Not the Person But the Efficacy of God's Word

 

So many dwell on people and things, thinking they are effective and delightful. Only the Word of God can have an effect - truthfully - either positive or negative.

I reminded Tom Fisher today that we are simply the ones who share the Word, the power and influence coming from the Holy Spirit. That is how the original Walter Maier produced the radio ministry of the Scriptures, far ahead of its time.

If the congregations cannot tolerate the truth of God's Word they will drift away and become even more lukewarm, like their brethren in Laodicea. 

Sassy Predicted Rain - And the Future of Lutheran Synods

 "This dog can leap with only three legs and predict rain better than our meteorologist."

Today begins our week of rain, with a slight prelude last night. Sassy seemed ready to go out the front door, so out we went. She will walk on snow and ice, and sit down in cold wet mud, but a drop of rain is torture to her.

I got Sassy down to the end of our property, at our neighbor's driveway, and she sat down, the skies above dark with threatening rain. The vet tech and her daughter stopped as they drove by, "Is Sassy staging a sit-down strike?"  I said, "She does not budge when she knows rain is coming." They laughed and drove on.

I retreated to the warm, dry house and Sassy eagerly followed. She reminded me of a similar warning from a Lutheran layman. "Covid finished off the synods, don't you think? They went after our parents' money and now they are targeting the Boomers. No one is left after that. The children of Boomers hardly go to church and they give almost nothing."

The immediate pain is being felt at the top. The LCMS and WELS staffed their palaces at the current income levels, a heavy burden for luxury. The more WELS staffers hired, the more votes gathered and sealed for each idiotic plan - from each grateful and loyal staffer.

WELS and LCMS spent millions for bright, shiny new buildings, much of it mined from Marvin Schwan's guilty conscience, the facts kept secret from the membership and clergy.

They dolled up their seminaries and colleges just before people became aware that online would favor those who needed to work full-time to decrease the debt piled up for an MDiv degree. 

Does anyone wonder how seminarians went to school long ago with almost no tuition and now face gigantic financial obstacles to get through? The answer is - the DPs and other parasites shifted the budget money to themselves, their glittering buildings, and their tax-sheltered benefits.

The Obama years taught many of us to avoid debt and live as cheaply as possible. What we buy owns us. That is why I told Ranger Bob I did not need a second vehicle or a four-wheel drive pickup to buy some dog food at the Walmart, one mile away. I can handle food, pharmacy, and medical within that mile, walking distance. 

The foolishness of the synods really comes from their trust in themselves, their distrust in the Means of Grace.

 The Lost Dutchman's Goldmine -
Luther's Biblical Doctrine of the Word.

One Result of a Bad Translation - Key Church Growth Dogma Embedded In Great Commission: Manufacturing Disciples for Success!

Dear Pastor Jackson,

I think you may be shooting at the wrong target... ELDONA consistently uses the NKJV, at least it does now.

http://eldona.org/category/blog/

ATP's Pastor Sullivan also recommends the NKJV

https://youtu.be/P_R825pimjE?t=190

Which Bible Translation Do You Recommend? Someone asks, "Which Bible should I use?" There are so many translations to choose from these days so what should we look for when choosing a Bible? youtu.be

and is critical of the new-fangled EHV

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MohL2ALTpwQ

BTW, ELDONA (to which Pastor Rydecki belongs) is anti-UOJ and anti-Waltherian Predestination. (And I am not in an ELDONA church.)

Let's stick together for the very rough ride ahead.

Blessings,

***

New KJV 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 

Stephanus Traditional Greek Text
19 πορευθεντες ουν μαθητευσατε παντα τα εθνη - Go therefore and teach (transitive verb, takes an object) all nations (object of teach).

KJV 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

New NIV 28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

ESV - the Calvinist revision of the RSV -
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[b] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 

 EHV

Brug Copy and Paste EHV - Therefore go and gather disciples from all nations by baptizing them in[c] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, [c Matthew 28:19 Or into]

Luther 1545 Darum gehet hin und lehret alle Völker (teach all nations) und taufet sie im Namen des Vaters und des Sohnes und des heiligen Geistes,

Schlachter 2000 19 So geht nun hin und macht zu Jüngern alle Völker (awkward - make into disciples all nations), und tauft sie auf den Namen des Vaters und des Sohnes und des Heiligen Geistes.

***

GJ - "Make disciples!" is the battle cry of all Fulleroids and bad translations. Note that the Greek text clearly says "teach all nations," so the emphasis is on

1. Going
2. Teaching 
3. Baptizing,

very much the efficacy of the Word in the Means of Grace.

"Make disciples!" comes from the cell groups of Pietism. They divide the church into mere members (ptui!) and disciples (yay!) All growth will come from disciples. As Kent Hunter, DMin Fuller, said patiently, "Shepherds do not have sheep. Sheep have sheep." His attempt at animal husbandry leaves many openings for humor, but I will avoid that temptation.

Gerlach, the covert Fuller guy at Mordor, used this passage to claim that disciples will make disciples who make disciples who make disciples... And yet these numbskulls cry out that we cannot have two examples of "teach" in the Great Commission.

The LCA and ALC had plenty of materials on cell groups, home study groups, prayer groups, koinonia groups, affinity groups, and Bible study groups.

 So many people sent materials to me, so I could fight instead of them. But Wayne Mueller claimed in print there was no Church Growth in WELS. I even had the first issue of TELL, which SP Naumann endorsed in that issue.

WELS, not to fall behind in the Pietism race, had their Church Growth experts selling David Cho (nee Paul Y. Cho) occult prayer growth gimme success books, endorsed by Napoleon Hill disciple Robert Schuller. (Hill switched to his exotic middle name because the police were after him for his many fraudulent schemes. Spirits guided Hill! Spirits from ...? Hill rejected the concept of Satan, doubtless viewing him as a competitor.)

LCMS had their own great treasures - Kent Hunter, DMin, and Waldo Werning, D.D., who had an IQ of 130, when adding the scores together. They turned false doctrine, laziness, and stupidity into a business before anyone noticed it was a scam worthy of Bernie Madoff (the guy who made off with $50 billion).

The Era of Hypocrisy and Apostasy

 They are harder to remove than stubborn bathtub stains, but far more annoying.

The Missouri Synod and WELS began by teaching Justification by Faith as their official doctrine. The ELS did not, because their initial leaders were hotter than Georgia asphalt for Objective Justification.

All three groups were Pietistic, though loathe to admit it.

I have shown many times over that the original Gausewitz Synodical Conference Catechism taught Justification by Faith. The Missouri Synod did the same - officially and repeatedly.

Walther was gung-ho for Objective Justification and always taught the absolution of the world - without the Word or faith - when Jesus rose from the dead. This version was taught at Halle University, the mother ship of Pietism, and Bishop Stephan taught it to Walther, who said it saved his life.

Walther did not get his synod behind him directly on OJ, but began his subversion using Election without Faith to back up his Justification without and before Faith.

Dr. Walter A. Maier built his radio ministry on Biblical inerrancy and Justification by Faith, trashed by the LCMS leaders today.

In time, the Walther fanaticism took over and everyone identified Walther's opinions with Biblical doctrine, especially when he directly opposed Biblical doctrine.

 Those who teach the Chief Article of Christianity are now the rebel scum.

Hypocrisy and Apostasy

Today the LCMS-WELS-ELS unisect teaches OJ as if nothing else exists. Moldstad once posted an article saying, "How can anyone deny OJ and call himself a Christian?"

The hypocrisy and apostasy are heralded by one simple fact - the Bible teaches only Justification by Faith - in those words - and never teaches OJ anywhere.

Has anyone noticed the attitude shared with the Woke Generation? - always angry with the opposition and always wrong on the facts!

 ELCA-LCMS-WELS - Jungkuntz was way ahead of everyone, heading up the Seminex board, which served as the official seminary of the Metropolitan Community Gay Church.

 The campus was built on indulgence money extracted from Marvin Schwan.

 LCMS-WELS-ELS children are only taught Objective Justification. 

 Scaer hates Justification by Faith and the Maier clan. His snotty comments in his overpriced autobiography are even worse than Waldo Werning's last words on earth.

Newspapers and the Synods

I have a daily newspaper route. I only have two non-paying customers on Sunday, one during the week. I began when I saw how poor the service was - and still is.

For $30 a month, my next-door neighbor (with a heart condition) had to walk out almost to the street for his paper. Often it was behind the cars, even under a car, so he could not see where it was from the porch. I volunteered to get his newspaper to the door and to pull his garbage cans. His widow only gets the Sunday paper.

Ranger Bob works for that newspaper, and soon it will close all print editions except Sunday.  Many will then drop the Sunday paper because they are so unhappy with the newspaper.

Printed newspapers lost out from charging too much and poor service. Anyone can get a paper at or very near the door, but that challenge will soon be gone.

The Lutheran synods are similar. They could have maintained the standards of doctrine and worship, but they chose Calvinism and marketing instead. The synods are being dropped in the same way newspaper and magazine subscriptions are.

LCA Wise Saying - "My Ministry There Was To Close That Congregation."

 Now LCMS-WELS-ELS-CLC (sic) have joined the chorus.

I was at an LCA meeting where one pastor said, "My ministry there... (pause for effect) was to close that parish." The other pastors nodded in solemn agreement.

Pessimism fuels that kind of thinking - lack of hope based on lack of faith.

The LCA was very thirsty for studies and the wisdom of Fuller Seminary, imbued with gems from Management by Objectives. Nothing kills initiative like a pile of facts and figures from pickleface pessimists with no hope.

Now the synods merging with ELCA (stealth mode) are depressing each other, which is probably good in the long run. As Father Steve Spencer said, more than once, "The only way to fix WELS is to burn it to the ground, destroy it completely."

When chickens are on a burning ship, they look around to see how to keep their tail-feathers from getting singed, if they stand in the right place. They can become a Tetzel and end up with a client list for financial management - all the while serving a "divine call!"

They teach against faith, so they have no faith. The alternative is to trust in the efficacy of the Gospel, a doctrine which no synodical official, professor, or school teaches.

 Let's try that spoiling the Egyptians line again!

Wounds Leave Scars - The Pain Is Not Forgotten

 There is a pope's crown in every briefcase, and that includes the micro-mini sect tyrants not shown.

The clergy leaders and their sycophants may be too blinded and hardened to realize what they have done on a massive scale. Not only have they failed to display the understanding, compassion, and mercy one would expect. No, they have also absolved the guilty while piling punishment on the innocent, not neglecting to rob widows and orphans with their greed.

I doubt whether an internship at Chick Fil A would help those leaders. I loved the video of Pope Che slapping away the hands of a woman begging for help (she crossed herself first). That is the real Pope Francis, Society of Jesus.

Winning is losing with these bullies, but they do not know it. People remember. Entire families pass on the stories. Clergy families do too. And teacher families. As a deceased pastor told the story, when he manned the Come to WELS booth at the fair, people walked by angrily pointing and saying, "Never again!"

 This is actually a fish-hat for bishops, to feign the humble and meek nature of the Pope. They would love to dust off the tiara or crown.

 Here is a nod to Marian papists in the LCMS. The oil painting was featured in the plagiarist's blog. A friend added the plagiarist for fun. Weedon probably has this folded up in his wallet or pinned to his chasuble.

The Ultimate Takeaway - How the Left Energizes the Faithful

One of our members reminded me of how great it is to have a community of believers in an era of disparaging the Gospel. That admonition made me think about the value of opposition.

In sales, it is called The Takeaway. "You really can't afford the expensive car model." The natural response is, "Oh, yes I can. Where are the papers to sign?"

One of my professors in seminary - a Princeton ThD - made fun of studying Greek. He said, "One of our pastors visited our school and said he never used Greek at all." Rather than discouraging me, he inadvertently encouraged me to keep going. I used our long seminary holidays to write translations of John, Mark, Galatians, and Revelation - from Greek to English - as a way of learning more.

The Left serves as The Ultimate Takeaway. In politics, the Left wages a constant assault on the US Constitution. In Lutherdom, the Left leads an unrelenting attack on the Scriptures, faithful translations, sound doctrine, Luther, and the Reformation.

The ELCA is so far gone that the other synods look deceptively conservative in comparison. In reality, the faux-conservatives are the rearguard of ELCA, covertly adopting the very dogmas and practices of their big gay sister, somewhat behind the fads, but always suppressing whatever is good, noble, and faithful.

Some examples of honoring the output of ELCA are -

1. Bad translations (ESV, NIV, The Message), 
2. Bad hymnals (Christian Worship, LBW, etc)
3. Bad practices (Fuller, Willow Creek, Trinity Divinity)
4. Bad dogma (Objective Justification, women's ordination, gay ordination).

As I wrote, more than once, WELS  in Columbus, Ohio was my Harvard and Yale in Lutheran doctrine. I had devoted some years to studying Lutheran history and doctrine, but nothing made me comb through Luther and the Book of Concord like a meeting of the Ohio Conference or worse - a room with Zehms, Stolzenburg, Schroeder, Kovaciny, Kuske, and Roehl mocking, attacking, slithering around the important topics while patting each other on the back. "Win a free trip to Russia - drive your car up a utility pole and lie about it." - the genius of WELS. "Do what you will, and we will cover it up, after checking the family tree."

Academic theology is easy - pick a minor topic and gather a bunch of sources about it. The references are 99% of the paper. One little idea might be offered, so a good title would be "Toward a Tentative Proposal for the Probable Cause of Law/Gospel Confusion." Martin Marty said a dissertation could be harvested for three books or 18 academic papers. 

Far more challenging is figuring out where the ocean of Dreck came from, the ocean flooding the synods and drowning everyone. Meanwhile, the "conservative" leaders are shouting, "We have the purest and best water, and you are polluting it with your lying, scandal-mongering!"

Almost all my professors were apostate or turncoats who hid their fall from grace. The exceptions were the Yale Divinity professors who emphasized the Biblical text, the actual content - while avoiding the quicksand of academic fads. They were later replaced with wild and wacky nihilists, so I would not suggest anyone go to Yale Divinity now - even with free room, board, and tuition. It only takes one generation, as all the synods have proven, for the good to retire (like Lenski) and the bad (his replacement) to take over.

Many of us have had the same experience with synods, so we can be thankful to God for being awakened by the buckets of ice-water tossed on our drowsy minds. 

• They really teach that Church Growth garbage and attend Fuller together?
• They took 45 years to realize Barth and Kirschbaum were co-authors and living together in Marxist bliss?
• They can read Galatians, Genesis 15:6, Romans 4, and conclude - Objective Justification. God has pronounced the entire world forgiven and saved?
• They gladly remove how many verses from the New Testament, only to put them back tentatively when caught, like a boy stealing cookies?

So I have to say "Thank you!" to the LCA for prodding me awake, for WELS in proving so many times they cannot tell the truth, the "conservative" factions for avoiding the issues - in search of a good argument against individual communion cups or potted flowers on the altar. These brave prophetic souls fill the Holy of Holies with smoke, the exhaust of their consuming idolatry.

The apostates have the money but we have the Treasure.

Two Approaches to Scripture - The Springboard or The Source. As Always, the Scholars Are Divided

His name was Abraham Malherbe, part of Nils Dahl's effort to have Biblical scholars in his department at Yale Divinity School. Most of us had been subjected to years of efforts to deny the reliability of the Scriptures, courtesy of Halle University, the home of Objective Justification.

Malherbe had a plain but effective statement about Acts. "New Testament scholars scoff at the historical accuracy of the Book of Acts. What are their timelines based upon? The Book of Acts." He let that sink into our propagandized brains. He had the most effective defense of Acts - all the scholars depended upon its precision.

 Nils A. Dahl studied under the great Biblical scholars of Europe, including Mowinckel and Bultmann. Nevertheless, he emphasized the text rather than modern, harebrained theories.

Robert Wilson, Old Testament, Yale, wanted us to learn from the text itself. Colleges and seminaries typically teach theories and loyalty to certain denominational favorites.

Two Approaches to the Scriptures

Biblical studies can be divided into two categories:

1. The Scriptures are my springboard.
2. The Scriptures are the source.

Springboard

The first one is the most popular and will always remain dominant in culture. Historic Christianity has always considered the Bible to be infallible and inerrant (until Halle University), but every heresy and cult has used the Scriptures as the launching point of their bizarre claims. The celebrity of the day has often claimed, "I will show you those truths which only I can unearth for you." In time, a fortress is built around those claims - at the Vatican, in Switzerland, and in Mequon, Mankato, St. Louis, and Ft. Wayne.

The Source

In ancient times - and when the light of truth shines for a moment - the Bible is God's own Word, powered in every phrase and word by the Holy Spirit. That divine power (denied by Calvin, Barth-Kirschbaum, and modern Lutherans) is not taught by man but by God.

All the textbooks could be removed and this approach would still be easily derived from the Biblical text itself. That is why a layman armed with the Scriptures - in a good translation - is wiser than a Biblical scholar who knows the original language but denies the original teaching.

What Dahl, Malherbe, and Robert Wilson offered was not a series of theories or a list of their favorite experts, but a return to the source.

Knowing some early church history - from Chemnitz, Examination of the Council of Trent - turns synodical wisdom into a comic sketch. The ancients paraded the Scriptures before their conferences, to remind one another that the Bible was the source. The muddier the water, the more they needed to return to the source. Therefore, they would not start with this or that confession.

ELCA's Bishop Liz Eaton is harder to remove than the Three Stooges - Harrison, Schroeder, and Moldstad.

But ELCA, solemnly convening with proper robes, incense, white gloves, and gay leaders, has declared by vote that Jesus is not the only way of salvation.

The laity will vote with their feet, leaving their endowments and buildings behind. If I were an investor, I would gather funds to grab the empty  ELCA, WELS, and LCMS buildings. Then I would convert them into restaurants, gyms, theaters, bookstores, and coffee shops. Many churches already have theater seats, gyms, and gourmet coffee equipment.

WELS and the LCMS, by approving their leaders' work with ELCA leaders, have signaled their fellowship with the craziest cult since the flagellants whipped themselves into a frenzy. See the link for Change or Die! here.

After Change or Die! takes hold, all the synods will have better but fewer members.

Read the Siebert Foundation registration form -

"Please select if you require a gluten-free or vegetarian meal for lunch.

Gender identification - Male, Female, Other."

Our 2019 Planning Commitee consists of:

Rev. Walter Baires, ELCA South Central Synod of Wisconsin Rev. D.Min. Bruce Becker, WELS, Time of Grace Ministry Rev. Heidi Borkenhagen, ELCA Grace Lutheran Church, Grafton. "RIC – What is needs to be done - complete an Affirmation/Welcome statement (to be completed by committee formed), hold Adult Forums on this throughout the year (options for meeting: – review what Bible does and doesn’t say; have families come in to discuss this; Bill Beyer 1st openly gay pastor in area come talk). Would be looking to have this completed by end of 2019 to have church vote on this at annual meeting. Committee formed could be short term to long term, based on what the committee chooses to do. Council recommends moving forward with presenting information to church leading to vote by end of the year. Pastor Paul, Linda 2nd, approved. Pastor Heidi will head up committee and start getting Adult Forums plan." Michelle Burmeister, Siebert Lutheran Foundation Gretchen Jameson, Concordia University Charlotte John-Gomez, Siebert Lutheran Foundation Rev. D.Min. John Parlow, WELS, St. Mark Lutheran Church, De Pere Rev. Randy Raasch, First Immanuel Lutheran Church, Cedarburg - LCMS Rev. Matthew Short, ELCA Greater Milwaukee Synod Rev. Tom Wink, Retired, LCMS Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church, Pewaukee  Change or Die! enabler, Change or Die! enabler, Change or Die! enabler. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Aug. 21, 2009 Contact: Joel Hochmuth Director of Communications Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod joel.hochmuth@wels.net  WELS president expresses regret at ELCA decision on gay clergy Milwaukee, Wis.—Rev. Mark Schroeder, president of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS), is expressing regret at the vote of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) convention regarding homosexual clergy. Friday, delegates approved a resolution committing the church to find a way for “people in such publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous, same-gender relationships” to serve as professional leaders of the church. “To view same-sex relationships as acceptable to God is to place cultural viewpoint and human opinions above the clear Word of God,” says Schroeder. “The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, along with The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, the Evangelical Lutheran Synod, and other smaller Lutheran synods, maintains and upholds the clear teaching of the Bible that homosexuality is not in keeping with God’s design and is sinful in God’s eyes.”  At the same time, Schroeder says WELS congregations stand ready to support those struggling with same-sex attractions. “As with any sin, it is the church’s responsibility to show love and compassion to sinners, not by condoning or justifying the sin, but by calling the sinner to repent and by assuring the sinner that there is full forgiveness in Jesus Christ,” Schroeder says. WELS, with about 390,000 members and nearly 1,300 congregations nationwide, is the third largest Lutheran church body in the United States. In Wisconsin alone, there are more than 201,000 members and 417 congregations. “It’s unfortunate that many headlines have referred to the recent decisions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America as something ‘Lutherans’ have decided,” Schroeder says. “In fact, the ELCA is only one of many Lutheran denominations. We are saddened that a group with the name Lutheran would take another decisive step away from the clear teaching of the Bible, which was the foundation of the Lutheran Reformation.”  Schroeder says that WELS is firmly committed to upholding God’s design for marriage as outlined in Scripture—a design intended for one man and one woman. “We believe, and the Bible teaches, that God designed this relationship to be a blessing for men and women and for society. Any departure from what God himself has designed does two things: it denies the clear teachings of Scriptures and it undermines God’s desire that the man/woman relationship in marriage be a blessing.” --- On the WELS.net site I found a reaction to that news release, but not the news release itself. Feedback to a WELS news release quoting Pres. Mark Schroeder's reaction to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's (ELCA) decision to allow homosexuals in "lifelong, monogamous" relationships to serve as pastors continues to flow in. On Aug. 21, the day the ELCA churchwide assembly approved the resolution, Communication Services posted Pres. Schroeder's response expressing WELS opposition based on clear biblical principles on the synod's Web site. A news release was also sent to Religion News Service for worldwide distribution. So far, the reaction has been almost universally positive, with statements of support coming from both WELS and non-WELS members. "I appreciate your statement and share your disappointment," writes one woman from Michigan. "Thank you for posting the statement with a clear Biblical viewpoint." "As a member of an ELCA church, I applaud you standing up for the Word of God and having the backbone to speak up and put your 8/21 letter on your Web site," writes another woman from Minnesota. While it is impossible to gauge precisely how widely published Schroeder's comments were, the news release was printed virtually verbatim on more than a dozen blogs. Schroeder's comments were quoted in an MSNBC.com article (link no longer available) on the reaction to the ELCA decision from both WELS and the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. --- Hochmuth was not excommunicated, but Rick Techlin and the Krohns were.

Ashes, Ashes, All Fall Down - The Fate of the Mainline Denominations - Including ELCA, WELS, LCMS, ELS, CLC (sic), ELDONA

The baby of the family loves to laugh and entertain others.

The Leman Birth Order Book is significant because personalities affect what happens in various institutions. Domineering first-born males tend to get a lot done, but the ultimate effect is not always good. One long-term General Motors worker said that type of leader ruined his company.

In church politics, that has meant leaders - if thwarted by opposition - who would retaliate by punishing anyone who questioned them, especially those who endangered their imagined infallibility.

AKA - the Untouchables.  Make missions flakier than ever before - No problem! Teach Calvinism at the seminary - No problem! Publish debates with the Holy Spirit - No problem! Promote Church Growth disasters - No problem! Copy and paste from Fuller - No problem! Kick the mother church out and steal it back - No problem!

Real leaders want able cohorts who work with integrity. Second-rate leaders need third-rate lackeys who will do anything to remain in their protected jobs (sinecures).

The trouble with the Scriptures as the ruling norm? - the Word displaces the infallibility of the leaders. That is intolerable to them, so citing the Word (unless distorted their way) is a sin.

The Second Reformation - The Deformation

Readers, you have witnessed the Second Reformation - which will be known by a better word - The Deformation.

The Deformation began with the Great Depression. Savvy leaders used the financial crisis (caused by the gubmint and the Fed) to blame the Christian Church. The Christian Church was too passive when it should have been involved in changing and improving society.

The secretive and very influential Brotherhood of the Kingdom, 1892 (Rauschenbusch) leveraged their initial success and began making the old, mainline denominations see social activism as the real mission of the Church. Rochester Seminary made Rauschenbusch a true, rationalistic liberal - and he taught there later. Rauschenbusch rejected all the traditional Christian doctrines, so he is very much honored today as a saint in the Episcopal calendar.

They named their Deformation -  The Social Gospel Movement. As readers will see, it shared many similar elements with the Church Growth Movement of the future (aka The Death Rattle):

• Anti-inerrancy.
• Rejecting the basic Christian articles of faith.
• Advocating universal salvation because of the grace of God. Faith cannot be a contingency, or grace is not universal. Yes, that sounds just like the pinheads in Objective Justification.
• Loving the new, scientific study of the Bible (historical-critical method).
• Undermining the canon by rejecting the traditional text of the Bible and steadily erasing verses and sections of the New Testament.
• The Quest for the Historical Jesus (and they have yet to find Him).
• Spending offering money on government lobbying, passing laws to make America socialist - and it worked.
• Unity comes from sharing the agenda of the group - the rest be damned.

All the accomplishments of the Brotherhood, and its sterile offspring - The Social Gospel Movement - are taken for granted in the big churches today. The agenda is far more Left-wing and kinky, but the foundation is the same.

How Is Church Growth Another Version?

Fuller Seminary was founded to teach a weakened version of inerrancy, which is really the errancy of the Bible. The Scriptures are only correct in doctrine, not in history and geography. If only the Holy Spirit knew as much as those hair-splitting, thimble-rigging fraudsters.

Every denomination and seminary has adopted this Church Growth Movement. What does that say about the quality of the content and the ethics of those leaders? Donald McGavran, a liberal in a Left-wing denomination (Disciples), gave it a clever name. It is a brand, a tattoo, a meme, all rolled into one blob.

One Church Growth idea was to use the congregations to support Planned Parenthood.

Once the Growthers began criticized for being too inward, they began advocating social activism (as if infanticide was not enough). The last gasp of Pietism has always been rationalistic social activism. Look at Oberlin, for whom Oberlin College is named. He gave sermons on getting inoculated and building bridges.

The Deformation's Goals

1. Once women's ordination is added to the Ten Commandments, work toward LBGTQ+ ordination.
2. Refuse to discuss any Bible using the traditional text (King James and modernized editions of the KJV).
3. Work on religious projects with all denominations, the move to all religions.
4. Protect dangerous, drunken incompetents and slime critics.
5. Grab the big bucks for the leaders' salaries and benefits, let the missions and little churches starve.
6. Make everyone forget the faithful leaders of the past.

WELS kicked Gausewitz under the bus so they could teach Objective Justification to all the children, using Luther's Catechism. They read the Parable of the Unrighteous Steward wrong. They should emulate his zeal, not his dishonesty.