Bad News for Apostates - Pageviews Reach 5.5 Million for Ichabod the Glory Has Departed

Not long ago, the pageviews for Ichabod, the Glory Has Departed reached 5 million.

Normally there is a post only for each new million mark, but the synod officials deserve updates more frequently. They are largely responsible. By chasing away readers with their fulminations, they create a forbidden fruit response. Fuller is great, but Ichabod is the blackest sin. What's new on Ichabod?

Secondly, they are always reading the blog, so they add to the views.

The worse things are, the more the apostate Lutheran leaders proclaim the entire world forgiven - without faith, without the Gospel, without the Means of Grace.

 The only requirement for a confessional Lutheran today
is - call yourself a confessional Lutheran.

Remember the late Father Richard John Neuhaus (LCMS, AELC, LCA, ELCA, Church of Rome)? He was trained at the greatest seminary in the world, Concordia in St. Louis - a contemporary of Herman Otten and Kurt Marquart. Neuhaus called himself a confessional Lutheran just before he joined the Church of Rome and became a priest.

The authors of the Braaten-Jenson Christian Dogmatics called themselves confessional Lutherans while rejecting all the articles of faith in the Apostles Creed.

 Father Neuhaus, was connected to Concordia St. Louis,
like Edward Preuss, who also taught Universalism
and became Roman Catholic. LCMS leaders still
adore Edward Preuss on Justification without Faith.

Cowardly Lion: Courage! What makes a king out of a slave? Courage! What makes the flag on the mast to wave? Courage! What makes the elephant charge his tusk in the misty mist, or the dusky dusk? What makes the muskrat guard his musk? Courage! What makes the sphinx the seventh wonder? Courage! What makes the dawn come up like thunder? Courage! What makes the Hottentot so hot? What puts the "ape" in apricot? What have they got that I ain't got?
Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Woodsman: Courage! 
From Quotes

J-578

"So, then, we are reconciled; however, not only we, but also Hindus, and Hottentots and Kafirs, yes, the world. 'Reconciled', says our translation; the Greek original says: 'placed in the right relation to God'. Because before the Fall we, together with the whole creation, were in the right relation to God, therefore Scripture teaches that Christ, through His death, restored all things to the former right relation to God." 

F. R. Eduard Preuss, 1834-1904, Die Rechtfertigung der Suender vor Gott. Cited in Rick Nicholas Curia, The Significant History of the Doctrine of Objective or Universal Justification, Alpine, California: California Pastoral Conference, WELS. January 24-25, 1983. p. 24. [GJ - This restoration of all is used by Karl Barth, official theologian for Fuller, to promote Universalism.]

Dr. Robert Preus, Justification and Rome:

"But the imputation of Christ's righteousness to the sinner takes place when the Holy Spirit brings him to faith through Baptism and the Word of the Gospel. Our sins were imputed to Christ at His suffering and death, imputed objectively after He, by His active and passive obedience, fulfilled and procured all righteousness for us. But the imputation of His righteousness to us takes place when we are brought to faith." [procured in italics in text]
Robert D. Preus, Justification and Rome, St. Louis: Concordia Academic Press 1997, p. 72.

Abraham Calov: "Although Christ has acquired for us the remission of sins, justification, and sonship, God just the same does not justify us prior to our faith. Nor do we become God's children in Christ in such a way that justification in the mind of God takes place before we believe." [Apodixis Articulorum Fide, Lueneburg, 1684]
Robert D. Preus, Justification and Rome, St. Louis: Concordia Academic Press 1997, p. 131n. 

Lenski

"Nowhere in the Bible is any man constituted or declared righteous ‘without faith, before faith.’”
R. C. H. Lenski, Romans, Augsburg Publishing House: Minneapolis, 1963, p. 382. Romans 5:19-20.


Basic Errors of UOJ

I want to keep this basic. The UOJ fanatics like to tie up people in terminology while ignoring the catastrophic errors in their own thinking. For instance, Dan and Rolph Preus continue to promote a position contrary to what their father repudiated in his final book - and they edited it. (Old writer's joke - An editor is someone whose belt size is bigger than his IQ.)

There is only one justification - not two.
Justification is used in the Scriptures and the Book of Concord only in the context of justification by faith apart from the works of the Law. Sig Becker admitted that in his essay - UOJ, OJ, and General Justification are new terms. In German, as Kurt Marquart observed, "general" means universal.

The first recorded use of General Justification is from Burk, cited in Hoenecke, long after the Reformation and Book of Concord. Note that Hoenecke was trained at the center of Pietism, Halle University, as a student of Tholuck, a Universalist. Burk was the son-in-law of Bengel, a very strange Pietist indeed. The double-justification scheme came from the Pietist Knapp, who preceded Tholuck at Halle University. Knapp's lectures were widely available in English and German, in America and Europe, before Walther (a Pietist) began promoting it.

Abraham defeats all UOJ claims.

Righteousness was imputed to Abraham through faith. 

KJV Genesis 15:6 And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

KJV Romans 4:22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. 23 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; 24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; 25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised againfor our justification.

He is the Father of Faith in Romans 4, foundational for justification by faith in Romans 5:1-2. How could he be justified before Christ, then declared justified (with the whole world, Hottentots and Hindoos included), and...?

Grace comes only through the Means of Grace Word and Sacrament.

Those who separate the Holy Spirit from the Word are Enthusiasts (Luther, Book of Concord). Nothing is more ridiculous that saying the entire world is forgiven (including everyone in Hell) but not really forgiven until they "accept" this universal forgiveness without the Word, without Means, without the Spirit, without faith. J. P. Meyer, WELS, in Ministers of Christ: "Will he accept or will he decline?"

UOJ utterly destroys Christian doctrine and worship

1. The Office of the Keys is rendered obsolete because everyone is already forgiven. That is why so many UOJ-CG pastors are Antinomian unionists.
2. All Law/Gospel distinctions are merged, since everyone is forgiven - Gospel Reductionism (Seminex and ELCA) is UOJ in another uniform.
3. Worship is simply a convenient way to get the cell groups together on Sunday, because the real work of the church takes place in conventicles "transforming lives." (See The CORE and all the other clones of Pietism.)

I hope this helps. So ends today's Talking Points Memo. 

Why do the wheels keep falling off our UOJ racer? 

Ecclesia asks judge to toss records suit Lawsuit Filed by Former Ecclesia College Board Member, Instructor

 Nothing to see here. Move on.

Ecclesia asks judge to toss records suit:



"FAYETTEVILLE -- Lawyers for a Christian college at the center of a kickback scheme want a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the school thrown out.

Arkansas legislators gave nearly $700,000 in public funds to help the private Ecclesia College buy almost 50 acres in Benton County. The lawsuit seeks information from the college about the state money.

Ecclesia's receipt of the grant money entered the spotlight after former state Rep. Micah Neal, R-Springdale, pleaded guilty in federal court Jan. 4 to taking a pair of kickbacks totaling $38,000 for helping two entities receive grants through the state's General Improvement Fund.

Former state Sen. Jon Woods, R-Springdale, has since been indicted on 11 counts of honest services wire fraud, one count of honest services mail fraud and one count of money laundering in the case.

Also indicted in the kickback scheme are the college's president, Oren Paris III of Springdale, and Randell Shelton Jr. of Alma, a consultant. Each was indicted on nine counts of honest services wire fraud and one count of honest services mail fraud."

...

The lawsuit against the school, filed in Washington County Circuit Court on behalf of Jim Parsons of Bella Vista, contends that private organizations that receive public money, engage in activities that are of public interest, carry on work that is intertwined with that of a government body or receive grants to promote economic development are subject to the requirements of the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.

Parsons is chairman of the Benton County chapter of the Transparency in Government Group. He said he's a former Ecclesia board member and faculty member.

'via Blog this'

Mom's on the board, and she supports me.
I've got that going for me.
And we give her a big, fat salary for...for...
being my Mom.

Mayor: City received funds after objection to grants to Ecclesia College dropped | The Tribune

Mayor: City received funds after objection to grants dropped | The Tribune:


"BERRYVILLE, ARK.
The mayor of Berryville says his city received $61,000 in state grants after he dropped objections to other state grants to a private college in Springdale.

Mayor Tim McKinney told the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (http://bit.ly/2mfTPa3 ) he objected in 2014 to $91,000 in state General Improvement Fund grants to Ecclesia College.

Former state Sen. Jon Woods, Ecclesia College President Oren Paris III and consultant Randell Shelton have been indicted for alleged kickbacks to Woods for the grants. Former Rep. Micah Neal pleaded guilty in January to taking a kickback for helping obtain one grant.

McKinney said he was pressured to drop his objection, and eventually decided not to block the grant. He said Woods then offered to support grants for Berryville and he accepted them because the money went toward local, public projects."

 "David Barton School of Political Science" at Ecclesia College.
Does that mean the library will no longer be one room
in the old octagon building?

'via Blog this'

The Elephant in the Lutheran Room - Everyone Is ELCA Now, Just in Time for the 500th Anniversary

 No one wants to talk about the truth.

The Lavender Synods
Before the earlier mergers, there were two big Lutheran conferences. One was the American Lutheran Conference, and the Augustana Synod took part in that. Another was more liberal, as they like to say, and included the liberal ULCA and the Augustana Synod, named for the Augsburg Confession. 

The American Lutheran Conference became The American Lutheran Church - or TALC. The The matters because that group included the older American Lutheran Church of 1930 (when the Ohio, Iowa, and Buffalo Synod merged). Perhaps saying "the TALC" is a crime against the language, just like saying "the TLH" -  do you use the The Lutheran Hymnal?

Old Blues
The Synodical Conference - LCMS, WELS, ELS - publicly shunned this liberal merger business while working with all these groups and their theological faculties. The Synodical Conference supposedly fell apart but they have been "together" - living in sin with ELCA - for decades.

This recitation aims at pointing out how the so-called liberal or lavender groups  became the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, with various nicknames from the covetous LCMS, ELS, and WELS. The truth is - they were all gorging themselves at the same insurance troughs, and the two insurance companies (AAL and LB) become one - Thrivent.

UOJ and Romanizing United Them
The uniting dogma for all the Lutheran groups is Universal Objective Justification. They celebrated their false dogma at the Emmaus Conference, where Jay Webber displayed his training in UOJ from Ft. Wayne and from the ELCA online school - ILT.

More UOJ will be celebrated at this year's Emmanus orgy of the blind leading the blind. Once again, no one will object and few will attend.

Everybody knows that the dice are loaded
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed
Everybody knows the war is over
Everybody knows the good guys lost
Everybody knows the fight was fixed
The poor stay poor, the rich get rich
That's how it goes
Everybody knows

Everybody knows that the boat is leaking
Everybody knows that the captain lied
Everybody got this broken feeling
Like their father or their dog just died
Everybody talking to their pockets
Everybody wants a box of chocolates
And a long-stem rose
Everybody knows - Lyrics by Leonard Cohen.

 Pope Herman, SJ, works with Roman Catholics,
publishes for the Babtists, teaches UOJ,
and shuns the Chief Article of Christianity.

The LCMS never was 100% UOJ - and their catechisms are still based on the Chief Article - Justification by Faith. WELS taught Justification by Faith in the Gausewitz Catechism, but threw that under the bus in favor of Kuske's UOJ catechism. The ELS supposedly began as a UOJ cult. But Jack Preus promoted Martin Chemnitz and Robert Preus reversed himself in his final book. Bob's sons were too dense to notice and listed themselves as editors of that book, Justification and Rome.

I knew Robert Marshall, James Crumley, and Herb Chilstrom (LCA synod presidents), Robert and Jack Preus (LCMS), George Orvick and Pope John the Malefactor (ELS), plus a few others - Kurt Marquart, Herman Otten, Waldo Werning, and the notorious Paul McCain.

Romanizing
Nothing takes over like Roman canon law, smells and bells, and the other attributes of the Whore of Babylon (Revelation). The Lutherans - who once honored and respected the pastoral office and the congregation itself - treated the Ministry of the Word like dirt. The Lutheran leaders trample on pastors, teachers, and congregations alike - because they do not believe the Scriptures.

One cannot turn against the Chief Article and leave the rest of Christian doctrine alone.

One insurance company to rule them all and in the darkness bind them!
How ironic! - to have Thrivent, the ELCA's insurance company, with WELS' own Mark Jeske on the board, as the coordinating power in all this apostasy.