LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY	REL3001For Credit: N/AAttendance: N/ATextbook Used: NoWould Take Again: N/AGrade Received: N/A	No interest in topic; boring lectures; unable to teach. 0 people found this useful1 person did not find this useful report this rating
11/07/2007 POOR 1.5OVERALL QUALITY 4.0LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY	REL1201For Credit: N/AAttendance: N/ATextbook Used: YesWould Take Again: N/AGrade Received: N/A	No Comments 0 people found this useful1 person did not find this useful report this rating

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