Sour Note

Joe Krohn--member of Doebler's WELS Rock N Roll Church in Round Rock, Texas, and former member of Gunn's CrossWalk in Phoenix, Arizona--has euthanized his latest blog.

http://www.lutherrocks.blogspot.com had one basic message - Boycott Ichabod, The Glory Has Departed.

Nevertheless, Joe was a daily communicant at this blog. He chose a bust of Beethoven as his icon on the followers list.

He copied my use of Feedjit, so I looked at his numbers before erasing my tracks. He was lucky to get one reader a day.

Likewise, the Rock N Roll Church is fading. To boost attendance, they canned Joe as Rock-Meister.

He is no longer a follower on the fake blog or Bailing Water. Nevertheless, there must be room for another camp follower on Paul McCain's blog. Paul likes UOJ, Church Growth, and unionism just as much as Dom Perignon Patterson.

Mid-Week Lenten Service, Because We Are Not an Emerging Church, 7 PM Central

The Lost Sheep, 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

The Hymn #552 Abide with Me 2:11
The Order of Vespers p. 41
The Psalmody Psalm 2 p. 123
The Lection The Passion History

The Sermon Hymn #436 The Lord's My Shepherd 1:33

The Sermon – God's Dominant Love

The Prayers
The Lord’s Prayer
The Collect for Grace p. 45

The Hymn #281 The Savior Calls 1:29


KJV John 13:1 Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.

The Gospel of John is often called the Gospel of love, because the word is found there so often.

The word is over-used in our time, often applied to everything. We love this and that, we love, love, love this and that.

John’s Gospel describes God’s love and contrasts that with man’s hatred for the truth and rejection of Christ.

KJV John 15:18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.

KJV 1 John 3:13 Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.

And yet –

KJV John 3:16 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.

This is an important contrast, because all the false religions of the world make man pleasing to God by his sacrifices, works, and endless prayers.

John’s Gospel teaches us that God loved the entire world so much that He gave His only-begotten Son. God’s love is prior and it dominates.

The Passion of Christ contrasts the steadfastness of Christ with the fickle and fearful nature of the disciples. That is where this verse is so important. Exposing the massive flaws and weaknesses of the disciples, the Gospel says, nevertheless,

John 13:1 Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.

Jesus did not stop loving His disciples when they were fearful at the time of His arrest. One follower, thought to be Mark, ran away. A soldier caught his cloak, and he ran away naked.

KJV Mark 14:51 And there followed him a certain young man, having a linen cloth cast about his naked body; and the young men laid hold on him: 52 And he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked.

Peter mistakenly drew out a sword and sliced off the ear of one man.

KJV John 18:10 Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest's servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus.

Only John was at the crucifixion, which had been foretold three times.

After the crucifixion, the disciples were so afraid that they locked themselves in a room.

Still later, they were fishing, not for men, but for fish.

The disciples present a cross-section of our weaknesses and failures. The lesson teaches us that throughout His greatest trial, Jesus still loved His followers. They were His sheep. They belong to Him, so He protected them.

We have herding dogs, and they show the same concern. They understand sickness and pay special attention to the patient. Sassy sleeps with front paws on one of her sheep and her remaining back leg hooked on another. Their tender concern is a shadow of Christ’s work as the Good Shepherd:

KJV John 10:11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. 12 But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. 13 The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. 15 As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.

KJV Matthew 26:31 Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.

KJV Mark 6:34 And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things.

This is an important lesson – that God loves us to the end.

KJV 1 John 4:19 We love him, because he first loved us.

God’s dominant love is taught to us by the Holy Spirit in the Gospel. That creates faith and sustains our faith in trying times. When we fall as sinners, which must happen because of our nature, God continues to love us. The Gospel is proof of that love and it is not withdrawn because of our sinful nature.

As Luther said, we should not use the Gospel as a pillow to fall asleep on. So many take forgiveness for granted, so much that they “sin more that grace may abound.” That is a reversal of the message of the cross, which is – All sins have been redeemed on the cross.

It is this forgiveness that gives us the power to withstand temptation and turn away from sin. And yet, the more we are forgiven, the more we experience our need for forgiveness.

In the cold spells that hit Arkansas and every other part of the sunbelt, I thought of Luther’s comparison of God’s love to a furnace. On bitterly cold days, we could feel the chill seeping through the walls and windows, the feeble heat pump unable to keep up. Lighting up the fireplace, I could feel its radiant heat across the room. Luther called God’s love a baking hot oven that we can feel. In fact, we cannot help feeling it.

“Having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end.”

WELS Men of Honor

rhs (http://rhs.myopenid.com) has left a new comment on your post "How Elton Stroh Got His Groovey Job Back": Whatever happened to integrity and men of honor in the synods?

Mugshot

McCain's Bad Grammar and Worse Theology

Paul McCain, UOJ BloggerFrom Paul McCain, MDiv, former pastor (one parish for three years):

I have, over the years, conversed with many Calvinists, in person and over the Internet. I always ask them, “Do you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are among God’s elect and are saved?” There are generally two reactions to that question: (1) A long and rather painful pause after which they say, “I hope I am. I do believe in Christ.” or (2) A quick, “Yes, I believe in Christ.” Now, let’s be honest here and admit that many Lutherans would answer in somewhat the same way. But here is the problem.

If our feelings of certainty in our salvation is (sic) based on our feeling that we have faith, we will flounder. The answer we must always give to the question of “Do you know you are saved?” is not, “Yes, because I have faith” but rather, “Yes, because Christ Jesus died for me” and of course, in my opinion, the very best answer of all is simply to point people to Luther’s explanation of the Creed and say, “Here, this puts it very well.”

Point yourself, and others, not to faith, not to subjective feelings that there is faith in your heart, but always, always, always, point people to Christ and what He has done for you and the whole world. Do not confused (sic) faith in faith, with trust in Christ. There is a key difference.

We are Christians, not Faith-ians.

***

GJ - The UOJ Stormtroopers are getting increasingly touchy. Recently a branch of the Preus clan began denouncing those who "deny UOJ." So I asked, "Like Robert Preus?" That set off a longer rant, especially since I provided written proof, from Justification and Rome.

In the epic piece of balderdash copied above, Paul McCain has shown how little he understands Calvinism or Lutheran doctrine.

UOJ fanatics like to lead by attacking faith, using their weak little straw man arguments. They remind me of the ALC/LCA leaders who likewise said, "The Bible is not a book that fell from heaven," as if someone claimed that.

Paul, whose rudeness has been displayed publicly on Facebook, sounds just like Bucky Hellwig in this piece. It is no wonder I got them confused once, when Bucky was posting anonymously on LutherQuest (sic).

UOJ goes together with Enthusiasm, Church Growth, and Receptionism because they are all flavors of separating the Holy Spirit from the Word, grace from the Means of Grace.

If Paul had taken the time to engage in the scholarly study of comparative dogmatics, instead of packing his bags for the Purple Palace, he might have learned how to do more than preach to the double-justification choir.

The formula, left unspoken in his diatribe, is thus:

1. God absolved the whole world of sin, without the Word, without the Means of Grace, without faith, at the crucifixion or at the resurrection, the Moment of Absolution still being debated. That is General, Objective, or Universal, or Universal Objective Justification.

2. Everyone has to make a decision to believe in UOJ, but they are justified already (Part 1). They need Part 2 for Part 1 to be really, really effective, even though it is already really effective. Part 2 is called Subjective Justification.

This formula first appeared, in the fulness of time, in a very influential, prolixic, boring, confusing book by the Halle Pietist George Christian Knapp. It appeared in German and English, years before Walther placed his predestined and predestinating feet on the shores of the Mississippi. This book remained a primary theology book for all Protestants for most of the 19th century.

A variation on this theme of Universalism has been the mantra of the LCA and ALC moderns: God has already forgiven everyone.

This has been explained many times before, but I will repeat the quotations found on the lower part of this blog. They represent Lutheran doctrine rather than the Enthusiasm McCain endorses so smoothly:

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

"They [the false teachers] fared like a man who looks through a colored glass. Put before such a man whatever color you please, he sees no other color than that of the glass. The fault is not that the right color is not put before him but that his glass is colored differently, as the word of Is. 6:9 puts it: You will see, he says, and yet you will not see it."What Luther Says, An Anthology, 3 vols., ed., Ewald Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, II, p. 644.

"To this incline your ears, and be persuaded that God speaks through men and forgives you your sins; this, of course, requires faith."Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed. John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, II, p. 200.From Thy Strong Word:J-520

"It is a faithful saying that Christ has accomplished everything, has removed sin and overcome every enemy, so that through Him we are lords over all things. But the treasure lies yet in one pile; it is not yet distributed nor invested. Consequently, if we are to possess it, the Holy Spirit must come and teach our hearts to believe and say: I, too, am one of those who are to have this treasure. When we feel that God has thus helped us and given the treasure to us, everything goes well, and it cannot be otherwise than that man's heart rejoices in God and lifts itself up, saying: Dear Father, if it is Thy will to show toward me such great love and faithfulness, which I cannot fully fathom, then will I also love Thee with all my heart and be joyful, and cheerfully do what pleases Thee. Thus, the heart does not now look at God with evil eyes, does not imagine He will cast us into hell, as it did before the Holy Spirit came...." Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p. 279. Pentecost Sunday. John 14:23-31.J-528

"Faith is that my whole heart takes to itself this treasure. It is not my doing, not my presenting or giving, not my work or preparation, but that a heart comforts itself, and is perfectly confident with respect to this, namely, that God makes a present and gift to us, and not we to Him, that He sheds upon us every treasure of grace in Christ." Apology of the Augsburg Confession, IV. #48. Of Justification. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 135. Heiser, p. 36.J-545

"These treasures are offered us by the Holy Ghost in the promise of the holy Gospel; and faith alone is the only means by which we lay hold upon, accept, and apply, and appropriate them to ourselves. This faith is a gift of God, by which we truly learn to know Christ, our Redeemer, in the Word of the Gospel, and trust in Him, that for the sake of His obedience alone we have the forgiveness of sins by grace, are regarded as godly and righteous by God the Father, and are eternally saved." Formula of Concord, Thorough Declaration, III. #10. Of the Righteousness of Faith before God. Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 919. Tappert, p. 541. Heiser, p. 250.J-590

"For neither you nor I could ever know anything of Christ, or believe on Him, and obtain Him for our Lord, unless it were offered to us and granted to our hearts by the Holy Ghost through the preaching of the Gospel. The work is done and accomplished; for Christ has acquired and gained the treasure for us by His suffering, death, resurrection, etc. But if the work remained concealed so that no one knew of it, then it would be in vain and lost. That this treasure, therefore, might not lie buried, but be appropriated and enjoyed, God has caused the Word to go forth and be proclaimed, in which He gives the Holy Ghost to bring this treasure home and appropriate it to us. Therefore sanctifying is nothing else than bringing us to Christ to receive this good, to which we could not attain ourselves."The Large Catechism, The Creed, Article III, #38, Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 689. Tappert, p. 415. Heiser, p. 194.

***

GJ - I do not see Luther as an enemy of faith, since the Reformer shows how the Holy Spirit works through the Word to create and sustain faith. This faith trusts the Gospel Promises. That is why Luther taught justification by faith in harmony with the Scriptures.

Knapp

PS -

Jay Webber, in the ELS, went to Ft. Wayne at the same time as McCain. Robert Preus was deep into UOJ and CG at that time. Jay still defends UOJ too.

On LQ, the FW guys said the same things McCain just did. They have their Calvinist quip, their "faith in faith" quip, and a couple of other repeat-after-me sayings they memorized.

They never come to grips with the efficacy of the Word, the Means of Grace, or the classic passages in the Book of Concord about justification by faith.

Worst of all, they cannot address Robert Preus' own words in Justification and Rome.

How Elton Stroh Got His Groovey Job Back

From the WELS Grapevine:

SP Schroeder met with WELS Kingdom Workers and asked them not to rebuild the Kingdom Workers and start a new version of Perish Assistants.

WKW defied the Synod President (and the recent convention) as a direct and deliberate attack.

That is the heart and soul of false doctrine embedded in the Wisconsin Synod.

Just as Church and Change turned into a second Love Shack, to pull off stunts staffers could not get away with in public, Kingdom Workers is using its cover to revive what should have been killed years ago.

Members and clergy can do what they have always done - nothing. Meanwhile, Church and Change is well-organized, funded with WELS money, and secretive in all its communications. The failed ex-SP Gurgle and his Sausage Factory brother are both in Church and Change. Dom Perignon Patterson, who denies being a Chicanery leader, attended the last Chicanery convention.

The Word of God has not been tried and found wanting. In WELS, it has hardly been tried at all.

Synodical Money Laundering

The proposed Kingdom Workers hiring of Elton Stroh is a great illustration of synodical money laundering.

I learned from studying the Lutheran Church in America budgets how this was done.

If a program was loathsome to the congregations, the LCA hid it completely. Funding the odious National Council of Churches was listed in one national budget brochure and papered over in the next, grouped under "Reaching Out with the Gospel." The NCC could be funded in wide variety of ways, with incremental grants: LCA budget, women's group budget, and World Hunger Appeal budget. But the buck does not stop there. Money was switched back and forth so many times that the plebians never knew how much the NCC received from the original pile of donations. Naturally, it was none of their business where the insurance companies' gifts were going.

Likewise, the Schwan Foundation gives to the LCMS, the Little Sect on the Prairie, and the Wisconsin Synod. The figures are available because tax-exempt foundations have to report their income and expenses. All three synods get Marvin Money in various categories, so that can be switched around too. They also have women's groups with money, separate mission entities, etc.

Elton Stroh and Paul Calvin Kelm were cut out of the synod budget but popped up later with invented positions provided by their Church Growth buddies. The lilliputian Wisconsin Lutheran College had a felt-need for two chaplains at once.

WELS Kingdom Workers felt a sudden need to increase staff and hire Stroh as "an administrator." Do not worry - the best friend of Church Growth in WELS--James Huebner--will make sure everything is on the up and up. After all, WELS paid for Olson, Huebner, and Kelm to study Church Growthism at Fuller Seminary. They sold their expertise (same template, literally) in various WELS congregations.

Synodical money laundering benefits the in-crowd, which is exclusively Reformed, as many verbatim quotations have already proven. The real crime is the enabling of this generational theft by the silence of the lambs, the meek pastors who hope a few crumbs drop from the banquet table.

Read the article below on the economy. There is a lot more recession to experience, and no one is facing the truth.

An Economic Forecast

From a Reagan advisor.

Here is the article.

As bad as the problems are, I think we can overcome them. However, we have to face the truth about Cuban health care, unfunded mandates from Congress, oppressive taxes, and the Nanny State. I am not sure if Boomers are up to it.

PS - Yale Divinty revealed that this is the worst economy their graduates have faced since the Great Depression. Most of the graduates and faculty voted for Obama.

I was worried about mentioning an accredited school to the WELS Pietists, but I remembered John Brug spent a session at Yale. Here are some possible reasons why Brug will not be denounced on the fake blog:

1. Brug was at Yale but he did not get a degree.
   
2. He teaches at the Sausage Factory so he is de jure immaculate.
   
3. He was born WELS, and nothing else counts.

Stroh and Kelm - It Is All about the Money - Always Was

A foundation built of straw - Elton Stroh.

The following paragraph is from a WELS Kingdom Worker letter dated "February 2010" which was received today.

"Another historic development in 2010 will be the consideration of a new WKW program, The Center for Parish Renewal. If adopted, a call will be extended to Rev. Elton Stroh [Fuller alum, Church Growth] to serve as an administrator. WKW will be working with the WELS Conference of Presidents' Parish Assistance committee chaired by First Vice President Jim Huebner [Fuller alum, Church Growth] to assure complementary non-duplicating resources are available to congregations. Designated gifts to support this new program may be sent to WKW apart from mission project gifts."

WKW is going to grow by one staff member. Interesting when one considers the same letter also included the following:

"Due to the current economy and financial losses suffered by the Schwan Foundation, matching funds for national [WKW] projects will not be available in 2010. The generosity of the Foundation still provides for the operation of WKW. In 2009 WKW full-time staff salaries were reduced by 20%. Salaries are restored in 2010."

***

GJ - The WELS convention eviscerated Perish Services. Stroh and Kelm [Fuller alum, Church Growth] became unemployed at the end of December. Doubtless they got a few months of severance pay. They already have their new jobs lined up.

Remember when someone heatedly denied that Kelm and Stroh hit up Kingdom Workers for money?

What do the three men named here have in common? - Fuller alumni, Church Growth.

I am sure the ELS/WELS boards of doctrine will jump on this like hobos on a hot-dog.

No, not to thwart it - to support it.

PS - I heard that WELS started to grow for a few weeks, while Kelm and Stroh were unemployed.

Standing Tall in 1918

This photo was taken in 1918.

It shows 18,000 men preparing for war in a training camp at Camp Dodge, Iowa .

From the Anything Goes District of WELS

From an emailing sent by The CORE:

"Satan's Sex Ed"

April 11th - May 2nd

"30 Days to Live"

May 9th - May 30th.

"Bloodlines"

starts February 28th and runs through Lent. Martin Luther once said, "Blood alone moves the wheels of history." Join us as we look at the Bloodlines that flow into and out of the cross.


If you suffer, thank God! It is a sure sign that you are alive.

-Elbert Hubbard

***

GJ - The question is: How many items were copied from false teachers?

Paul Calvin Kelm was promoted for teaching FUEL, but that was dropped. Out of gas?

The CORE also promoted The Living Last Supper on their website, urging people to attend this event.

Someone wrote:

"Remarkable that WELS still has them on the roster. They're also recommending a Live Last Supper performance on The CORE's website. Brief research shows that it's put on by an ecumenical group pulling in performers from Catholic schools etc. During the performance there's an opportunity in the play to have the performers distribute Communion to those attending. Would be interesting to know if they will do so and if the Core will participate. Kinda wishing I lived closer to Appleton so I could witness some of this stuff first hand. Like watching a dead gold fish circle the bowl as a kid."

***

GJ - That comment above is so far off. WELS would ban The CORE only if they recommended reading the Confessions, studying Luther, and sending kitteh art to Ichabod.

---

Brett Meyer has left a new comment on your post "From the Anything Goes District of WELS":

Opportunity to receive Communion from 12 actors?
http://community.ucc.org/forums/Topic4193800-1922-1.aspx?cons_id=&ts=1266894184&signature=c01522c2359d8e06a046db82d9f6104c

http://choralmusic.com/livinglastsupper.htm

Opportunity to receive Communion with members of the Catholic church? This invitation is to the same presentation The Core will be attending.
http://www.holyspiritknights.org/School/Calendars/wf122309.pdf

***

GJ - As long as the Roman Catholics serving communion are not women. Oh wait, I forgot. That is OK in WELS, commended in WELS. There is just a moratorium on women priests in WELS, until people are mature enough to accept it.

Reformed and Lutheran - No Concord There

Calvin denied the efficacy of the Word, too.

Joseph Schmidt has a great post on his blog.

Lutheran doctrine is not compatible with Reformed doctrine - the Reformed know this and the Lutherans do not.

The "conservative" Lutherans do not acknowledge that all their great insights are directly from the Reformed, except for those turncoats who have found greener pastures in Rome or Constantinople. Confidential to the ultra high-church Smells and Bells faction - Reformed sanctification is very much like Catholic/EO sanctification.

True - some recent insights are from such geniuses as Peter Drucker. He revolutionized business management in America. We would really be in trouble without Drucker's Management By Objective, eh?

We could be in a major recession.

Demotivator

Invocavit - The First Sunday in Lent

By Norma Boeckler

Invocavit Sunday, The First Sunday in Lent


Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

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

Bethany Lutheran Church, 10 AM Central Time


The Hymn #148 Lord Jesus Christ 3:61
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
The Gospel
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn # 146 Lamb of God 3:62


Doing and Believing – The Difference

The Hymn # 153 Stricken Smitten 3:63
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 # 154 Alas and Did My Savior 3:14

KJV 2 Corinthians 6:1 We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. 2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) 3 Giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed: 4 But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, 5 In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings; 6 By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, 7 By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, 8 By honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true; 9 As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; 10 As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.

KJV Matthew 4:1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. 2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. 3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. 4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. 5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, 6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. 8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. 10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 11 Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

First Sunday In Lent
Lord God, heavenly Father, inasmuch as the adversary doth continually afflict us, and as a roaring lion doth walk about, seeking to devour us: We beseech Thee for the sake of the suffering and death of Thy Son, Jesus Christ, to help us by the grace of the Holy Spirit, and to strengthen our hearts by Thy word, that our enemy may not prevail over us, but that we may evermore abide in Thy grace, and be preserved unto everlasting life; 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.

Doing and Believing – The Difference
The three-fold temptation of Jesus shows Him to be truly man, subject to all our trials, and true God, having the will and power to withstand all temptation without sinning.

Jesus’ trials began immediately after He was baptized by John in the river Jordan.

This is a parallel to the life of the ordinary Christian believer. Our temptations begin after God has planted faith in our hearts. As one person told me, “I was never tempted before I became a Christian. I did whatever I wanted.”

Jesus fasted in the desert and Satan sought to capture Him. As Luther saw so clearly, Satan pursued the Chosen People from the moment God predicted that Someone would arise who would crush Satan’s head (Genesis 3:15). The prophet foretold that this would not happen until a non-Jew was on the throne of David.

By that time, as Luther said, nothing was left of Israel except a stump. It was occupied territory, ruled by pagans, taxed to death, humiliated in every possible way.

The Savior was revealed at the Baptism of Jesus and Satan went to work, returning later at His crucifixion, the final act of Satan’s drama.

First Temptation
During the temptation of Jesus, Satan made three different offers. The first one was to have Jesus prove His divinity by changing stones into bread. During a fast in the desert, every round stone would look tempting. The same temptations are offered today – take care of yourself. Many feel triumphant when they do that. From clergy to well known frauds, there is a great deal of smugness in getting away with it and reminding others of the successful strategies of greed, malice, and trickery.

Jesus responded with the Word,

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

This is a statement which includes a direct reference to Isaiah 55:

KJV Isaiah 55:11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

This is a great reminder that the Word, going out from God (since it belongs to Him alone) is our life – we live by it – and the sole cause for accomplishing God’s will.

I see books about Bernie Madoff in the bookstores. For many years, people knew he was crooked. Yet they gathered billions of dollars from investors, promising them impossible investment returns, and lived high and mighty. When the schemes came crashing down, as they had to, the same money men were filled with despair and some gave up their lives. They lived on falsehoods and died in shame, turning stones into bread but realizing at last they were just stones after all.

Every generation has its fraudulent churches, which glory in their material success. Visit any urban area and you will see these monuments, neo-gothic splendors maintained with endowments and almost empty. They have lost their grip of God’s Word and comfort themselves with spending the interest from their funds. A lot of money must be spent to tuck-point the brickwork, clean the curtains, and send the clergy to more conferences.

On an individual basis, many have gone into an easy form of crime to turn their life of want into luxury, only to discover that this led them to the hoosegow. There are always those temporary lulls where all the schemes seem to be working. One coke dealer (and I do not mean soda pop) took every precaution, even to the point of avoiding areas where he could be hurt or arrested. Nevertheless, while sunning himself on the beach, he saw men with sub-machine guns descending from ladders on helicopters, all running toward him at once. They were federal agents who were drawn to his cause by his very success in getting away with it.

Jesus was asked to trust in His own devices, and He had the power to do so. But He quoted God’s Word instead. When we think we can solve our own difficulties, with our own cleverness, we are saying, “I trust in me, but not in God’s Word.”

Second Temptation
In the second temptation, Satan urged Jesus to throw himself from the highest point of the Temple, so that angels would take care of Him, as promised in the Word.

7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

Tempting God has become a major trend among American churches. For instance, I saw this notice in an Episcopalian church and similar ones published all over: “We have prayed that God will increase our membership by 10% per year in the next three years.” There are many variations on that, but they all concern man telling God what to do and when to do it, combined with some sort of deal about what man will do, such as organizing and spending to make this happen. It is a business plan for churches and it has not worked for most of them. The one with the earliest success, Garden Grove (Schuller’s) is floundering and failing, trying to sell off assets to survive. Schuller claimed, “I started the Church Growth Movement.”

On an individual basis, people tempt God by demanding He take action according to their dictates and time schedules. This is also tempting God, putting Him on trial. “I will believe in you if You obey me.” If God obeyed man, He would not be God. Many pagan religions are based upon deals with idols. Feed the idol incense or human sacrifice and he will perform miracles.

Herman Melville, the free-thinker, made fun of this in Moby Dick. These false teachers do not appreciate how much they feed the fires of atheism until they become part of that everlasting furnace themselves. In the name of salvation, they pull others down with themselves.

Third Temptation
Satan took Jesus to the highest mountain, so He could see the vast power He would have if He only bowed down to worship Satan. Jesus responded with the Word:

10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

In one course I teach, we look at Billy Graham versus his partner in the Evangelical Church, Templeton. As I mentioned before, Templeton went from being the most influential minister in Toronto to being an outright atheist. I was interested in Templeton’s version of all this. He was dazzled by the intellectuals at Princeton, and he felt that Christianity had to conform itself to the rationalistic demands of the world. He never got over his anger than Graham failed to go through the same brain-washing.

If Templeton had searched among faithful teachers, he would have realized that rationalism is the final step of Calvinism. Princeton broke with the old ways, so the conservatives marched off. All of Templeton’s questions could have been addressed by the great scholars of the Lutheran Church – Chemntiz, Chytraeus, Luther. Instead he was fed mush and he found it distasteful.

One of the Fuller boys had to have a Princeton degree too – C. Peter Wagner. That did not make him any better either. Lutherans have failed to create their own universities. Instead they have parochial schools and long for the prestige of old, large apostate universities.

The cross individuals must bear is the disapproval of the world, which is always eager to witness to its lack of faith. The fallen-away are the worst of these.

Conclusion from Temptations
There is a crucial difference between Biblical Christianity and Pietism/Romanism/Eastern Orthodox.

Most people follow the wrong path and define Christianity by issues of doing, not believing.

When Evangelicals and Catholics talk, they give this away by describing their lives by what they do.
An Evangelical will talk about not watching TV or the movies, about avoiding the wrong kinds of dress. Christianity is bound up with the act of praying.

A Roman Catholic will speak about Mass, the peak being daily Mass.

So the ultimate criticism of Christianity, people imagine, is “How can you do that if you call yourself a Christian?” Manipulation is easy, “How can you NOT help out if you call yourself a Christian?”

A definition based on doing will always lead to Pietism and then to rationalism, because we should all do good things together, no matter what we believe – they say. Thus the Word of God is obsolete.

In contrast, Jesus’ answers were all directly connected with believing the Word of God.

Christians are not condemned for being sinners, because all of us remain in that state.

Believing in the Word of God means we can fight against temptation with the Word rather than our dubious virtue. We are weak and frail, bound to fall many times over. We may suffer the same temptation for decades and continue to battle it. The Gospel of forgiveness is the only power that can defeat sin, first through justification by faith, secondly with the fruits of the Spirit.

John Bunyan was a perfect example. He was the most obnoxious cursing and blaspheming man in the area. The Gospel tamed him and he became a local wonder, an example of the power of the Word. He immersed himself in Luther and taught the difference between Law and Gospel.

Obedient Slaves No More - New Lutheran Congregations

"Another once-in-a-lifetime giving opportunity? Yes, sir!"

Many new congregations have been formed as they leave ELCA's Lavender Mafia in search of the straight and narrow.

Here are some.

Many have withdrawn from ELCA, their property intact:

Here is a list.

They have taken far too long to wake up to ELCA's agenda, which was clear enough during its formation in 1987.

The "conservative" Lutheran denominations will need to be something other than another version of ELCA if they want to last longer than a metropolitan newspaper.

Missouri, WELS, and the ELS have followed the same business model as ELCA, always a few years behind the cutting edge, thanks to the de facto merger created by Thrivent funding and joint efforts at various levels.

The exodus and new congregations show that people can be fooled for a period of time before they bolt, but they will respond eventually.

The best thing the Boomer clergy can do is retire, so they stop ruining the "conservative" Lutheran groups. But they won't because their greed knows no end. After exploiting all their opportunities to live off synod subsidies, grants, and related foundations, the same clergy want semi-retirement sinecures as well.

The Reformation model is to study and discuss Biblical doctrine and let the Sword of the Spirit do its work. That will not be attempted by those who trust their political skills, their DNA, and the protection of their apostate classmates.

Kelm, Upside Down Theologian - Home for Sale

"Upside-down evangelism follows the path of least resistance to the God of gracious acceptance."
Paul Kelm,
The Evangelism Life Line (WELS), Fall, 1985 p. 5.

"It's just easier for many people to work backwards from the subjective to the objective in their thinking. In fact, upside-down evangelism may start with gospel and work back to law, stating the solution as a prelude to the problem and clarifying both at the cross." [This is Moravian Pietism, as shown by Walther's Law and Gospel.]
Paul Kelm,
The Evangelism Life Line (WELS), Fall, 1985 p. 5.

"Upside-down evangelism doesn't begin with personal sin and guilt, but rather with the consequences of sin. Societal consequences (for which each day's newspaper provides evidence) are the 'perceived need' door to understanding the alienation of life and people from God."
Paul Kelm,
The Evangelism Life Line (WELS), Fall, 1985 p. 5.

"Upside-down evangelism may begin with different diagnostic questions. What do you want out of life? lets the other person pick the path for witness. How do you feel about where our society is heading? uncovers fears and needs without becoming too personal. What makes people happy (or unhappy) do you think? allows someone to express preceived [sic] needs in the third person."
Paul Kelm,
The Evangelism Life Line (WELS), Fall, 1985 p. 5.

"Evangelism upside-down is starting with the subjective issues of perceived reality and working back to God's objective truths of ultimate reality - sin and grace. It's offering the attendant blessings of salvation as the 'hook' to gain an audience for God's plan of salvation." [felt needs used to sell the Gospel]
Paul Kelm,
The Evangelism Life Line (WELS), Fall, 1985 p. 4.

***

GJ - Someone asked recently, "How can WELS avoid ending up like the Episcopal Church?" The answer is in the Word and the Confessions.

To paraphrase Chesterton, it's not that the Word has been tried and found wanting. It has hardly been tried at all.

The only discipline in WELS is upside-down discipline. Confessional Lutherans are punished while apostates are rewarded with cushy jobs.

WELS and LCMS Follow Mainline Trends - Here Is the Result

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA: Diocese in Crisis. Churches to Close. Unpaid Loans to Diocese
Average Sunday Attendance Down 19% since 2003

By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
2/13/2010

The Diocese of Northern California is in free fall. Churches are closing unable to pay their basic obligations putting the diocese itself on the brink of a financial crisis as a result.

In a letter to the diocese the Canon for Administration and Finance Bobbi Yeo, writes, "It should not come as a surprise to hear that some churches in the Diocese are struggling to maintain a full-time or even three-quarter time clergy or that some churches are having difficulty paying their basic obligations. In many cases it is loans from the Diocesan Endowment and Memorial Trust, group insurance premiums paid with Diocesan funds on behalf of churches, or Mission Apportionment that is left unpaid.

"Clergy and congregations are making heroic efforts to increase their membership and stewardship. In some instances these efforts have not resulted in the degree of success necessary to maintain sustainability. There are those who feel we are on the brink of a crisis which requires a response from the Office of the Bishop. This is because this is a crisis - not only for the congregation, but for all churches in the Diocese. We are strong when everyone is strong."

Yeo said that Bishop Barry Beisner has requested the formation of a Church Response Work Group made up of concerned Board and Council members along with staff to look at the situation.

"This group consists of folks with expertise in pastoral issues, property issues, law, administration, and finance. When certain markers are identified, such as arrearages in obligations to the Diocese, reductions in the clergy person's work week, or requests for special subsidies, a team will be appointed to make contact with the church and schedule a visit. The intent is to provide a holistic and integrative approach to identify core issues and assist the church in any reasonable way to address these issues effectively."

Yeo said the focus will be on the health of the Diocese as a whole.

"Years of deficit budgets have depleted Diocesan resources to the point where we simply can't continue to subsidize churches which appear unable to sustain themselves. After its latest meeting the group acknowledged that we don't necessarily know how this is going to work."

According to the most recent diocesan figures prepared by the national church, the diocese has 14,008 members, but average Sunday attendance was 5,694 in 2008. It is thought that a more realistic figure for 2010 would be closer to 5,000.

Obama as Teacher

Great Rivalries - Sermons versus Pep Talks

Here is the sermon message.

 Oy!

Rev. and Mrs. Benny Hinn - Where the Shrinkers Are Headed with their Emerging Church Franchise

She is divorcing him? Why? Is he crazier, more obnoxious? Let's check it out.

Do not worry one bit. The synodical officials are keeping an eye on all their missions. The doctrinal boards are working overtime, too.

Ha.

Call List Success

WELS disciplinary process:

1. Out of work missionaries cannot get a call.
2. Shrinkers get two at a time.

Click on this for sound effect.

Why Emerging Sects Do Not Have Lenten Services

Shrove Tuesday Service Tonight - 7 PMish Central

The Crucifixion 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

The Hymn #142 An Wasserfluessen Babylon
The Order of Vespers p. 41
The Psalmody Psalm 1 p. 123
The Lection The Passion History

The Sermon Hymn #347 Jesus meine Freude

The Sermon – The Passover Lamb

The Prayers
The Lord’s Prayer
The Collect for Grace p. 45

The Hymn #554 O Welt, ich muss


The Passion History begins with the preparations Jesus made for the Passover Meal. This shows us the unity of the Old and New Testaments.

That also illustrates the importance of God’s Word in the worship service. Some of us grew up in the Bible Belt, where people were diligent in learning as much of the Bible as possible, and always learning more.

One senior pastor told me that in Canada he barely got 10 people at a Bible study, in the largest Lutheran church in the country. In a similar church in Iowa, he routinely had 200 for the same class.

That seems to be an attitude which crosses denominational lines, because all the churches (except the Catholics) seemed to be like that in the Midwest. One reason it is not true in other parts of the country is the rationalistic, Reformed attitudes toward the Bible. Once it becomes “man’s book about God,” there is no great reason to study. We have enough textbooks already.

But where people want to know as much as possible about the Word of God, the phrases used in the liturgical service and creeds are a constant reminder of the Scriptural Promises. (In the Book of Concord, the Gospel is often interchanged with the phrase “the Promises of God.”)
For instance, when the benediction is said, that is God speaking directly to each person. Therefore, the benediction should be God’s Word, not man’s word.

Man’s word says “God loves you and so do I.” But why put that vague statement in place of the majestic Trinitarian blessing, one Lord three times:

1. The Lord bless you and keep you.
2. The Lord make His face to shine upon you.
3. The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.

When people want to fix up the worship service, they take away the historic liturgy, which is 100% God’s Word, and substitute man’s word.

The Medieval Church did that because they could frighten people into good works by threatening Purgatory and Hell, making Purgatory seem like a blessing in comparison. And of course, Purgatory requires even more good works to spring loved ones from that semi-Hell for the semi-saved.

The Reformed Church changed the historic liturgy because Zwingli did not believe in Holy Communion as a Sacrament. He actually had a nightmare before he instituted this change, where an angel spoke to him, “It is the Lord’s Passover.”

Another omen for him was the horde of people who attended the last Holy Communion service before he took it away and made it a symbolic, memorial meal that did not take away sins. Calvin simply continued along the same lines, although he was a better, more elegant writer in undermining God’s Word. However, he also mocked the Sacraments in the same way as Zwingli.

Passover Meal
The Passover Meal unites believers with the Exodus, and the Savior with the spotless lamb sacrificed to set free the People of God.

Therefore, when we read the stories of the Exodus, our own Holy Communion is tied up with those events. If that were not clear enough, Jesus spoke about these elements in the Gospel of John.

The Israelites ate the miraculous manna, the bread from heaven.

Jesus is the Bread from Heaven:

KJV John 6:30 They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work? 31 Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. 32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. 34 Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. 35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. 36 But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not.

Jesus is the water of life:

KJV John 4:13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: 14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. 15 The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. 16 Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. 17 The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: 18 For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly. 19 The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.

Jesus is the Lamb:

NKJ Exodus 12:21 Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, "Pick out and take lambs for yourselves according to your families, and kill the Passover lamb. 22 "And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning. 23 "For the LORD will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you. 24 "And you shall observe this thing as an ordinance for you and your sons forever.

KJV John 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

KJV Revelation 7:15 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. 16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. 17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

That is why Luther emphasized the truth, power, and authority of God’s Word, so that we never take away from it.

As soon as man begins to adulterate the Word to make it appealing (by his standards) he presents man’s word in the guise of God’s Word. This is all the more seductive because the two are blended together and offered in a spirit of making things better for everyone.

Saying that this adulteration is a blessing is Enthusiasm, pure and simple. Anyone who separates the work of the Holy Spirit from the Word is an Enthusiast. Our Confessions condemn Enthusiasm in no uncertain terms.

The opposite of Enthusiasm is faith in God’s Word. More faith is not virtue, it is greater trust. Faith in God’s Word means trusting it 100%, no 80% or 50%.

How To Become a Church Growth Guru in WELS and the ELS

The 19th century Shrinker Henry Ward Beecher
counseled many women at his church
and at their homes.

Here is the link for a most unpleasant story. Parental controls are recommended. The article says, "It's a felony." An Assemblies of God church let this particular felon use its building for "counseling."

WELS said, "We need that kind of guy as a Church Growth consultant!"

WELS said, "He must be returned to the pastorate to prey upon the flock."

The ELS said, "We need him to fund Thoughts of Faith."

And all the clergy and officials fell down before the Golden Calf and said, "Amen!"

Blogs and Websites To Follow Or Ignore

Bailing Water

Extra Nos

Faithful Service - ELCA Dissent

Lutheran Colportage - from Norman Teigen

Lutheran News Gathers Blogs and Websites

Norman Teigen's Original Blog

Rogue Lutheran - Dissenting from the LCMS Shrinkers

Sceleratissimus Lutheranus - The Most Villainous Lutheran. The title given to the great Lutheran theologian Martin Chemnitz by the Roman Catholics after he wrote his masterful work, The Examination of the Council of Trent.

The Finkelsteinery

What Sasse Said

Shifting Blog Gears

This is not Norman Teigen.
Norman thinks it looks like him, too.

I have posted enough to show where WELS and the Little Sect on the Prairie are going. I am going to shift away from current events to concentrate on Lutheran doctrine.

Pastors and laity can easily come to the conclusion that someone is doing their job for them. They can whisper among themselves about the latest scandals and reckon that something will be done, now that everyone knows.

I only see evidence that blood is thicker than doctrine in the old Synodical Conference.

Moreover, the love of money is the root of all evil.

Wealthy people like apostasy and support it lavishly. Witness The CORE blowing through $500,000 during a recession, cloning the worst of the Reformed sects and calling it outreach or transformation.

Consider the Arizona-California-Las Vegas District of WELS, applying absolutely no discipline to their non-WELS congregation, CrossWalk in Phoenix. Quite the contrary is true - Jeff Gunn has taken a place in leadership at Wisconsin Lutheran College, with two of his members. When I pointed that out, WLC stopped identifying the membership of its board by parish. In effect, WELS has rewarded Gunn for avoiding Holy Communion, denying his nominal Lutheran identity, and shunning Lutheran doctrine.

For dessert, WLC has added Paul Calvin Kelm to its staff, in spite of his lifelong devotion to Reformed doctrine. I should say - because of it.

The ELS is no different, clucking its frostbit tongue at the doctrinal shenanigans of WELS, while sporting their own Emerging Pietistic congregation.

The ELS and WELS save their wrath for anyone telling the truth, or even wondering about it. However, they delegate their hothead or pothead children to do their work for them. I don't mind - I consider it an honor. But it does show that they can all get angry, but always for the wrong reason.

In my opinion, all the Doctrinal Pussycats should be fired. But they were elected, and they would be replaced by more felines, who will say anything to get into office and do anything to stay in office. That is what the people want and they will pay dearly for it.

Confession and Liturgy - Sasse on Whoopee Worship

The Missouri Synod treated Herman Sasse like dirt.

Confession & Liturgy

Confession and liturgy belong inseparably together if the church is to be healthy. Liturgy is prayed dogma; dogma is the doctrinal content of the liturgy. The placement of liturgy above dogma, for which one hears calls in the liturgical movements of all confessions with the well-known saying "lex orandi lex credendi"..., has been opposed in the Roman Church by the present Pope Pius XII] in his encyclical "Mediator Dei", in which he points out that one can also turn this saying around and that in all circumstances dogma should be the norm for the liturgy. If that is already known in Rome, how much more should it be known in the church that makes...the right understanding of the Gospel also the criterion for the liturgy.

Sine Nomine

Were there too many collisions with the tackle dummy
or with the pizza parlor?

Extra Nos - On Justification

My research team at Ichabod is ever diligent.

Extra Nos is an interesting blog linked on the left (but not the far Left).

LP has been writing about justification. Click here for the latest.

I appreciate how laymen write about justification. They lack all the filters about:

1. Who will be offended among my relatives?
2. Which professors' toes are being stepped on?
3. Will I still get that coveted committee assignment and mileage allowance?
4. Which of the 10,000 unwritten rules are being violated?

Quinquagesima Sunday

The Lost Sheep, by Norma Boeckler

Qunquagesima Sunday

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

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

Bethany Lutheran Church, 10 AM Central Time


The Hymn #657 Beautiful Savior 4:24
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
The Gospel
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn # 364 How Sweet the Name 4:18

Treasure in Heaven

The Hymn # 304 An Awful Mystery 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 #198 He’s Risen 4:60


KJV Joel 2:12 Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: 13 And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. 14 Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your God? 15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: 16 Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. 17 Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God? 18 Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people. 19 Yea, the LORD will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen:

KJV Matthew 6:16 Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; 18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. 19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Quinquagesima Sunday
Lord God, heavenly Father, who didst manifest Thyself, with the Holy Ghost, in the fullness of grace at the baptism of Thy dear Son, and with Thy voice didst direct us to Him who hath borne our sins, that we might receive grace and the remission of sins: Keep us, we beseech Thee, in the true faith; and inasmuch as we have been baptized in accordance with Thy command, and the example of Thy dear Son, we pray Thee to strengthen our faith by Thy Holy Spirit, and lead us to everlasting life and salvation, through Thy beloved Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen,

Where Is Our Treasure?

Matthew 6: 19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

The Sermon on the Mount is full of concentrated wisdom from the Savior. Movies about Jesus often have Him delivering this message. In this Gospel lesson alone we have material for two different sermons or two different books.

These three verses speak about treasure. We used to dig in our yard for buried treasure. We dug anywhere we could for buried treasure. We were sure it had to be somewhere. It is part of the plot of Tom Sawyer and every pirate adventure.

Jesus gave us a brief and often-overlooked parable about treasure buried in a field:

KJV Matthew 13:44 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.

The origin of buried treasure was the lack of banks. If someone went on a journey or feared an enemy invasion, he buried his treasure in a field or under his home. For that reason, there were always stories of lost gold or suddenly found fortunes.

This passage is also overlooked, or read as if it said, “Lay up for yourselves treasures on earth.”

The reason why so many crimes are committed or false doctrine spread is money.

Crime – the professor who killed three colleagues and wounded others. She shot her brother twice with a shotgun, but her parents’ wealth got the charges dropped, the evidence erased, and an emotional time-bomb sent into academic life.

False doctrine – because it belongs to Satan’s realm, it is blessed by plenty of money. If not, the prosperity coming from the Gospel eventually attracts enough wealth to subvert the Gospel and endow evil. One of the most conservative churches in America became the one of the worst because endowments made it possible – Glide Memorial in San Francisco.

An advantage of seniority is having a perspective. A teaching colleague said to me, “I lost $280,000 from my pension fund, so I will keep teaching.” He was 71. I said, “It’s only money and teaching is fun.”

There have been many bubbles in the past. I once read a history of banking in America. The author loved the Federal Reserve and thought it was the answer to all our problems with bubbles. I read that while the real estate bubble was forming. Throughout history, fortunes have appeared and vanished. Whatever something is worth – that can change overnight. The biggest private estate deal in the world went sour because the Russian mobster who bought the estate ran out of money – and demanded his deposit back. The largest real estate deal in America, apartments in NYC, has become the biggest bust in history.

The definition of treasure is tied to the First Table of the Ten Commandments. If we worship material treasure, that will occupy our hearts and displace the treasure of the Gospel. Material treasure is short-lived. The Gospel treasures are eternal.

I gave away one of my favorite novels, where a dandy from Paris posed at the fireplace, looking down on his country cousins for being so plain and unfashionable. At that moment he was completely without funds, but he did not know it. At the same time, his prospective bride was on her way to becoming one of the richest people in the land, because her father was such a miser and left her everything. And yet the novel begins with the ruin of that entire estate, to show us that all the struggles about money ended up with no one left and the house empty. Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth.

Moby Dick has a hilarious passage where the misery ship owners bargain poor Ishmael down by quoting this passage, which is a pun in the book. A “lay” is a percentage of the cargo. Since whale hunting was like searching for gold, the rewards could be vast for the owners and those having a share or a lay. Ishmael got very little in the hiring contract, but that did not matter since the whale attacked the ship and all hands were lost – except for the narrator. They were debating over something that did not last, that did not even make it to a safe harbor.

Like Ishmael, Newton (author of Amazing Grace) was stranded at sea in a shipwreck, only that cargo allowed him to live. The barrels were so buoyant that they made great life preservers. Newton repented of his evil life, became a minister, and wrote famous hymns.

19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal.

This is a great summary of the transitory nature of wealth. Clothing can be very expensive. We see examples of that on TV, but vermin will destroy anything over time. Even carefully preserved articles of clothing will decay. If something valuable lasts, such as diamonds and gold, thieves steal it.

Luther’s dissertation on money was that it was a weak god. It is so weak that it must be protected with fences, locks, iron safes, and armed guards. Money is such a weak god that it cannot even cure an illness. One of our famous Lutherans, Steve Jobs, is turning into a skeleton as disease robs him of his health. All the money in the world cannot cure that.

20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

We should instead lay up our treasures in heaven, where nothing corrupts and thieves do not steal.

How do we do that?

First of all we place all our trust in the Word of God. The Gospel is repeatedly called a treasure in the Book of Concord, as Jesus clearly teaches in this lesson and the parable in Matthew 13. This treasure is so great that a man sold all he had to obtain the field with the treasure in it.

The comparison is clear. All that we have is less valuable than that place where the Promises of God, the real treasure can be found. The Word is far more precious than all our goods combined.

The Gospel is priceless because its power creates faith and pronounces us innocent, righteous, forgiven, through that faith. It is also priceless because this comes to us because of God’s grace and not because of our own worth.

Most clergy would say they agree with this passage, but they put money before the Gospel in all their decisions. They cannot afford the financial penalty of fighting against error, so they go silent, or worse – go out of their way to curry favor by undermining anyone who would sound the alarm.

The effect of silence or collusion is guaranteed – it hardens the heart. So in the name of the institution the Gospel is lost and the official proclaimers of the Gospel lose themselves in the process.

Shrinkers Out in the Cold

The Shrinkers in WELS and the Little Sect on the Prairie were doing well--for themselves--until the election turned things upside-down.

The Wisconsin Synod is starting to reflect its actual income instead the bubble economy. A recession was once defined by Margaret Thatcher as a time when socialists can no longer spend other people's money. Likewise, the WELS recession is a symptom of wild-hair spending coming to an abrupt halt.

The money spent hired new people at the Love Shack and sent people overseas, creating an artificial shortage of workers, remedied by the economy's body slam. Schwan's foundation took a major hit, with all other foundations. Thrivent was pinched. And there was no money left for Church Growth to steal.

WELS has only three states with significant membership - Wisconsin has half the members. Michigan and Minnesota have roughly 25% each. The rest of the states are marginal in numbers. Obviously, with Michigan hit hard, there is a flat tire on the tricycle.

Some are hopeful that Missouri will turn out the Quiche-niks and elect a new Synod President.

If the Wisconsin Synod and the ELS get serious about doctrine, they will have to address the errors of the last 50 years instead of playing the old Church Growth games. I cannot imagine them admitting to error, but a study of the Confessions may wake them up at last.

Pope John the Malefactor may not remain in office. Most confirmands know more theology than the ELS president, so that may have an effect on his inglorious reign. This is another case of admitting a mistake or pretending to be infallible. The ELS made the mistake in electing a walk-the-plank guy after having George the Everlasting as president. Orvick would please one faction, then another. He kicked out the pastor in Scottsdale and the Shrinker in Florida.

But Moldy got out his scythe, and people remember. Think of Facebook. Get a few friends and pretty soon everyone has 20 mutual friends. The ELS is like that, except the relationships are almost at the 100% level.

Now that things are so bad in the economy, people may be less worried about hanging on to security. If they concentrate on the Word instead of the budget, things will happen.

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wahoo (http://wahoo.myopenid.com/) has left a new comment on your post "Shrinkers Out in the Cold":

And there was no money left for Church Growth to steal.

How much did Church Growth steal?

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GJ - It would take a team of forensic CPAs from the FBI to find out. Consider this - WELS went broke after it got a series of enormous gifts from the Schwan Foundation.