Fifty Years of Grace? - LCMS Collapse Began in 1970. Here Are the Stars. Preus Elected LCMS Prez in 1969.

 

On the left, Jack Preus became LCMS president in 1969, and it has been downhill ever since. Cousin David Preus, on the right, did the ALC no favors, guiding it into the ELCA. Trainees - I mean trannies - thank David for his leadership.

The power hungry Preus brothers, Robert and Jack, felt subordination to them was the world's destiny. They imbued their offspring with the same timeless call, "Follow ME!" while denying the Chief Article of Christianity. 

Pope Herman the Unready worked with the Preus brothers, Rolf One-Note, and Waldo Werning to remain at the center of every dispute and sell newspapers to both sides, including Roman Catholics and Born-Again Babtists. Grace Otten, the theologian of the family (Herman's words) convinced him of Objective Justification, further dooming the LCMS in its doctrinal decline.

From ALPB - 

"Theology and the Church after Google."  Here are some random points that Larry offered:

-Statistical decline in the LCMS began in 1971 (50 years!)

-Clergy nationwide who responded to surveys about stress and depression are about 70%; the LCMS claims about 25%.  Larry says we should split the difference and then say that about 50% of LCMS clergy are stressed and/or depressed.

-Technology has far outpaced human adaptability.  We can't keep up and we can't catch up. 

 Do not blame the Damascus pastors who went to Fuller Seminary to learn how to be branded "a Damascus pastor" (say that slowly). Their leaders - Preus, Otten, Werning, Kelm, Valleskey - were the Judas goats that led them to the slaughter house.

More Nutrition Basics, Plus Walking To Counteract a Sedimentary Life

 

 "You expect me to walk the dog every day?"

Some readers like the nutrition posts, and I may benefit from following my own advice. My doctor told me I had low potassium and I knew I had low energy. He gave me potassium for that and I looked into possible causes. I was drinking up to 48 ounces of Diet Pepsi a day, partly to keep energy up. But it seems that all diuretics have the tendencies to lower potassium. I let the supply of Diet Pepsi run out.

There is lot to say against paying for a mixture of water, bubbles, and artificial sugars.

I only drink coffee in the morning and when someone stops by for pour-over coffee. 

My A1C number has been steadily climbing, and I can get sluggish from too many carbos. The A1C number is long-term sugar levels, so a few days of monastic self-denial will not work. I told the doctor, "I have been using ice cream for stress relief." He burst out laughing and said, "Ice cream is very effective in combatting stress." I stopped buying ice cream products, which are so easy to enjoy when delivered at the door.

Eggs go well with efforts to lose weight, so I start the day with coffee first, and then with scrambled eggs and toast. 

WebMD

Along with milk, eggs contain the highest biological value (or gold standard) for protein. One egg has only 75 calories but 7 grams of high-quality protein, 5 grams of fat, and 1.6 grams of saturated fat, along with iron, vitamins, minerals, and carotenoids.

The egg is a powerhouse of disease-fighting nutrients like lutein and zeaxanthin. These carotenoids may reduce the risk of age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in older adults. And brain development and memory may be enhanced by the choline content of eggs.

Walking for Health

The #1 prescription for health is walking every day. I kept my gym membership up during the Covid shut-down because I wanted to start over when things eased up. When I began, pre-Covid, I reached a point where the daily pain of being ancient largely went away. Besides that, an all-around approach is good for lower blood pressure, lower weight, and more muscular strength.

Health benefits of walking

You carry your own body weight when you walk. This is known as weight-bearing exercise. Some of the benefits include:

• increased cardiovascular and pulmonary (heart and lung) fitness
• reduced risk of heart disease and stroke
• improved management of conditions such as hypertension (high blood pressure), high cholesterol, joint and muscular pain or stiffness, and diabetes
• stronger bones and improved balance
• increased muscle strength and endurance
• reduced body fat.

Ten more reps!

Give Your Garden Your Breakfast Coffee Grounds, Unless You Like Sanka

 

People ask, "Are coffee grounds actually good for the soil?" Gardening sites turn this question into a dissertation.

The simple answer is - "Yes, because most organic additions to the soil are good for plants and the soil critters that fertilize, blend, aerate, and even sweeten the soil. Earthworms sweeten the soil with their unique calcium producing glands.

Creation gardeners do not need to get a degree in chemistry for their work. A blend of organic materials over time will be reduced to soil. My pile of used coffee ground packets (from pour-over coffee making) is not a pyramid because the paper and grounds keep being reduced by the soil creatures.

Packing tape lasts forever in the soil, so consider that when using cardboard for mulch in the fall. My neighbor had a jungle of grasses in her flower bed, so now she has most of that disaster (which she and her husband inherited) turning weeds into compost.

Today I was putting bulbs in the former Blackberry/Joe Pye little garden areas. I saw a black form behind me. It was Atlas, the puppy who escapes with his mentor Alaska. The odd thing was - they were in a locked yard. I had the only gate shut with a chain, and I was on the other side. But they got in and were happy to see their guardian gardening.

Sassy and I took them to their house and informed their staff about their latest venture (repeated by Atlas later today). We had some laughs again. He said, "I know my dogs are missing when I hear you calling their names." 

They generally follow me to their home, hoping for mercy rather than justice. One time they ran farther away.

Atlas walked up to my friend, threw himself on the ground, belly up, and begged for forgiveness, wiggling and faking contrition. We laughed and laughed.

Yale Divinity School Costs Less than WELS Martin Luther College And - Almost All of the Cost Is Paid

 

Martin Luther College is around $30,000 a year in cost. 

Yale Divinity's tuition is $25,000 a year, but the net cost paid by each student is about $1,500 annually. YDS gives tuition support to over 90% of the students. 

Yale Divinity has endowed student scholarships - over 12 new ones this year.

Yale Divinity School has had its own campus, faculty, and degree program since 1869.

Yale Divinity does not have a hazing tradition where newcomers are insulted, physically harmed, abused, and manipulated with lies. Martin Luther College and Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary both do.

Is Their Precious Sinaiticus Codex a Complete Forgery?

 

Tischendorf is connected to two "ancient" manuscripts, Sinaiticus and Vaticanus, the fakes that gullible scholars embraced as the "purest and best sources."

I just got my Bruce Metzger books in the mail, which I wanted for the second edition of The Bible Book: The KJV Reborn for Those Who Love the Word of God.

How could anyone burn a Bible based on the oldest and best and purest manuscripts, Metzger wondered. Aha. He fell for it too.

I have known a lot of frauds, which may be why I spotted Tischendorf so early - with the help of others who saw through his obvious lies.

The entire international printing industry for new Bibles with strange and ever-changing texts is based on one self-promoting salesman - Tischendorf. 

 Tischendorf gave Sinaiticus the Hebrew letter Aleph, above, making it first on the list of New Testament sources, B for Vaticanus, making it second. Clever boy.

Sinaiticus and Vaticanus are deceptively called the oldest and best sources, but they disagree with each other, even though they are supposedly from the Alexandrian, Egyptian group of manuscripts. Readers may recall that David Valleskey wanted to "spoil the Egyptians" (borrowing from Fuller Seminary) and I countered, "The Israelites took the Egyptians' precious metals and gems, not their garbage."

Valleskey is a sworn, published enemy of the Chief Article of Christianity. Herman Otten promoted and sold this gem of Fuller Pietism and Enthusiasm.

One version is that Tischendorf saved Sinaiticus from being burned by the scholars in an effort to keep the St. Catharine's library warm. Sinaiticus is parchment, skin. How many people burn leather to warm a room? How many scholars burn the "oldest" manuscript to heat their tootsies?

Sinaiticus is 1500 OR MORE years old, and yet it was pure white, like new, when first described by two different men. It was artificially aged later.

In contrast, the KJV New Testament Greek text is in harmony with 95% of what we have, thousands and thousands of examples.

Mirtrhless Mark the Mendicant Has a New Campaign for the Shrinking WELS College

 

"Throw us a lifeline, eh?"

How is a field house a mile away from campus going to help in the middle of winter when most students don't have cars?

They forgot to mention that part... It isn't ON CAMPUS, it's OFF CAMPUS at the Athletic Fields site.

"Sports Complex

• Shared locker rooms for field sports - home & visitor

• Indoor practice turf

• Game day support - concessions, restrooms, coaches,

and officials

• Team rooms

• Satellite training room"

Martin Luther College now costs over $30,000 a year, and the average student leaves with more than $50,000 in debt. That may be a reason why students pick Granger Community College instead. Another reason is WELS protecting felons, denying anything happened, and treating so many students like dirt under their Stormtrooper boots.

WELS stole a march on ELCA, doubling down with Satanism and gender bending.

When Dr. Martin Luther College in New Ulm absorbed Northwestern College in Watertown, everything was supposed to be glorious:

1. Men and women together
2. Separate tracks for teachers and future pastors
3. Decreased alcoholism
4. No more Cattle Crossing signs popping up when the NWC students were visiting.

I have been reading Augustana College (Rock Island) history lately. The Swedish Augustana Synod, after some years of doctrinal difficulties, established their synod and college in 1860. Northwestern College began in 1865. 

The differences are enormous today, because the Swedes took higher education seriously, instead of putting incompetents in teaching roles. Andreen, an early Augustana College president, left his comfortable job as head of a language department at Yale University to get the Rock Island campus on solid ground. He was pummeled in Sweden for asking for funds and succeeded in winning over the opposition. He cultivated the prosperous Swedes in the Midwest and strengthened the faculty. 

"Augustana ranks among the top 40 U.S. liberal arts colleges in the sciences, based on the number of graduates earning Ph.D.s. Students accepted to Augustana typically rank in the top 20% of their high school classes." (Wiki)

Similarly, Gustavus Adolphus in Minnesota is one of the top music schools in America. I remember when a prominent ELS pastor sent his daughter there for music. 

Christina and I graduated early from Augustana, Rock Island, November, 1969. We got married 10 minutes later.

 The Augustana Synod abhorred slavery, unlike Walther's sect, where slavery was practiced from the beginning and supported by CFW Hisself.

Basics for Spring in the Fall Garden - For the Seattle Group

 

 Crepe Myrtle looks like fireworks here,
and Buckwheat feeds the bees and soil.

Questions are frequently asked about what to do in the fall for the spring garden. If fall bulbs are not planted - and they are so easy - there is plenty to do otherwise.

Roto-tillers feel manly, but they mix up and destroy the creatures God made to help, build, perfect, and repair the soil.

One British expert, Shewell-Cooper, resolved a lot of problems for me by writing - "Put the organic matter on top. The soil creatures will pull it down. If they are completely full, the top layer of compost becomes the perfect mulch." (Paraphrased)

Organic ingredients that will improve the soil - even become the soil - wherever they are placed:

• Leaves, wood mulch, wood chips, sawdust, lawn grass, and twigs
• You can dump bags and bags of neighbors' leaves on growing areas. They are ideal for protecting roses during a bad winter. Leaves can be composted in one area, for gardeners who love extra work. I spread them around the garden areas and they stay there. In late spring they are absorbed into the soil and apparently gone.
• Newsprint and cardboard can be held down by mulch, manure, and wood chips. A tomato garden can start in the fall, with a layer of cardboard (no peeking) held down by organic matter. In the spring, open up holes for tomato plants, beans, whatever works.
• Cow, horse, goat, rabbit, poultry manure (avoid cat and dog manure)
• Weeds - unless they are rampant and toxic - like Hemlock and Giant Hogweed, Deadly Nightshade. If the plant is shockingly robust and exotic, it may also be highly toxic.
• You may want Wild Strawberries, planted with love by the birds who adore the berries. They bloom early, bloom in the shade, and bloom all summer. They are a relief program for ground feeding birds.

God invented mulch, so use it.

The covering of organic mulch I conjured in your minds - above - will serve several purposes in autumn, winter, and spring:

1. The organic blanket keeps the soil warmer, moister, and more fertile by maximizing conditions as long as possible.
2. The organic blanket keeps soil from blowing away in harsh winds.
3. Best of all, this blanket becomes the soil. Place a tree stump in one spot and watch how it rots out and crumbles in a few years. Soil creatures come for food. Toads come for nums. Insects become fat and fatten the toads.
4. You call it rot - I call it God's recycling.

Fungus is the powerhouse.

All soil creatures work for their benefit and for the benefit of others. Nothing is more powerful than soil fungus. 

Serious, lazy gardeners will sell their roto-tillers covertly, rest a lot more, and use Creation methods. God clearly made all things through Christ the Word, the Lord of Creation.

LCMS-WELS-ELS Leaders Work with Bishop - Now President - Guy Erwin Through Thrivent.

 

Seminary President will be guest speaker at Wyomissing Church [Religion Digest] – Reading Eagle

Rev. R. Guy Erwin will preach and lead worship at the Atonement Lutheran Church in 5 Wyomissing Boulevard, Wyomissing, on Sundays at 8:30 am and 10 am. Prior to this appointment, he was the fourth bishop of the Southwestern California Theological Seminary of the American Evangelical Lutheran Church. (SIC!) [GJ - He was never a pastor, but an academic instead. He was quickly made a pastor so he could be the bishop of his San Francisco district - and then became president of the fractured United Lutheran Seminary, because the Presbyterian they elected was not woke enough.]

Nobody tars and feathers a victim better than the woke do. This is Theresa Latini, the gone but not forgotten first president of a once great seminary. I was invited to apply for a position there.

Irwin has a degree from Harvard University and Yale University and was a Fulbright scholarship student at the University of Tubingen in Germany. He has taught at the Yale Divinity School in Thousand Oaks and California Lutheran University.

His husband, Robert T. Flynn, from West Virginia and a graduate of Yale Divinity School, has been involved in academic publishing at Yale University Publishing, Columbia University Publishing, and the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. 

***

Bishop Megan graduated from Augustana College, Sioux Falls, S.D.

The Twentieth Sunday after Trinity - Note - The Hymns Do Not Match the YouTube Service And Are Not Linked

The Twentieth Sunday after Trinity, 2021

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

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

Bethany Lutheran Church, 10 AM Central Time

The Hymn #  39        Praise to the Lord                              3:1

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       

The Gospel              

Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed             p. 22

The Sermon Hymn # 370            My Hope Is Built              3:11     

The Bride and Groom

The Communion Hymn # 246            Holy, Holy, Holy             3:35

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 # 309                 O Jesus Blessed Lord             3:70

KJV Ephesians 5:15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, 16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. 18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; 19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; 20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; 21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

KJV Matthew 22:1 And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said, 2 The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, 3 And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. 4 Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage. 5 But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise: 6 And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them. 7 But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. 8 Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. 9 Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. 10 So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests. 11 And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: 12 And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. 13 Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 14 For many are called, but few are chosen.

Twentieth Sunday After Trinity

Lord God, heavenly Father: We thank Thee, that of Thy great mercy Thou hast called us by Thy holy word to the blessed marriage-feast of Thy Son, and through Him dost forgive us all our sins; but, being daily beset by temptation, offense, and danger, and being weak in ourselves and given to sin, we beseech Thee graciously to protect us by Thy Holy Spirit, that we fall not; and if we fall and defile our wedding-garment, with which Thy Son hath clothed us, graciously help us again and lead us to repentance, that we fall not forever; preserve in us a constant faith in Thy grace, through our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.

Publishing, Lecturing Plans - Lutheran Christina Is Now in Print and Kindle

 Helen - 
"Is this the face that launched a thousand ships,
That burnt the topless towers of Ilium?"
Homer's Iliad inspired Marlow's poem, where these words came from.

 

Lutheran Christina: Memories about a Pastor's Wife is now in print and on Kindle. I am sending copies to the usual suspects.

After that will be the second edition of The Bible Book: The KJV Reborn for Those Who Love the Word of God.

Following that will be the I AM sermons of John's Gospel.

I am thinking about a book on the Biblical hymns, the favorites and the overlooked ones.

I plan to publish lectures on the KJV, etc.

l.

The Eagle Has Landed

I am back home after a wonderful trip to perform the wedding of Michael Oak and Amanda Meyer, seeing some of the Meyer clan, driving by Mt. Rainier and viewing its awesome beauty at the wedding on a clear, sunny day. 

Mt. Rainier

The Kindle Version of Lutheran Christina Is on Kindle. Print Version Being Reviewed by Amazon

 

Lutheran Christina

Sassy Was Very Ill But Now Is Better, Has Some Meds

 

Sassy and I had a terrible time last night, but the doctor fixed her up. She may need a fair amount of recovery. Old age in dogs - they lose their sense of balance, feel all dizzy, and upchuck...a lot. I laundered, a lot.

IBM nixed the way we were broadcasting and I need to set up the new way, but time and energy ran out. I will be working on it with lots of help from Brett Meyer - for Sunday.

From 2008 - The Church from Scratch - Has Anything Changed in WELS?

"How are you?" said one. "How are you?" said the other. "Well!" said the first. "Old Scratch has got his own at last, hey?" - An illustration from Dicken's Christmas Carol.

In case you wonder, the Church From Scratch website link was taken over by Matt Doebler's Rock and Roll WELS Babtist Church. The URL below does not work, but if the links part is removed from the address, the URL redirects to Christ the Rock.

The Wisconsin Synod never stops plagiarizing from Fuller Seminary and Willow Creek. Their illiterate leaders have managed to insert Satan's nickname into another project. Scratch is an English nickname for Satan. And Jesus called Satan The Father of Lies. That is appropriate, coming from the Church Growth Movement.

Church from Scratch is the rib-tickling name of the WELS website.

Whose name is first to appear on the links page? Paul Kelm - he has written a paper on Christian freedom.

Here are some of the links listed:

General Ministry
http://www.wels.net/
The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod

http://www.churchandchange.org/
A WELS organization committed to address ministry in contemporary culture. Hosts great conferences and provides ministry ideas on the website.

http://www.crosswalkinlaveen.org/
God is doing some really neat things in the area of small groups, large gatherings, etc, through Crosswalk Lutheran Ministries in Phoenix, AZ.

Messiah Church in Nampa, ID has a neat statement of faith. [GJ - Ichabodians will note that the neat statement of faith was originally written by that anti-CGM pariah, me. But they have tweaked it so that their added words fall harshly on the unwaxed ear. "In an age of materialism, we believe that real treasure comes from our raith in the Savior." Is raith the future pluperfect subjunctive of faith?]

http://www.crossroadschicago.org/aboutus.html
Progressive ministry in the heart of Chicago; also has a great statement of faith.

www.apostlessj.org/Church/MinistriesActivities/ASV.html
Excellent example of a vision for a church plant/daughter congregation.

http://www.marshillchurch.org/
This is Mars Hill Church in Seattle, WA. From a Calvinistic background. The preaching is excellent and very law/gospel oriented, speaking powerfully to the culture around them. Mark Driscoll is the senior pastor

http://www.xenos.org/
This is Xenos Christian Fellowship in Columbus, OH. From an evangelical background. A congregation of thousands made up entirely of house churches. Very good mindset material and studies. Great on leadership/eldership.

***

GJ - I attended a Sunday service at Xenos in Columbus. The minister got in the pulpit and talked about himself for 40 minutes before God or the Scriptures were mentioned. The proper verb is mentioned, because the talk had nothing to do with worship, the Christian faith, God, or anything spiritual. The audience cooed and fluttered during the minister's preening, egomaniacal monologue. Not surprisingly, the minister at Community of Joy (Phoenix) gave the same kind of talk with the same results. Willow Creek had a more somber audience but the same baloney. They all sound alike.

Notice the trend, which is just as prominent in the Church of the Lutheran Confession (sic). Apostate Lutherans covet non-Lutherans so passionately that they become anti-Lutheran in thought, word, and deed.

The authors of this bizarre website have bios that remind me of fingernails scratching a blackboard:

Matt Doebler
Matt has served as a parish pastor in the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod for the last eight years. After graduating from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 1997, he was called to St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Collins, WI where he served for four years. In 2001, he accepted a call to St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Wisconsin Rapids, WI. In the spring of 2006, he accepted a call to assist in planting Christ the Rock Church in Round Rock, TX. He is the proud husband of Christine, a Pilates/fitness instructor who uses her contacts in the fitness world to make connections for Jesus. He is also the proud father of three great kids, Madeline, Samuel and Caleb. They are great assets to him in the ministries into which God has placed him. Matt has been trained as an equipper in the Christ Care program from Stephen Ministries. He and Chris have also participated in the Church Planters training from Acts 29 Network.

[GJ - Acts 29 is a unionistic group, which is seen as a threat to Southern Baptists. That makes sense, because WELS is a unionistic sect, known as a threat to Lutheran doctrine.]

Ken Knapp

Ken retired early from the paper/hydro industries to do more ministry. Historically, he's served in most of the offices of a local congregation. His greatest passion is for nurturing life-long discipleship, and thus he logically serves on the WELS Commission on Adult Discipleship (CAD). Ken envisions a church functioning in our culture with the passion and effectiveness of an "Acts 2" church. He is the author of the soon-to-be-released book, A Womb to Tomb Guide for Nurturing Faith in and through the Family through the CAD.

GJ - I can think of better, rhyming names for the newest apostasy book -

1. From Cell to Sell.
2. Have an Itch? - Try Old Scratch!
3. Faith without Belief - The Paul Kelm School of Evangelism.

--

Comments on this topic, from Bailing Water:




Anonymous said...
It's incredible. One day, blog moderation is disabled, another day it is enabled. What a joke. Make up your mind and decide what it's going to be, because it gives the impression that you weed out comments that hurt your opinions.

June 6, 2008 12:00 AM


John said...
Hey mr. anonymous,

Why don't you start your own blog. You can set your own topics and moderation settings.

There are times when I'm out of town and can't moderate comments. There are also topics that bring out comments that are off topic and not necessary. I guess if you don't like what I'm doing don't come back. (moderation on)

June 6, 2008 12:15 AM


Anonymous said...
Yeah you tell him John. If you can't stand the heat stay out of John's kitchen. Wus

June 6, 2008 5:24 AM


Anonymous said...
I agree Go John!!...it is so funny to see these WELS bots get so irritated and defensive when the truth is pointed out.

June 6, 2008 8:51 AM


Comment deleted
This post has been removed by a blog administrator.

June 6, 2008 9:13 AM


Anonymous said...
WELS has discovered a new sin - the sin of turning off the comments when out of town. Have you no shame, Bailing Water?

I had to vent a little.

Bespoke.

June 6, 2008 9:20 AM


Anonymous said...
Isn't that what the WELS does best- invent new sins so that Bailing Water can point them out?

WELS bot

June 6, 2008 10:29 AM


Anonymous said...
WELS bot,

How about we focus on the topic at hand.

What do you think of the church growth churches listed and their influence on the WELS?

June 6, 2008 10:47 AM


Anonymous said...
I think it is shameful. And I believe that the only answer is to give a firm and brotherly admonishment founded on scripture to show why these things are destructive. I believe this is what is being done by people who do not use blogs to do so.

WELS bot

June 6, 2008 11:02 AM


Anonymous said...
The WELS cannot err.
These churches are WELS.
These churches cannot err.

Whirr-buzz-click-click,
WELS bot #4738

June 6, 2008 11:13 AM


Anonymous said...
There are two things that bother me. If WELS is a confessional church - then it should confess. To leave out the name Lutheran in a church title is to try to have it both ways. Second, by leaving out the name Lutheran and using the names like:Crosswalk; Willow Creek, Cornerstone ,etc. you are giving a false impression to those twenty-somethings who assume it is a non-denominational church.

June 6, 2008 11:39 AM


Anonymous said...
Please tell me how the WELS allows this WELS pastor to claim support of these heterodox churches?

June 6, 2008 1:03 PM


Anonymous said...
This pastor from scratch goes unchecked because the WELS is steeped in Church growth methods.

June 6, 2008 10:24 PM

Watch the Waters - Xi Has Lost the Mandate of Heaven.

 

 Astonishing debt - denied of course - will bring everything to a halt.

Putty buildings fall apart in a few years. These are not fungible assets. Someone has borrowed to build them, a country-wide scam.

Floods hit coal-rich province of China.

Rejecting the Inerrancy of the Bible So Cleverly - Billy Graham Style

 

"Acts 8:37 - I'm sure it's in here somewhere."

Some of us have talked among ourselves about the weakness of a number conservative, Biblical icons. One Calvinist influenced another who influenced a Lutheran. All this happened about a century ago. More will be in the second edition of The Bible Book.

I am just going to address one, Billy Graham, who  clearly represents those who seemed to be more and more conservative as the mainline denominations turned radical, step by step.

Graham addressed - or wiggled around - Biblical inerrancy by saying he believed the original autographs, the very first written Scripture documents, were inerrant. That meant he denied inerrancy in all Bibles, including the King James Version. 

 WELS admitted this in writing, but if they can cover up for two murders and deny them, how much easier is it for the sect to cover up their addiction to Calvinism?

I have to wonder - How could Graham know the unseen originals were inerrant? He cleverly planted doubt in the hearts and minds of his followers, which also freed the Graham organization to use and promote any translation or paraphrase they chose to use. I understand he promoted the Living Bible paraphrase, which sold by the boxcar load, and led the way in verbose flights of fancy not subdued by the original.

Graham also made the demi-semi-conservative Protestants relaxed by opening the doors and welcoming their doubts, their attendance, and their money. 

That side-step made the King James Version the enemy, a straw man to target and set aside for the great glory of the Lutheran SyNODS. 

Church Growth is at least 50 years old now. Check the timeline on WELS TELL, endorsed by Synod President Naumann even before the walking stiff, Mischke, took office.

The purpose of TELL was not evangelism but destroying Lutheran doctrine and replacing it with Calvinism. Why not? Walther, Pieper and their bootlickers had started the process in the Missouri Synod. 

Shock of shocks, Missouri and WELS jumped into promoting the NIV and using it in their Biblical study materials. It is the Millard Fillmore effect. America has forgotten him because his name is seldom brought up. A CLC pastor, trained in the ultra-something of his sect, confessed to me that he never heard of the Means of Grace until I brought it up. (I was not asked to give the paper because I was heavily invested in Biblical doctrine and rejection of Calvinism, which made Tiefel/Koenig furious.)

Mequon began training pastors to spew hatred on the KJV many decades ago. They excommunicated pastors for not liking the NIV and saying so. 

Nothing attacks inerrancy at the root like the NIV, which proved with the newest awful paraphrase that they can play with anything in the Bible and get away with it. Mirthless Mark Schroeder, the WELS bookkeeper, supposedly hated the New NIV, accepted "all translations" which are not really translations, and now sells the new hymnal which has made the New NIV official.

Listening to the ignorant dismiss the King James Version is painful fun. The exercise is painful because it reminds us how much has been thrown away. It is fun because they reveal a horde of weaknesses in their repeat-after-me dogmatism.

About 50% read the KJV and another 7% the New KJV (which bows to Westcott-Hort, Nestle, Aland, and Fuller faction). 

If the consecrated slugs of WELS-ELS-LCMS-LCMS-ELCA-ELDONUTs despise most the Bible people appreciate the most (KJV), what will happen to their glorious marketing programs? 

They raise their tired eyes, looking for excuses. How are the other denominations doing? Answer - Young Calvinists become old Unitarians. That is the path followed by apostasy. 

 Take the Acts 8:37 challenge here.