Martin Stephan Forum - Good Historical Documents To Study

Drawing of CFW Walther, shortly before he died.

Martin Stephan Forum:



"Stephan Family Archives



LETTER OF MARTIN STEPHAN, JR, ON C.W.F. WALTHER AND THE MISSOURI SYNOD

BACKGROUND ON PRE-LCMS HISTORY:

My first entry is an excerpt of a seminal letter in 19th Century Lutheran  Church history, penned in 1878 by Martin Stephan Jr., the son of Bishop Martin Stephan. The letter is addressed to Martin Jr's brother-in-Law, George Schick. In it, Martin discusses the treatment he received from members of the Missouri Synod, and in particular, by Pastor C.F. W. Walther, the first President of the Missouri Synod. This letter is in the possession of the Concordia Historial Institute, or CHI.

Professor Theodore Buenger, no friend of Martin Stephan, prefaced his authenticated typewritten copy from the original with the title: Not for Publication.

Buenger goes on to write in his preface to say that this letter "is important as to the guilt of Stephan the leader," and one "can conclude (ex silentio) that son does not claim his father's innocence or else he would  have mentioned that fact in this letter."  [If the letter "proves" that Bishop Martin Stephan was guilty, then why keep it from public view?] Martin's discussion of C.F.W. Walter in this letter will provide the answer."

'via Blog this'

***

 The Walther Shrine

GJ - I was scrolling along the left margin of the blog, where a lot of material is linked. The Stephan Forum is important because the family has gathered historical documents that show much of the truth about how the LCMS was born.

The Walther Infallibilists are always bowing and scraping to the image of CFW, but the documents show he was a multiple kidnapper, an extreme Pietist, the enforcer for a syphilitic and adulterous bishop, and the organizer of a riot to topple the bishop and rob him.

Walther not only stole the land given to the bishop by the immigration group, but he also talked Stephan's healthy son into giving up the land in Perrysville that the bishop owned separately. Add to that a stolen fortune in gold, a large library of books, and the bishop's personal possession.

Walther was the follower, not the leader of the Stephanite exodus from Europe. The group left after Stephan was found guilty of improprieties in a court of law and deprived of his congregation. They did not leave "for religious freedom," because previous few religious leaders were ever given so much freedom.

Moreover, Walther was a nasty little man, who could not bear the presence of Stephan's son, who first became an architect and then came back to be trained as a pastor. One descendant was a speaker for The Lutheran Hour. The linked letter shows how petty and vindictive Walther was, which is shown also in the Walther hagiographies.

By lying about the leadership of Stephan and the enabling work of Walther, the LCMS continues to deceive its members and clergy. That makes Missouri all the more guilty when they try to prove points by starting with "Walther wrote..." If the truth were known more widely, that would be a warning rather than a commendation.

UOJ, Pietism, and bullying are the attributes Walther gave to the LCMS.

 He left his dying wife and children at home,
but sailed to America with his mistress,
so Walther and Company made him a bishop.

Ustream Is NOT Working Tonight

After several tries - Ustream will not work tonight. I will do more troubleshooting. Cox cable had problems earlier, but these are Ustream messages. I will see about another day.

Midweek Advent Vespers Service - December 13, 2017

Advent, December 13, 2017

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/bethany-lutheran-worship

Mid-Week Advent, Wednesday, 7 PM Central Standard

The Hymn #95               Savior of the Nations Come
The Order of Vespers p. 41
The Psalmody Psalm 100 p. 144
The Lection - Isaiah 40 KJV
The Sermon Hymn #76     A Great and Mighty Wonder

God's Wonder - The Incarnation

The Prayers and Lord’s Prayer p. 44
The Collect for Peace p. 45
The Benediction p. 45
Hymn #562           Round Me Falls the Night  

Isaiah 7:10 Moreover the Lord spake again unto Ahaz, saying, 11 Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.

12 But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord. 13 And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

God's Wonder - The Incarnation   

We know what a wonder this is, because this Isaiah passage and the Virgin Birth have been attacked with great energy, most heatedly from within the institutional church. Someone asked about a particular church - a magnificent building with a splendid organ. The pastor closely identifies with the Jenson of Braaten-Jenson, the pair who wrote the dogmatics book for the LCA/ELCA that denies every article of faith - including the Virgin Birth.

There is no better way to attack than to gently displace what God has revealed. There are many like Ahaz who boldly reject the miracle promised, but even more who undermine it with their soft, subtle betrayals.

That is what alarms and alerts people, the frontal attack. So that is seldom attempted. The very nature of the Virgin Birth is like the Promise to Abraham, so far beyond human reason that it requires faith in God's Word.

    God's Word - One United Truth

The Scriptures are one Book of the Holy Spirit, one united Truth. We can see the effect of unbelief when people play with phrases and verses and say, "Aha! Look at what I have found, something no one ever saw or imagined before." Or they claim to have discovered some ancient and almost hidden truth. But what they want is for everyone to admire their smooth words instead of the
"fisherman's voice of the Holy Spirit."

God's Word is too demanding for them, to subordinate their pride and wisdom to these basic truths. We can see the great unity of the Word when we consider the Incarnation itself.

God promised the Savior already in Genesis 3:15. How many centuries later did Moses receive His Name from the Burning Bush?

What is Your Name? Who should I say sent me?

"My Name is I AM. Tell them - I AM sent me."

More centuries pass, but not without many more Promises, but this one stands out with Isaiah 9. If one denies the great miracle, it is not a miracle but as they say on TV - the miracle of birth. Man has cloaked this miracle by denying its truth.

"A Virgin will conceive." I always marvel at the learned when they deny the plain words of the Bible. Here they have three battles at once.
1. A miracle declared by God must be stupendous.
2. Virgin birth is not natural or explained by man.
3. God with Us, repeated another way in Isaiah 9, is the Incarnation - God and man, one Person, Two Natures, divine and human.

One must attack all three truths at once, deny them, or subvert. The coward who keeps one or two and denies the rest is a playing a shell game - now you see it, now you don't.

All these passages are knit together, taught by the Holy Spirit in the Word, and clarified by the Spirit in teaching and preaching.

But this does not stop with Isaiah, since there are many other related passages. Jesus' entire ministry was based on showing the people of Israel and the Gentiles that He was and is the Messiah, that righteousness only comes from faith in Him.

The opposition came from the clergy, naturally, because they are trained by their own kind to continue the traditions. They worship the traditions and bristle when their traditions are impugned or insulted by anyone.

Therefore they placed themselves above Jesus, saying, "We have Abraham for our father." And they truly were Abraham's children according to the flesh. But Jesus united all the Messianic passages with this divine claim -

"Before Abraham was, I AM."

Not everyone thinks about the Exodus all the time or concentrates on the meaning of the Exodus, as the Gospel of John does so clearly. Here Jesus said - "I AM" - God's Name. And of course, that is part of His famous sermons in John.

So Jesus was not crucified for pretending to be the Messiah, but for being the Messiah and God's own Son.

Therefore, as we see in so many of Luther's sermons and the hymns of the Reformation, the great wonder is God's own Son, with all the power of God, comes to us in such a humble way, not in great flashes of lightning and thunder, but in the quiet of the manger. And so He dwells in the Word today.

The Word conveys Him to us.

Birds Provide Winter Wonder and Entertainment

Here is a good reason to feed birds. The worse the weather is, the more they want to supplement their diets with seed and suet. The worst for them is a sleet storm, because ice coats their favorite source of fresh meat - larvae hiding in the bark and in bushes. Many over-winter in piles of brush and leaves too, if one is intentionally kind to wildlife.

During our extended Indian summer, few birds were seen at the feeders, even when I switched the supply from corn to sunflower seed. Once we had some serious hard freezes, birds and squirrels began their return. I only hang suet when it is reliably cold, so that began in mid-November.

The Jackson EZ Bird Swing went condo this year, with an additional landing area between the two hanging chains. That made me think of a third swing with five threaded rods between them, simply an area to rest and observe, outside the breakfast table.

When bird activity is high, they love to land near the food and work their way to the seeds. Sometimes they back off when the squirrels stop by for an easy breakfast. In the summer, the birds and squirrels have the Butterfly Bush branches to use for resting, waiting, and escaping.

Two Lowe's feeders are
framed by the bird swing with two
levels (threaded rods) to swing on.
Two chains hang from two screw hooks -
too simple!

The kitchen window looks over a new Crepe Myrtle, which began to grow last year. That will supplement the swing and feeder already installed.

Years ago, I longed for a complete indoor shelter for a large group of small birds, until I thought about daily maintenance, clean-up, and feeding. If they are just outside our windows, God takes care of 99% of the work.

• Feeding - berries, seeds, and larvae.
• Cleaning - soil creatures converting guano into plant food.
• Maintenance - plants growing and fading away, providing shelter, rest, and food hidden in the bark and branches.

In Bella Vista, the squirrels taunted Sassy. One would peek in the window, disappear, and peek in on the other side. The brick exterior made that easy for her, maddening for Sassy. She learned to ignore them.

We had such a sylvan paradise in Bella Vista that all the creatures were happy to eat at our house, from raccoons to deer to foxes. Unfortunately, gardening was impossible.

Sassy and I saw vultures in Bella Vista,but now we find hawks overhead here. She still loves barking at her rivals in nearby yards. Once the summer growth disappeared,  she could see and hear their challenges better and return them. Nothing is more urgent for her than running outside and telling off those dogs, whatever they are saying.

 Beautyberries feed the birds in late summer and early fall.

Meanwhile, the returning birds are getting conditioned to us being a few inches away, on the other side of the window. At first they took off and the flock followed. Gradually they  came to see no threat and felt more hunger, so they are  staying longer to eat.

I will soon be taking pails of water out for their baths so they have fresh water for bathing - essential for them - and for drinking. They do not need a bird bath warmer, but if we had a tough, long winter, I would buy one and keep one kiddy pool unfrozen. For now it is easier to dump ice and replace it with fresh water.