You'll Hear It On the WELS Grapevine

The WELS grapevine is famous for its unreliability.

Below are some rumors and ideas you will hear on the WELS grapevine:

1. Sell the campus of The Sausage Factory. That is very unlikely since real estate development should be D.O.A. for several years. However, Rev. Robert Fleischmann would be a good candidate to manage the sale.
   
2. Sell the Twin Towers - The Love Shack and its clone - and move to Northwestern Publishing House headquarters.
   
3. Make the First Veep position non-salaried.
   
4. Cut the Second VP position. All that Fuller training down the drain?
   
5. No shock - close Michigan Lutheran Seminary in another year or two. Population trends are moving against synod schools, especially since Mueller-Gurgel jacked up the tuition and managed to lose a whole cohort of students.
   
6. Close missions and eliminate positions in various places. That is most likely.

I believe printed periodicals will be scarcer than hen's teeth soon, following the trend of national magazines. FIC might as well be a PDF.

I thought Perish Services was on the chopping block. That would be a severe loss for Fuller, Willow Creek, and Trinity in Deerfield. They would have to rely on Missouri and ELCA for their Lutheran tuition income.

Church and Chicanery Getting Owly

C and C cats are clever, but not wise.

Ichabod also appears here.

Church and Chicanery comments are getting especially ugly, indicating they are losing...big time. When I get a chance, I will link the C and C blogs together. They are worth reading because they have such poor, angry, shallow arguments.

I can already hear the flopsweat dripping from the Popcorn Cathedral of Rock.

Rose - Madame Isaac Pereire

This old rose is famous for being tall, thorny, and generous with blooms. Madame is also known for her large hips (seed pods).

I have to write about this rose, because one flower is in the vase a few feet from me. If you watched the church service today, you saw it as the deeper pink rose near Queen Elisabeth.

Some call this bush a perfume bomb, the strongest rose scent of all varieties. When the blooms open, the yard is filled with the aroma. Three citrus trees are in bloom in my yard, filling the air with their sweetness, but one neglected rosebush trumps them all. The rose dates back to 1881. It was named after the wife of a French banker.

Roses and Creation

Pink Roses, by Norma Boeckler.

The Queen Elisabeth Rose from our garden was included among the altar flowers. One of the greatest of all roses, Queen E. was developed by a Creationist, Walter Lammerts, a member of the LCMS.

Laetare - The Fourth Sunday in Lent

One sunflower seed produces hundreds of high-protein, high fat, high mineral content seeds, and it is considered a weed in some farming areas,
due to its miraculous growth. Art by Norma Boeckler.

Laetare, The Fourth Sunday in Lent

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

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

Bethany Lutheran Worship, 8 AM Phoenix Time

Mid-Week Lenten Services are Thursdays at 6 PM.

The Hymn #361 St. Agnes 4.1
The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual Gal. 4:21-31
The Gospel John 6:1-15
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #462 St. Thomas 4.21

When He Had Given Thanks

The Hymn #304 St. Crispin 4.6
The Preface p. 24
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn #166 Spanish Chant 4.35

KJV Galatians 4:21 Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? 22 For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. 23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. 24 Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. 25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. 26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. 27 For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband. 28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. 29 But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. 30 Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. 31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.

KJV John 6:1 After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias. 2 And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased. 3 And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. 4 And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh. 5 When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? 6 And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do. 7 Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little. 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him, 9 There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many? 10 And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. 11 And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. 12 When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. 13 Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten. 14 Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world. 15 When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.

Fourth Sunday In Lent
Lord God, heavenly Father, who by Thy Son didst feed five thousand men in the desert with five loaves and two fishes: We beseech Thee to abide graciously also with us in the fullness of Thy blessing. Preserve us from avarice and the cares of this life, that we may seek first Thy kingdom and Thy righteousness, and in all things perceive Thy fatherly goodness, through Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God world without end. Amen.

When He Had Given Thanks

Recent and future plans of our government show that federal officials do not learn from history. The Roman Empire controlled most of the civilized world but suffered from many different monetary crises. The early Christians had to live with the impact of a distant and all-powerful government, just as we do.

In this Gospel lesson, Jesus accomplished what no one else on earth could do. He transformed one boy’s lunch into a miraculous abundance, which was so great that every one was full - and gigantic baskets of fragments remained.

Jesus saw an enormous crowd coming toward Him, so he asked Philip what to do. Philip responded that a certain sum of money was not enough to feed everyone and anyway – where would they find a place to buy food in the desert? Andrew opined that they found one boy with some bread and fish, but that was insignificant among so many.

Jesus said this to test him, so we have a record of the dialogue between the Savior and His disciple. Philip’s answer has two parts, which sounds like so many council meetings:
1) We do not have the money.
2) If we had the money, it still could not be done.
3) There is a supply of food, but it is not enough.

One church secretary lobbied for new carpeting in her office. When the council voted for it, she said, her voice cracking, “I just want to know where all the money is coming from.” Her husband was a Ford executive (1970s) when company generosity knew no bounds. The congregation had thousands of dollars squirreled away in various funds and no debt. The congregation often met challenges by having another commercial fund-raising activity. Their version of the Feeding of the Five Thousand was to turn one pound of meat into a meal for the entire congregation, and to charge dearly for it.

When Jesus heard Philip’s reply, He had the men seated. Note this:

“Now there was much grass in the place.”

That means they were at an oasis. In a desert, there will be grass only where there is a water supply. Otherwise, 5,000 men and their families would be fainting away.

Bravehearts at the Grand Canyon like to hike down the trail to the bottom. They forget that they need a lot of water and food. One man hiked down but could not go up again. In the daytime it was too hot. In the nighttime it was too dangerous to find the path. He stayed near a stream and hallucinated until they found him, still alive. That is just a glimpse at what people faced in the desert at the time of Jesus. They might reach a brackish water source and have to drink what the animals refused to taste.

So we should picture the crowd as one which was drawn to Jesus for various reasons. He provided the Word and taught it with clarity and authority. As the rest of the chapter shows, others would follow only if He did things their way. These disciples fell away because they did not like His teaching. And yet the experts say that the cure for all ills is making disciples who make disciples who make disciples.

KJV John 6:60 Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? 61 When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you? 62 What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? 63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. 64 But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him. 65 And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father. 66 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.

Although they were at an oasis with plenty of grass of water, the crowd needed food. Jesus had them sit down.

John 6:11 And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.

When He had given thanks – Jesus might have transformed the loaves and fish without the spoken Word, but He gave thanks in the midst of so much want. He thanked God, which is something the Jehovah’s Witnesses (who came to my house) cannot comprehend. Their lack of understanding proves that Jesus is not the Son of God – so they claim. I said, “My dog doesn’t understand it either.” That made them angry.

Jesus gave thanks in the midst of want, and so should we. As Peter Schiff said so eloquently, we have been spending on luxuries for years and borrowing from the world for those luxuries. Now the stuff has lost its value but the debt remains. We have garage sales all over our neighborhood. I always say to college classes, who brag about their cell phones and all the features they pay for – “Have a garage sale. That is what your things are worth. Not what you paid, plus interest, but what the people will pay you with cash.” One man let his college-aged son spend $1500 on his cell phone in two months and blamed the cell phone company for the cost. I said, “Why not let your son pay his own bill? That will change his attitude.” The father scowled at me.

One young man asked me if he could repair my windshield at the car wash. I could tell he needed some cash, so I let him. I thought it might save me some trouble later. He told me about spending $60,000 on his truck. A young woman said she had a vehicle that cost her $2,000 a month in payments, gas, and insurance. Later, she and her husband left town with no forwarding address and no phone number. Now the credit bubble has burst and my favorite bookstore is offering collectible books at 50% off. It’s my favorite store because I can enjoy a museum trip in book collecting for free and leave without guilt.

They say the sign of the Wall Street bubble, just before the Great Depression, was a shoeshine boy talking about his investments. We had two Mexican students from college come by to do some electrical work. They were talking about how hard it was to buy a house before they others had it bought already. Far too many of my students were either in real estate or the mortgage business. The money rolled in for many of these people.

What Jesus accomplished in the desert was a miracle of the Word. Anyone troubled over Holy Communion should consider the Feeding of the Multitude. We cannot understand or grasp either one. Both are mysteries, revealed to us. A mystery is something beyond our understanding – such as the Holy Trinity, Creation by the Word, the Incarnation, the Atonement. Once God reveals these mysteries to us, everything in Christian doctrine is in perfect harmony.

Here is the beginning of the Feeding of the Multitude:

John 6:11 And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples,

The Last Supper in Mark:

KJV Mark 14:23 And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it.

The Words of Institution in Corinthians:

KJV 1 Corinthians 11:24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.

Some people look at the mysteries and make fun of them. John Calvin was a Christian, but he subjected the Bible to his rationalistic analysis. So he made fun of the Real Presence in his Institutes. He was confused about the Two Natures of Christ and the Incarnation, so he was also confused about Holy Communion. Not surprisingly, Calvinists turn into Unitarians in one generation. Doubts about Holy Communion become doubts about the divinity of Christ. There is a saying which is true for Calvinists and Calvinistic countries – “Young Calvinist, old Unitarian.”

A pastor is a “steward of the mysteries of God” because these mysteries are not for us to trifle with. God has given us a great treasure in Holy Communion, so we do not hide it or act embarrassed about it, as if a mystery of God would keep God’s Church from accomplishing His will.

As I recall, one Roman Catholic missionary simply set up shop in China and began saying Mass. Eventually the ruler wanted to know about Christianity and people were converted. This may be mythical. But it is entirely different from hiding the Gospel behind a popcorn machine in the hopes that people will stop by for snacks and wi-fi, but stay for something that shames the stewards of the mysteries of God – the Gospel.

KJV 1 Corinthians 4:1 Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.

Jesus provided so abundantly that the entire crowd was satisfied and 12 baskets of bread fragments were gathered up. The word for basket is “coffin,” which suggests a man-sized basket, not a tiny offering basket. That amount is far beyond anyone’s comprehension and defies all rationalistic explanations.

In the same way, Jesus provided for us by establishing Holy Communion. Already at the Last Supper, He said, “This is My body, give for you, for the forgiveness of sin.” Since then millions have received His body and His blood.

He provides the instruments of His grace in great abundance. Anyone in the world can hear the Gospel, one way or another. Ways to distribute the Gospel message are even more far-reaching than ever before.

This chapter in John has strange contrasts in it, because Jesus foreshadowed Holy Communion with this miraculous Feeding. His message was spiritual rather than material, but he crowd wanted to make Him king.

Luther commented on this text. God certainly provides for our material needs, but “a roast goose will not fly into our mouths.” He wrote about the need to work for our material needs while trusting that God would provide.

When young adults complain about how hard it can be, I ask, “How many people swim 90 miles through shark-infested water to reach Cuba? No one! They swim here, and you are already here.” (One woman came from a criminal family. Everyone was on welfare and stole to make extra money. She said it was difficult to leave that life because it was so easy, to collect benefits and to profit from crime.)

Life will be difficult in the years to come. The Forbes billionaire list said most of the wealthiest lost 50% of their wealth, like everyone else. That will continue to have an impact on everything. My Evangelical students tell me they are learning how to live frugally, which was the only way in the Great Depression.
The Scriptures teach us that God will take care of our material needs, our greatest worry – which should be our least. He provides for our spiritual needs in great abundance. That should be the source of our greatest joy. In everything we should give thanks.

Lobet den Herren alle, die ihn ehren

All Praise the Lord, All Who Honor Him.

1. Lobet den Herren alle, die ihn ehren; lasst uns mit Freuden seinem Namen singen und Preis und Dank zu seinem Altar bringen. Lobet den Herren!

All praise the Lord, who honor Him; let us sing his name with joy and bring praise and thanks to His altar. All praise the Lord.

2. Der unser Leben, das er uns gegeben, in dieser Nacht so väterlich bedecket / und aus dem Schlaf uns fröhlich auferwecket: Lobet den Herren!

He who our life has given, in this night has covered us so fatherly and wakes us joyfully from sleep, All praise the Lord.

3. Dass unsre Sinnen / wir noch brauchen können / und Händ und Füße, Zung und Lippen regen, das haben wir zu danken seinem Segen. Lobet den Herren!

That we can use our senses, move our hands and feet, tongue and lips, we owe His blessing. All praise the Lord.

4. Dass Feuerflammen / uns nicht allzusammen / mit unsern Häusern unversehns gefressen, das macht's, dass wir in seinem Schoß gesessen. Lobet den Herren!

The flames of fire will not devour our homes, He wills that we sit in His castle. All praise the Lord.

5. Dass Dieb und Räuber / unser Gut und Leiber / nicht angetast' und grausamlich verletzet, dawider hat sein Engel sich gesetzet. Lobet den Herren!

That thief and robber, our goods and life cannot take, for His angel has been appointed. All praise the Lord.

6. O treuer Hüter, Brunnen aller Güter, ach lass doch ferner über unser Leben / bei Tag und Nacht dein Hut und Güte schweben. Lobet den Herren!

O faithful Guardain, wellspring of all goodness, by day and night Your Guard and Goodness hover. All praise the Lord.

7. Gib, dass wir heute, Herr, durch dein Geleite / auf unsern Wegen unverhindert gehen / und überall in deiner Gnade stehen. Lobet den Herren!

Give us that we today, Lord, through Your escorts, go on our way unhindered and remain in Your grace. All praise the Lord.

8. Treib unsern Willen, dein Wort zu erfüllen; lehr uns verrichten heilige Geschäfte, und wo wir schwach sind, da gib du uns Kräfte. Lobet den Herren!

Strengthen our will to fulfill Your Word; teach us holy ways; and where we are weak, there give us strength. All praise the Lord.

9. Richt unsre Herzen, dass wir ja nicht scherzen / mit deinen Strafen, sondern fromm zu werden / vor deiner Zukunft uns bemühn auf Erden. Lobet den Herren!

Direct our hearts, that we do not trifle with Your judgments, but remain pious before Your future reign on earth. All praise the Lord.

10. Herr, du wirst kommen / und all deine Frommen, die sich bekehren, gnädig dahin bringen, da alle Engel ewig, ewig singen: >Lobet den Herren!<

Lord, you will soon come, and all Your believers, those who are converted, bring them in with grace, where all the angels, always always sing out, All praise the Lord.

Paul Gerhardt 1607-1676


Quotations

"Nothing in the world so effectively hinders faith as mammon, or riches, on the one hand and poverty on the other. He who is rich and has something simply ignores God's Word and treads it underfoot. So the Gospel speaks of those who are invited to the great supper but 'cannot' attend because of their acre, oxen, wife, etc. (Luke 14) He who is poor does everything that pleases the devil and the world in order to stave off poverty."
What Luther Says, ed., Ewald Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, I, p. 435. John 6:1?15; Luke 14.

"How does it happen that although all of us are certainly Christians, or at least want to be such, we do not take this attitude of unconcern and neither comfort ourselves with abundance and surplus nor are frightened by want and by worrying about it? For if we faithfully and devotedly cling to God's Word, there shall be no want. Christ takes care of us, and from this it must follow
that we shall have something to eat."
What Luther Says, I, p. 436.

Children
"Children are the most delightful pledges of a loving marriage. They are the best wool on the sheep."
What Luther Says, I, p. 137.

"We should deal with children in such a way that they do not fear their parents, but that they know that they are offending God if they do not fear their parents."
What Luther Says, I, p. 142.

"Chastise them when they deserve it, but accompany the correction with affectionate words so that they do not become disheartened and expect nothing good from you. It is very bad if a son loves someone else more than his father. The father should give some sort of proof that there is no intention entirely to crush the child. The Law alone serves no good purpose; in fact, it is intolerable."
What Luther Says, I, p. 142. 1533, Ephesians 6:4.

The Small Catechism
P: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his cattle, nor anything that is thy neighbor's. What does this mean?
C: We should fear and love God that we may not estrange, force, or entice away from our neighbor his wife, servants, or cattle, but urge them to stay and do their duty.
P: What does God say of all these commandments?
C: He says thus: I, the Lord, thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me, and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me and keep My commandments.

Why the Meltdown Should Have Surprised No One, By Peter SchiffWho Predicted the Credit Bubble

More Driscoll-Copying from the Rock and Roll Church Nurtured and Suckled by VP Don Patterson

Rock and Roll must have been established by Church and Change to be a Mark Driscoll franchise. Doebler is following an entire Driscoll series, just as Ski is repeating a Craig Groeschel series. Why not channel Luther for a change?


Rev. Mark will speak on the rapture soon. Will Rev. Matt?

Driscoll.

Doebler.

Atheist Rabbi from Harvard Steals a March on Church and Change

Atheist rabbi Epstein follows Church Growth methods too.

God-less 'congregations' planned for humanists

By JAY LINDSAY – 2 days ago

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — The monthly schedule is church-like, with its parenting classes, guest speakers and small group meetings to hash out shared beliefs. But God isn't part of this Cambridge congregation.

Greg Epstein, the humanist chaplain at Harvard University, is building a God-free model of community that he hopes helps humanists increase in numbers and influence.

Epstein sees potential in research showing that there are more people with no religion. In the latest American Religious Identification Survey, released this month, 15 percent of respondents in 2008 said they had no religion, compared to 8.2 percent in 1990. Epstein believes that group includes large numbers of people who are humanist, but have never identified themselves that way and can be reached.

At the same time, there is broader acceptance of those with no faith, as indicated by President Barack Obama's mention of "nonbelievers" in his inaugural address, Epstein said.

Definitions of humanism vary. Generally, humanists reject belief in the supernatural and are guided by reason, experience and compassion for others. Epstein defines the philosophy as a commitment to living ethical, personally fulfilling lives while serving the greater good.

Epstein wants to plant local humanist centers nationwide that perform many of the community-building functions of a church, only in service of the humanist creed. He will promote his idea as he tours the country to promote his book, "Good Without God," which is scheduled to be published by HarperCollins later this year. Epstein will receive assistance and funding from groups such as the American Humanist Association and the Secular Student Alliance, which have chapters they hope to strengthen and multiply.

"There are so many millions of people out there who basically share our views, that we've got room for everybody," Epstein said. "What we're doing here has got to grow even more."

Raised as a Reform Jew, Epstein studied Taoism and Buddhism before he became a humanist. He earned a master's degree in Judaic studies from the University of Michigan and a master's of theological studies from Harvard Divinity School. In 2005, he was ordained as a rabbi by the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism. The movement says it combines reason, human experience, Jewish culture and ethical insights from Jewish tradition.

While many humanists reject anything that hints at organized religion, Epstein is freely borrowing from it — from the "small group" format familiar in evangelical churches to calling his group a "congregation."

Paul Kurtz, founder of the Council for Secular Humanism, disagrees with that approach, saying humanists are building secular communities that show people don't need religion to get together "in a joyful mood and do good works." But that's undermined when religious words are used to describe those communities.

"I don't think we should use the language of religion, that's very confusing," Kurtz said.

Though he supports Epstein, Fred Edwords of the American Humanist Association questions whether a large, untapped pool of potential humanists exists.

"This is a new mission field, if you will, but are those vineyards ripe for the picking?" Edwords said. "I haven't seen sufficient evidence of it."

Still, both men agree that more humanist communities are needed, for mutual support and to offset isolation humanists often feel.

Jenni Acosta, a humanist from Newton who is part of the Harvard humanist parenting group, said the group gives her needed support, and shows her 6-year-old and 10-year-old daughters that other children are being raised the same way. Acosta, 36, said she deals with family and friends who challenge her on how she can raise her kids without the moral guidance a faith provides.

"I think it's reassuring to all of us to know that we're there for each other and there's other examples of people doing it and their kids seem to be turning out OK," Acosta said.

The parenting group started in December and meets monthly with about 10 families. Acosta says trips to local museums and a parenting course called "Compassionate Communication" are planned. The Harvard chaplaincy also hosts "Humanist Small Group" biweekly Sunday brunch discussion and buys drinks at biweekly "Humanist Community Pub Nights." Last month, it hosted holiday-style celebrations around Charles Darwin's 200th birthday and is hosting a talk by humanist writer and director Joss Whedon of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" fame.

Richard Lints, a professor of philosophical theology at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, a prominent evangelical school in Hamilton, Mass., said the humanist desire for greater community is understandable. He believes God "hard-wired" humans to need it.

But he said he doubts humanism can sustain itself in the local congregations Epstein envisions because community is not a natural part of humanism, where the individual is the ultimate source of meaning. If humanism becomes concerned with the "greater good," and a sort of natural moral order that implies, it starts to resemble religion and humanists will back away, he said.

"At the heart of the humanist project is deep individualism," Lints said. "It's always going to be difficult to sustain a real robust community."

To those who say it can't be done, Epstein points to his community at Harvard, and nonstop requests for more services, as a rebuttal. He believes humanists are responsible to make sure their community grows more.

"Salvation is here on earth," he said. "We have evolved over 14 billion years without purpose. Now we want purpose, we need to build it into our own lives."

On the Net:
Greg Epstein: http://www.harvardhumanist.org/about-us/chaplain

***

GJ - I read the first paragraphs to Mrs. Ichabod and said, "Probably a Reformed Jew." The most liberal form of Judaism is often atheistic, which was confirmed by a Jewish friend when she asked the rabbi if he believed in the Jewish rituals. He said, "I don't believe those things happened. We do them because we are Jews." Some liberal Jews also associate with Quakers because of the liberal activism and non-doctrinal attitudes. That led one rabbi to quip, "Some of my best Jews are Friends."

Chaplaincy, athesim, and Church Growth go together hoof-and-claw, as the WELS leaders of Church and Chicanery know. This story reminded me of the assistant pastor who joined Parlow in plagiarizing a Hybels email. Where is he now? - a stealth chaplaincy on a college campus: Point of Grace (Lutheran is whited out). Rev. Church Growth in Columbus was a chaplain and is now an atheist. Does anyone see a pattern?

Methods of organization and brain-washing are the same world-wide. Cells originated in Marxist Russia, as witnessed by the name - Soviet Russia. A soviet is a cell group, and Marxism organized the country by cells. Navy SEALs, learning teams in college, and work teams all use the same system. If a cell is too large, it does not function well.

A small group does not necessarily lead to brain-washing, but small group unity can be powerful in accomplishing various goals. The Brotherhood of the Kingdom was organized to promote the Social Gospel movement in all denominations and succeeded in doing that, in spite of its small size.

Church and Change looted the synod coffers to start their group. Their website gives away the agenda and some of the leaders, but others maintain a low profile to accomplish the will of their Father Below. VP Don Patterson said he had "issues" with Church and Change, but he called John Lawrenz' defense of their methods "pure gold" on the C and C list-serve.

All the Church and Chicanery projects have the same DNA, and their leaders at The Love Shack are the genetic donors:

1. Small groups, whether they are called cell groups, share groups, care groups, affinity groups, koinonia groups, or Bible study groups.
   
2. Reformed doctrine via Pietism and the sanctimony one expects from such nonsense. All the favorite authors are anti-Lutheran and make fun of Lutheran doctrine, as Brother Stetzer did on his blog.
   
3. Pop music and rock bands. Note that the Popcorn Cathedral of Rock cannot really get going until the rock band is ready and the performance stage built.
   
4. Business methods, from the predictable Management by Objective of Drucker to the soporific platitudes of John Maxwell and Napoleon Hill.
   
5. Hatred of the historical liturgy, the Creeds, and the great hymns of the Christian faith.
   
6. Mockery of the Book of Concord.
   
7. Rejection of the efficacy of the Word, replaced with the efficacy of their methods.

Garfield Grade School, Third Grade:The Formative Years

I am in the first row, second from the left.

In two of the three photos I am next to Kathleen Wilcox, who emailed the pictures to me. The Moline High class of 66 is not well represented on Facebook, but that may change slowly.

All my teachers in the Moline system were excellent, devoted to their vocations and their students. Moline was rather small, with a population of 40,000, so people knew each other's families. The teachers were close-knit, so they all knew me. Spy cameras are pretty crude compared to a flock of watchful teachers all over town.

We enjoyed the perks of a private school without the cost. Discipline was swift and sure, so it was seldom needed. Here is one case.

A boy spit at another boy. My mother (his teacher) said, "Spit on my hand, Bob." He said, "Why?" She said, "Never mind. Spit on my hand." He spit. "Spit more." He did as he was told. "Spit more." He did, knowing something was up. She then smeared it all over his face. As my friend told me the story, he added, "Bob never spit again."

At our 40th reunion, the spitter, now a lawyer in a big city, said, "Greg. You should write a book about your mother. She was a remarkable teacher."

Garfield Grade School in Moline, Illinois

I am on the extreme right, first row. Do stripes make me look fat?

Miss Hallie Emory was our fifth grade teacher. I learned later that she never finished her college degree. In the early days, teachers went to the Normal School (in Normal Illinois) for a year and often taught in one-room country schools. My mother did that but slowly earned her degree at Augustana College in Rock Island, later a master's at the University of Illinois. She often talked about teaching all grades in a one-room country school.

Miss Emory loved kids and also made them behave. She was proud of how she looked at a student once and made me choke on the candy he was trying to eat furtively. One basilisk stare from Miss Emory was enough to turn all of us into jelly.

Portrait of the Artist as a Young Rocker

I am in the second row, third from the left, as someone noted. Note the Buddy Holly look, long before the Day the Music Died.

---

Ken Schmidt has left a new comment on your post "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Rocker":

Hey, is that Garfield, NJ or some other Garfield?

***

GJ - Garfield Grade School in Moline, Illinois, about 1959 or 60. Three of us from that 6th grade cohort at Garfield went to Yale, and we all knew each other quite well.

All the schools in Moline were named after Republicans, except for Woodrow Wilson Junior High. How Wilson got in there, I will never know. I went to two junior high schools, due to a boundary change: John Deere Junior High and Coolidge Junior High. My last public school had the unimaginative name of Moline Senior High School.

We usually walked to grade school, past the Teske Hardware Store. We knew the Teske family. The long way home took us past Whitey's Ice Cream. We knew the owners too. The daughter of the county GOP chairman, Martha Getz, was in my class. Her older brother became semi-famous in Hollywood in such movies as The Fly I and II and Blood Simple - John Getz, exactly two years old than I.

Church Growth Produces Another Atheist: Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered, As Corky Wrote

Evangelicals skewer the Emerging Church. Lutheran leaders lap it up - with some exceptions.

I wrote before about WELS Church Growther Curt Peterson joining Freedom From Religion to work against all religion. A layman wrote me:

Oh yes, the Freedom From Religion folks. It has ironically occured to me that they have a pretty high understanding of and respect for the efficacy of God's Word. Don't you think? Or Satan acting through them does. That's why they are always having it removed from public places and so forth. I looked up Curtis Peterson and saw an article and pictures of them removing the 10 commandments in Milwaukee I think. So THEY know how powerful it is and how it will and does change hearts and minds. I don't think it's really about the fear of those trying to get some "establishment of a state religion" thing.

The same friend wrote about another WELS Church Shrinker, who was welcomed to Columbus as a messiah by Wally Oelhafen. The Rev. Shrinker polarized the congregation before being exposed as a false teacher. Now he is an avowed atheist who sleeps in when his family goes to church on Sunday. "He will have nothing to do with God anymore and very matter of factly proclaims his atheism."

The studious layman said this about the Church Shrinkers:

I was just talking to an old friend this weekend. Much of the day we talked of the CGM stuff in WELS and such. I can only come to this conclusion, I think that some pastors and leaders that have been taken have been beguiled. Literally beguiled. That's the most accurate description I can give what I have seen. Is that an accurate way to say it in your opinion? I can't find any other way to express what I have seen in the last 15 years or so as it has slowly taken hold. What is even more interesting is that I read an interview my a music retailing magazine with KISS founder Gene Simmons (I can't stand the guy). Simmons's comments on getting more and more (in his case money and women) and marketing and greed could have easily been modified to be a message right from Fuller or Willow Creek. Just a different product. Basically "listen to your audience and give them what they want and sell them other things that they aren't expecting." I was amazed at how hard this hit me......the correlation I mean. From this devil man comes the same thing as the CGM/new paradigm church product.

Crashed on Tweetdeck

I resisted Twitter for almost a year, after trying it once. I am finding Facebook useful, so I thought that Twitter might be. My resistance crumbled when a good friend added himself as a Twitter follower.

I found it amusing that one of the Church and Changers added himself to my non-functioning Twitter. I had him figured as the guy who warned Pastor Rick that his giving statistics and Sweet were mentioned on Ichabod.

So I am linking a number of Twitters on the left. If you want to add yourself to mine, I will think of something intelligent to say. You can follow the Popcorn Cathedral of Rock from their Twitters, linked conveniently on the left. The links run a little behind for some reason.

Tonight's Psalm

KJV Psalm 4:2 O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame? how long will ye love vanity, and seek after leasing?

Mid-week Lenten Service

The Risen Christ, by Norma Boeckler

Mid-Week Lenten Vespers


Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

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

Bethany Lutheran Worship, 6 PM Phoenix Time

Thursdays after tonight.
The Hymn #558 Tallis Canon
The Order of Vespers p. 41
The Psalmody Psalm 4 p. 123
The Lection Passion Harmony, TLH
The Sermon Hymn #245 St. Crispin

The Sermon – The Little Gospel
The Prayers
The Lord’s Prayer
The Collect for Grace p. 45
The Hymn #376 Toplady

KJV John 3:10 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? 11 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. 12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? 13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

Luther said about John 3:16 – This verse should be written in golden letters on the heart.
The context is interesting because the John 3 section is one of the more distorted passages in Protestantism. This is where many rest their claim, “You must be born again.” For them, that means an adult conversion experience.

The context and many related passages show that Jesus did not say, “You must have an adult conversion experience.”

He said, “You must be water-Spirit baptized,” and that is a very concise way of saying that baptism offers what God promises. In other words, it is a sacrament, to use our shorthand.

“You must be born from above” is the real meaning of Jesus’ statement to Nicodemus.

All false religion is based on being born from below, from man’s effort. Either he performs works and makes sacrifices to appease God or he accumulates virtue in some way to make himself acceptable to God. “Making a decision” is being born from below, from man’s intellectual effort. Fides formata (Roman Catholic) is faith with works added, or being born from below.

Being born from above can only come from the Holy Spirit working through the Word. The ancients, when they fell away from the revealed truths of God, wandered around trying to determine where God was to be found. They made up the most absurd legends and myths. Many of these stories are barely known because they are too absurd or crude to be told.

God had made His will known in the plainest way possible. His Word always accomplishes His will, (Is 55:8-11) so that means the Holy Spirit is never apart from His Word. There is no independent operation of the Holy Spirit, separated from the Word. And the Word is never without the power of the Holy Spirit.

That is – it must be God’s Word to have the power of the Holy Spirit. If a sermon is about “How to be popular and successful,” that is man’s word and devoid of the Holy Spirit. Worse is the attempt to bend an actual text and turn it into man’s philosophy. Man’s philosophy is always based on works and the Law. If someone wants to test that, listen to the language being used. Wait for – You must do this, and you cannot do that. That is law language.

I read a thesis where a liberal Lutheran applauded Robert Schuller’s maxim that “sin is not believing hard enough.” Schuller is an advocate for Napoleon Hill’s philosophy and for what Norman Vincent Peale plagiarized from an occult source. In both cases, the imagination has special powers to re-create the world (see also Nightingale Conant). In that little maxim sin and faith are both distorted so they serve another interest, which is opposition to God’s Word in the name of God. The conclusion is – You must believe harder. Believe in what? “Believe in yourself. Believe in the power of the your dreams.” Faith is turned into works, man-centered works.

In contrast, the Little Gospel is quite different. We call it the Little Gospel because it states the message of Christ in one, easy-to-memorize verse. When students learn Greek, they turn to John 3:16, because the verse is easy and enjoyable to translated. The words are very simple, plain and easy to understand.

The first phrase reveals the gracious love of God toward all:

God so loved the world.

Jesus, in John’s Gospel, also reveals how the world rejected Jesus and would reject His followers. But God’s love is far beyond man’s grasp. His love is all-encompassing, above and beyond man’s ability to understand. Grace means – free and without strings attached.

Instead of God loving us after we love Him, the reverse is true. We love God because He first loved us.

That He gave His only-begotten Son.

The phrase “only-begotten” is still the best, because “only son” is so quickly distorted by man. In the movie “Oh God,” Jesus is called God’s Son. But so is Moses and Mohammed. So what can that term mean? Only-begotten is very precise, pointing to “conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary…”

We are called children of God (as believers) and sons of God (as believers) but Jesus is the only-begotten Son.

That whosoever believeth in Him…

Unlike all the false religions of the world, the Little Gospel has no demand of the Law for salvation. No extra law requirements are added to “any person who trusts in Him for salvation.” Once again, whosoever is very precise in making it clear that no believer is excluded on the basis of prior sins or station in life. No one is too old or too young. Babies also trust in Him, from the moment of baptism, because they are born from above, by water-Spirit baptism.

should not perish
The issue is not whether we will die or not. The word perish sums up two concepts at once – both death and eternal condemnation. To show what “not perish” means, the opposite is stated.

but have everlasting life.

Everlasting life, eternal salvation – that rests upon God giving His Son to us, and that message of divine grace produces faith in His gracious love in Christ. In faith we receive the Promises of God, and those Promises in the Word produce faith in our hearts.

17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

In the verses following the Little Gospel are an explanation of justification without using the term which Paul favored. Only those who believe in Christ are forgiven, saved, and given eternal life. Those who do not believe on condemned for their non-belief. In fact, as another verse clearly states, they are not forgiven (justified) because the wrath of God remains on unbelievers.

KJV John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

The Gospel of John is especially clear about the Biblical message – there are 1) believers in Christ, and there are 2) unbelievers. The world has only two categories, no more.

Finally, this passage includes the statement that false people hide their works because their works are evil. People laugh about my stealth term, but that is the best way to describe false teachers and their works. They always want to work under the radar. They hate being quoted. They hate having their work evaluated in the light of the Scriptures. They claim they can be more effective if they distance themselves from God’s Word. Sadly, they cannot bear to teach the whole counsel of God found in John 3:16. They always conclude, “Look at all the good things we have done in God’s Name.”

God says, “Look at what I have done for you, long before you ever existed.”

Spoiling the Egyptians - Luther via Walther

Figs From Thistles? Not According to Martin Luther


Luther, House Postil: "No one is so foolish as to go into a field full of thorns and thistles and look for grapes and figs. Such fruits we seek on a different plant, which is not so full of barbs and prickles. The same thing happens in our gardens. Seeing a tree full of apples or pears, everybody exclaims: Ah, what a fine tree that is! Again, where there is no fruit on a tree or the fruit is worm-eaten, cracked, and misshapen, everybody says the tree is worthless, fit to be cut down and cast into the fire, so that a better tree may be planted in its place. These tests, the Lord says, you must apply to the false prophets, and you will not make a mistake, no matter how good their appearance may be. If f wolf had put on twenty sheepskins, still you must know him to be a wolf and not be deceived by him."
C. F. W. Walther, The Proper Distinction between Law and Gospel, trans. W. H. T. Dau, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House 1897, p. 412.

Wisconsin Lutheran High School and Government Money

Mary Thompson wrote:

Carl G's "fact check" is technically correct in that the high school accepting government grants was the WELS high school "Wisconsin Lutheran High School", which started out as "Milwaukee Lutheran High School" in a joint venture with LCMS. The original comment should have said the"ex-communications involved WELS members who protested the government grants being used by Wisconsin Lutheran High High School in the mid 1970's. Carl G.'s doubts that any WELS "members cared enough to protest about it (government grants)" and his doubts whether any WELS people were ex-communicated about government grants are unfounded. The controversy did happen, and it made headlines in the mainline Milwaukee newspapers and religious periodicals around the country. Original source material re: the controversy including newspaper articles and related documents still exist should Carl G. need proof of WELS members protesting and being expelled from WELS congregation for doing so.

I can produce them should he request copies.

Urban legends exist, but the government grants, the protests and expulsion of WELS members is not among them.

***

GJ - I find it odd that people rejoice at a church school depending on government money. I was part of a Christian school that never mentioned using government money and never requested it. Students got bus rides, and that was it.

When Church and Change leaders manage a program, I wonder.

Church and Chicanery Wants To Manage the Synod

Wayne, Ron, and Bruce reminisce about the good old days: "Sure we had a few train-wrecks like this, but it was fun."

To Do List

Ski and Rosebud

Having 1 of those days where the 2 do list isn't going 2 get done. Pressing ministry issue. God is so great & incredible. Changeinh (sic) lives.
9:06 AM Mar 16th from twitterrific

i tackled my to do list and then some today - awesome way to start the week. love it!
about 18 hours ago from TweetDeck

To Do List:

1. Apply for more grants.
   
2. Count paper clips.
   
3. Order non-slip wax polish for Rosebud.
   
4. Buy more popcorn butter. Find out why it is disappearing so fast.
   
5. Test sub-woofers.
   
6. Re-arrange pen drawer.
   
7. Investigate cheaper coffee beans.
   
8. Read fine print in lease, esp. non-payment penalties.
   
9. Check on discount for Jelly Bellies by 100-wt.
   
10. Download more totally awesome sermons from Driscoll, Stanley, and Groeschel.
    
11. Type up Groeschel sermons.
    
12. Change references to Fox Valley, A-Town, and Wisconsin in typescript.

Strange Coincidences - Add Your Story in the Comments

Ron Roth served as the first editor of Church Growth TELL, then guided WELS into one financial diaster after another. With the wise guidance of Gurgel and Mueller, Roth managed to turn the Schwan pot of gold into insolvency.

Jeff Davis and stealthy Church and Change leaders (like Kudu Don Patterson) absorb credibility by being on synod boards while serving Church and Chicanery interests. No one sniffs out grant money faster than apostates.

Three readers sent me similar stories about their WELS congregations.

The congregations are older, larger congregations. Church and Change board member Jeff Davis showed up to talk them into enormous building expansions and raise money toward it, ultimately leaving the parish heavily in debt. The building solved the pastor's edifice complex but never fulfilled the Field of Dreams movie motto: Build It and They Will Come. Bricks and mortar are not a Means of Grace.

Jeff Davis charges a commission - a percentage of money raised by the congregation - and calls this stewardship education! His commission at one church was around $40,000.

Ethical fund-raising groups charge a set fee plus expenses, to avoid the temptation of viewing everyone through dollar-sign glasses. Results are not pumped up just to earn a higher commission.

I thought, "Blimey! St. Paul in New Ulm was in decline, so they spent millions on their building, too."

As I wrote before, Davis has a blank bio at Church and Change, but his so-called stewardship education business is in partnership with Ron Roth, the first openly Church Growth staffer at The Love Shack.

Before I started data-mining the Church and Change website, Davis and Ski both had bios. Now both are blank, and Ski's photo is missing. I did not know Church and Change had a witness protection program.

Help Congregations Save Millions
I know some congregations are in the midst of disastrous Build It And They Will Come programs.

If you had direct experience with Jeff Davis or Ron Roth stewardship education, post a comment.

Their business is Cornerstone Stewardship Ministry.

Their team:


Jeff Davis (Co-Founder)
Lake Mills, Wisconsin

Jeff's 28 years of experience in administration, ministry and consulting, coupled with a strong desire to serve Jesus, have helped form his servant characteristics. Jeff enjoys teaching, directing and leading God's people. His personal commitment to stewardship is a reflection on his beliefs and thankfulness to Jesus. He has written extensively on stewardship, guiding and challenging God's people to live lives of thanks. Recently, Jeff co-authored Heart in Focus, a faith focused financial course (www.heartinfocus.com). Jeff and Sally, his wife, reside in Lake Mills, Wisconsin. They have been blessed with 5 children and 1 grandchild.


Tom Grunow (Co-Founder of CSM, MEd, CFRE)
Portland, Oregon [LCMS]

Tom Grunow is a 33-year veteran in Christian Education, Fund Development and Strategic Planning having served with Lutheran educational ministries in Florida, Texas and Oregon. Following in the footsteps of his father, Dr. Robert A. Grunow, known throughout the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) for his estate planning and fundraising expertise, for the past 14 years he has served as a consultant to Lutheran churches and schools throughout the U.S. Previously he served as Vice President of the Concordia University Foundation Portland and on the National Board of Directors of the Association of Lutheran Development Executives (ALDE). He currently serves Trinity Lutheran Church, as Volunteer Minister of Stewardship & Gifts, is an active member of ALDE, a member of the Christian Stewardship Association (CSA), and serves as Board Chair of the Lutheran Education Association (LEA). Tom resides in Portland, Oregon with his wife, Karin, a commissioned Lutheran schoolteacher. They have 3 children and 3 grandchildren.


Ron Roth (Director)
Hales Corners, Wisconsin

Ron loves to teach and encourage God's people to respond to God's grace with thankful and generous gifts. He has served four congregations as pastor, leading three of them through capital expansion programs. As administrator of Christian giving for an international Lutheran church body, he developed a major gifts ministry and led three national campaigns. He was instrumental in developing a planned giving ministry which after twelve years is blessing various ministries with annual gifts of $10-12 million in current donations and matured bequests. Another $400+ million in estate gifts for the Lord's work have been completed. Ron and his wife Arlene live in the Milwaukee, WI area and are blessed with three children.


His congregation is a champion fund-snagger and teaches Church and Chicaneries how to do the same.
Wayne Baxmann (Associate)
Colgate, Wisconsin

Wayne's forty plus years in public ministry have provided him with numerous opportunities to practice servant-leadership. He eagerly applies his spiritual gifts in working with God's people, particularly in the areas of organization, teaching and administration. He strongly believes in and models the attitude that Christian Stewardship is a manifestation of one's love and gratitude for what God has done. Wayne and his wife Renee live in Colgate, Wisconsin, just northwest of Milwaukee, and are active members of Risen Savior Lutheran Church in Milwaukee. Their three adult children and their families live in Washington and Texas.

[GJ - Mel entered the witness protection program of C and C, so no photo is available.]
Mel Fournier (Associate)
Leesburg, Florida [LCMS]

Mel is "Mr. Lutheran" throughout Florida having served as a layperson in various Lutheran churches and in every capacity both during his work as an independent electrician and later in his retirement years. He has served as both paid and volunteer for Thrivent (formerly AAL) in fraternal assistance and is well versed on the Biblical concepts of Christian stewardship.

Diahann Lohr
Watertown, Wisconsin
William Neubauer
Oconomowoc, Wisconsin
Tim Grunow (Support)
Portland, Oregon

Tim provides support services for general operations, staff travel, and campaign record keeping. He is based in Portland, Oregon.

Angel Falls - Glendale, Arizona

Our backyard, photographed by Alicia Meyer

Oculi - The Third Sunday in Lent

Oculi, The Third Sunday in Lent

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

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

Bethany Lutheran Worship, 8 AM Phoenix Time

Mid-Week Lenten Services are Wednesdays at 6 PM.

The Hymn #175 Hamburg 2.43
The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual Ephesians 5:1-9
The Gospel Luke 11:14-28
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #172:1-5 Herzlich tut mir 2.55

The Stronger Man

The Hymn #172:6-10 Herzlich tut mir 2.55
The Preface p. 24
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn #457 Friend 2.24

KJV Ephesians 5:1 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; 2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour. 3 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; 4 Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. 5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. 7 Be not ye therefore partakers with them. 8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: 9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)

KJV Luke 11:14 And he was casting out a devil, and it was dumb. And it came to pass, when the devil was gone out, the dumb spake; and the people wondered. 15 But some of them said, He casteth out devils through Beelzebub the chief of the devils. 16 And others, tempting him, sought of him a sign from heaven. 17 But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house divided against a house falleth. 18 If Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? because ye say that I cast out devils through Beelzebub. 19 And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out? therefore shall they be your judges. 20 But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you.

21 When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace: 22 But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils.

23 He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth. 24 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out. 25 And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. 26 Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.

27 And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked. 28 But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.

Third Sunday In Lent
Lord God, heavenly Father, who hast sent Thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to take upon Himself our flesh, that He might overcome the devil, and defend us poor sinners against the adversary: We give thanks unto Thee for Thy merciful help, and we beseech Thee to attend us with Thy grace in all temptations, to preserve us from carnal security, and by Thy Holy Spirit to keep us in Thy word and Thy fear, that unto the end we may be delivered from the enemy, and obtain eternal salvation, through the same, Thy beloved Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.

The Stronger Man
Luke 11:21 When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace: 22 But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils.

This Gospel lesson has four different parts, which I have divided in the printed version for clarity.

The first part deals with the power of Jesus, which was displayed with great effect from time to time. The audience had two possible conclusions. Either Jesus was divine or demonic, because only God or Satan could have such power. Some accused him of being in league with the devil, while others demanded a sign (a miracle from heaven). That was often a feature of Jesus’ miracles. In the midst of them, people wanted even more. In my current religion class, some students wondered why Jesus promised the cross to His followers.
Our Savior knew that people were attracted to the miraculous and only wanted the miraculous. Many false leaders today have proven that a criminal record, no education and phony miracles will not be a barrier to forming large crowds and getting big offerings.

When Luther wrote about the Two Kingdoms (Reich) he was distinguishing the Kingdom of God from the Kingdom of Satan. (Another category is the Two Realms or Regiments – the spiritual and the material, the Church vs. the government). People either belong to one Kingdom or another. We are born unbelievers so we do not enter God’s Kingdom until we are baptized. The Christian Church began with infant baptism, when whole households were baptized—no exclusions—for 16 centuries until a few men decided to take away that certainty by inventing “believers’ baptism.”

So the Bible teaches us that there are exactly two categories of people – believers in Christ and non-believers. Becoming a believer is the easiest possible thing in the world because the Word accomplishes it either through baptism (among infants) or through conversion among adults. Remaining a believer is the difficult part. God has appointed His Means of Grace so we always know where we find forgiveness and the source for strengthening our faith, but we always take abundance for granted.

I think many would now value the LCA church I attended in the 1960s. The pastor was conservative. Every service was liturgical. No one ever thought of appealing to the youth by bringing in pop music. Confirmation took two years, but no one was allowed in class until the Small Catechism was memorized. The confirmation classes numbered about 60 each year. As I mentioned on the blog, youth meetings ended with Vespers or another service from the hymnal. The pastor routinely visited in the homes and hospitals. That congregation today would be as rare as hen’s teeth.

So there is a perpetual battle between the Two Kingdoms, Satan’s and God’s. People would have us believe that more people will enter God’s Kingdom if we imitate Satan’s realm. Jesus’ message in this Gospel is - His battle against Satan’s kingdom. Proof of God’s Kingdom arriving is Jesus’ ability to cast out demons. Opposition always accompanies the Gospel because Satan cannot abide losing anyone from his followers, and he wants to recruit as many new ones as possible.

People used to take closed communion for granted. No one thought it was a Constitutional right to drop in at a new denomination and demand Holy Communion. Now people will read a closed communion announcement in a bulletin, stand up, and leave in a huff. If enough congregations have open communion, the forces of apostasy win simply by making everyone indifferent to God’s Word.

Falling away from the faith is more toxic than never believing in the first place. Those who fall away (apostasy means falling away in Greek) have an allergy to what they first believed. They are most likely to be active opponents. I have one reader of the blog who posts one or two atheistic comments on a regular basis. I sometimes wonder if one or both of the Church Growth pastors I knew in the past are sending those atheistic posts.

I recall so many famous Evangelists who became apostates that I cannot begin to list them all. Now we are in an era where even the supposedly conservative Christian leaders are apostates. There is no place where doubt and opposition cannot enter. But these things were predicted in the Epistles.

KJV 2 Thessalonians 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away (Apostasis – apostasy) first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

KJV 2 Timothy 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. 5 But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.

Stronger Man
The brief mention of the stronger man is a good example of Jesus speaking to believers who must study His Word carefully. It is easy to pass by this brief mention, but the passage is full of meaning for everyone. For a non-believer, the passage makes no sense.

21 When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace: 22 But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils.

The strong man is Satan. He ruled over his realm on earth in peace and kept his spoils. Before the Flood, most of the world was given over to godlessness, so it was destroyed, except for Noah’s family. After the Flood, godlessness and pagan worship grew once again. The public ministry of Jesus began the era of the Stronger Man. First in His miracles, then with His cross of resurrection, Christ defeated Satan and took away his armor (all his weapons of deceit). Christ as the Victor took away Satan’s spoils too. The souls won by Christ through the Word would be in God’s Kingdom rather than Satan’s.

Since then the Gospel has spread over the world and given every tribe the chance to hear the Word.
Warning
The warning parable in the third section notes that someone may be converted, defeating demonic forces, but still be prey to their return. Let’s say the problem was addiction. An individual puts his life in order through the Word and receives nothing but blessings: forgiveness from friends and family, a new chance at a job, respect and a health life once again. He says, “I have conquered this.” So an old friend offers him another hit, and he falls again. That can happen many times over, but despair takes over when someone is proud of his own achievements. The swept and garnished house is easier to wreck. So even worse demons take over.

I have seen young adults speaking in class, former meth addicts, with their special meth acne scars still showing. I wonder how we could have thrown away a civilization on such poison.
The Blessing
People in the crowd tried to bless Mary for giving birth to Jesus, but He responded:

27 And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked. 28 But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.

God blesses those who hear the Word of the Gospel and guard that Word. The verb means to protect, watch over. The verb is used for guarding a jail. The happy-chappy-chapel people want to talk about Jesus all the time, but they never take His Word seriously. Conversion to Christ means a responsibility to teach His Word exactly as it is revealed in the Word, without any adulteration. We are blessed both in hearing the Word and in keeping it, because God’s Word—not man’s—is the blessing.

A Mouse in Doubt

Anonymouse has left a new comment on your post "From One of Many Excommunicated by WELS":

Would you care to elaborate on the excommunications? Again, I see nothing here but charges. You offer no proof. This is just typical of you, Greg Jackson.

***

GJ - That is typical of Mouse, to start accusing. I don't have enough mental energy to make up stories. I use my brainpower up exposing the lies of Church and Change. Now that is a creative bunch.

I could name people because I know a lot of them. I have met them. Some write to me. Some are related to family friends. Some were members of my congregation. I will list what I know, without names for the most part.

1. One pastor gave a paper questioning WELS' dependence upon AAL funding. He was driven from the ministry. He never recovered from the shock. I met him and know his daughter and son-in-law.
   
2. A number of laity were excommunicated for participating in Scouting. Two different families were LCA members when I was serving in Michigan. St. Paul in German Village had a Scout troop and a Pioneer group. They also had very active Masonic members. St. Paul (ironic name?) started Church Growth under the anointed leadership of Floyd Luther Stolzenburg. Alas, the congregation has only shrunken more.
   
3. WELS drove several ministers of the pulpit for questioning the NIV. Before, WELS was all-KJV. Then they were NIV-only. I met one of the ministers at a conference.
   
4. Bruce Becker specifically drove Howard Festerling from the ministry because Howard taught the efficacy of the Word alone (and kept insisting on it). Two other pastors I knew from the Toledo area were also driven out of the ministry by WELS. Their crime was questioning the Fuller spin on "make disciples." Note that the KJV never made that error. For the innocent readers: "Making disciples" is the motto of all Lutheran CGM fanatics.
   
5. I know a brilliant family, formerly WELS. They had some questions about the Sampler. The Sampler! The pastor stopped at the house and said, "You are no longer in fellowship with WELS."

I could list more examples, but my typing fingers are growing weary.

Mouse - you may post your apology on this story. Perhaps on the other one too.

Boom Times for Mega-Church Foreclosures

The Bigger They Are, The Deeper in Debt

Metropolitan Baptist Church was bursting out of its home.

From a group of freed slaves in Civil War-era Washington, Metropolitan Baptist had grown into a modern-day megachurch and community service powerhouse. In 2006, construction began on the congregation's dream complex in Largo, Md. — a $30 million campus with a 3,000-seat church, an education center and an 1,100-car parking lot.

Last year, the congregation sold its church in Washington. Preparations began for the move to what leaders had taken to calling "God's land in Largo."

But on Oct. 20, their plans were abruptly put on hold.

The Rev. H. Beecher Hicks learned that financing for the project had dried up. Construction stopped. And the congregation found that it was homeless — reduced to renting space and struggling to find new financing.

Add houses of worship to the list of casualties of the mortgage crisis.

Foreclosures and delinquencies for congregations are rising, according to companies that specialize in church mortgages. With credit scarce, church construction sites have gone quiet, holding shells of sanctuaries that were meant to be completed months ago.

Congregants have less money to give, and pastors who stretched to buy property in the boom are struggling to hold onto their churches.

"The economy has dramatically changed over the last year to 18 months in a way that very few, if any, had expected," said John Stoffel, administrative pastor at Seabreeze Church in Huntington, Calif.

Seabreeze spent about $12 million on a new complex that was completed in 2007. But a drop in donations, partly due to a rift between the pastor and some church members, forced the church to renegotiate for an interest-only mortgage. Stoffel said Seabreeze hasn't missed a payment, yet the mortgage is far from the church's only debt. The church also owes $1.2 million — due this year — on bonds that helped finance the project, and must repay a $200,000 loan that a couple took out on their house to help Seabreeze cover its costs.

It's hard to quantify just how many churches are at risk. Foreclosure records are scattered throughout county offices nationwide. Completing a foreclosure takes months or longer, so it's too soon for many failures to show up on a company's books. In financially stressed churches, clergy are often reluctant to discuss their plight. They don't want to alarm their congregants, and they fear that any complaints about their dealings with banks will backfire.

"Right now, when you're at the mercy of the lenders, you don't want to look like you're coming out against them," said Bishop Eugene Reeves of New Life Anointed Ministries International in Woodbridge, Va.

The 3,500-member Pentecostal church near Washington needs a couple of million dollars to finish its new $19 million complex. Construction stopped last spring when New Life's lender said it would make no new loans to the church, Reeves said.

"We now have children who don't have classrooms to get into, adults who have to go to an overflow room," Reeves said. "We have parking issues. We don't have enough spaces for cars."

Across the country, congregations large and small are struggling to pay off debt:

_Reliance Trust, an Atlanta company that is trustee for nearly three-quarters of the church bonds in the U.S., has seen "some increases in delinquencies," said spokesman Tony Greene, though he would not elaborate.

Among its clients is Temple Beth Haverim in Agoura Hills, Calif., which sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last July and owes the company more than $7 million, Reliance said in court documents. The property is estimated to be worth less than what the synagogue owes.

_Strongtower Financial, an arm of the California Baptist Foundation, said in a prospectus that 10 percent of its $119 million in outstanding loans were in default as of March 31, 2008, its most recent required reporting date. Chet Reid, Strongtower's president, said the specifics were private, but the company had only one foreclosure in the last decade — in 2006.

_The Evangelical Christian Credit Union, a major church lender with more than $700 million in loans last year, moved to foreclose on seven of its 1,100 loans in 2008, said Mark Johnson, the company's executive vice president. The company has had "a noticeable increase" in late payments, and two more foreclosures are expected this year, he said. By contrast, the Brea, Calif., company said it had no other foreclosures until 2007, when there were two.

These problems may seem minor compared to the epidemic of foreclosures on private homes. But church mortgages have always been considered one of the more solid investments, with lenders often boasting of only one or two foreclosures over a billion dollars in loans.

Even in bad economic times, people still go to church, which helps shield congregations from downturns, lenders say. Churches also have more flexibility than some other borrowers in cutting expenses. They can end charitable programs or trim staff and still stay open for business.

"You can certainly make a bad church loan if you try hard enough," said Dan Mikes, who leads the church banking group of Bank of the West, a major lender. "But if you're careful and you don't overlend, and you're cautious in the way you underwrite, you're fine."

However, the recent boom years brought changes that made the industry more vulnerable.

Firms looking for new lending opportunities in a time of easy credit entered the industry, and competition escalated. The size and number of church loans skyrocketed, with several companies reporting double-digit annual growth rates before the bust.

Some lenders even got into the business of securitizing church loans, combining them as an investment in the way banks did with home mortgages. In 2006, Strongtower Financial, based in Fresno, securitized church bonds for the first time, with a $56.3 million offering.

Roland Leavell, president of Rives, Leavell & Co., a church bond broker in Jackson, Miss., said that firms specializing in church financing often aped their commercial loan counterparts, lending too much money without a thorough check of what their clients could afford.

"The starting point was the commercial banks," Leavell said. "When somebody on one side of the business gets moving fast and loose, it makes every body else move fast and loose."

Johnson, of the Evangelical Christian Credit Union, insists that his company upheld its strict underwriting standards throughout the flush years when the firm was growing at an average rate of more than 20 percent annually. He said the economy alone is behind the recent troubles.

"Our history would say that we had done a really good job," evaluating clients, he said. "It has become very visible to everybody today that the recession hit 18 months ago. The foreclosures we've seen have coincided with that."

But foreclosure and bankruptcy records paint a more complex picture of some of the company's failed clients — and raise questions about whether the pressure for profit altered the industry's normally ultra-cautious approach.

Among the company's foreclosed-upon clients is Juanita Bynum, a former hairdresser and popular Pentecostal preacher. In 2006, she got a loan from the evangelical lender to buy a $4.5 million lakeview property in Waycross, Ga. She planned to use it for her ministry headquarters and to open a spa for beauty treatments and spiritual guidance.

But she never paid her property taxes on time and ended up owing tens of thousands of dollars, said Steve Barnard, the Ware County tax assessor, who threatened to auction off the land over the debt. The credit union paid Bynum's outstanding tax bill before foreclosing on her land last December, when Ware said the property value had dropped to only about $2.5 million.

Another church with shaky finances and a big debt: the Shiloh Institutional Church of God in Christ in Fort Worth, Texas.

The congregation began floundering soon after Shiloh's prominent pastor, Sherman Allen, was publicly accused of molesting women and beating them with a paddle. The accusers said that Allen's superiors in his Pentecostal denomination — the Church of God in Christ — had evidence of the allegations for years and did nothing to stop him. Allen has denied any wrongdoing.

Meanwhile, lawyers for the credit union that holds the church's mortgage found another scandal — this one involving money. In court documents, the attorneys said the church could not explain how it spent $100,000 in income in 2006, that a $30,000 anniversary bonus paid to Allen in 2007 "is potentially a fraudulent transfer," and that the church couldn't provide financial statements from a certified public accountant for 2005 and 2006.

The church filed for bankruptcy in February 2007; the Evangelical Christian Credit Union says Shiloh owes it nearly $3.8 million on a 2005 loan, and sought to foreclose.

As in the residential mortgage industry, tight credit has had a chilling effect on loans to houses of worship. Reid, the head of Strongtower, said his company is doing less lending, but he would not discuss specifics. Johnson, of the Evangelical Christian Credit Union, said the company isn't making loans to new clients.

"We're struggling to do a good thing for our community," Hicks said. "Hopefully, we'll get past this impasse and move forward."