Second Rough Draft - The Bible Teaches Faith in Jesus the Savior - To Be Illustrated by Norma A. Boeckler.Comments Welcome

The Bible Teaches Faith in Jesus the Savior

By Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

Non-Profit, Public Domain

Illustrated by Norma A. Boeckler

2019

Publishing Information

The Bible Teaches Faith in Jesus the Savior has been written, first of all, for the Lutheran Mission in the Philippines, Pastor Jordan Palangyos. The plan is for Pastor Palangyos and associates to translate the English version into the language of his people. However, the booklet may also be used in English or translated into other languages without asking permission from the author. The illustrations may also be used for world missions or seminary training. Simply give credit to the original book, author, and illustrator.

Contents

What Is the Bible?. 4

The Bible Teaches. 4

The Holy Trinity. 4

Creation and the Word. 5

Sin Entered the World. 5

God Cursed the Serpent and Promised the Savior 6

Jesus the Son of God. 6

Harmony Witnessed by the Holy Spirit 6

The Holy Spirit Spoke Through the Prophets. 6

The Prophet Isaiah Portrayed the Mission of Jesus. 7

The Public Ministry of Jesus. 8

The Miracles of Jesus. 8

Raising the Dead. 8

Jesus, Lazarus, and Palm Sunday. 9

Arrest and Trials. 9

Crucifixion – Cruel Death. 10

The Women, Easter Morning. 10

He Ascended to Heaven. 10

What Is the Bible?

The Bible is the work of the Holy Spirit, who guided many human authors in revealing His loving nature and His Will.

The Bible is also called the Word of God, the Scriptures, and the Book of the Holy Spirit.

The Bible contains 39 books in the Old Testament and 27 books in the New Testament.

The Bible has two natures, human and divine, much like Jesus. The Scriptures have the personality of its human authors, and the inerrancy of God, the Holy Spirit.

The Bible Teaches

God gave us the Scriptures for one reason – to create and build faith in His Son, Jesus the Savior. That is the purpose of the Old Testament and the New Testament.

The Old Testament prepared the world for the Savior He revealed His Promises, and told what would happen in the mission of His Son.

The Holy Trinity

The Scriptures reveal the Three Persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. There are Three Persons, but One God. We can see this Unity of the Three Persons from the beginning in Genesis 1. The Father commanded, and the Son carried out the commands. The Holy Spirit witnessed to Creation and to the Father/Son relationship.

Creation and the Word

John 1:3 teaches us that the Word – the Son – created every single thing in the universe – sun and stars, planets and comets, animals and plants, minerals and metals, Adam and Eve. We see the creating power of the Word everywhere.

Sin Entered the World

God created Adam and Eve, who lived in a beautiful Paradise. However, they sinned when Satan talked them into disobeying God. God forced them to leave that perfect garden because of their sin. Adam would have to work and sweat to support himself. Eve would suffer in childbirth. From Adam we have that sinful nature in being selfish, uncaring, and rebelling against God.

God Cursed the Serpent and Promised the Savior

God cursed the serpent, the disguise of Satan. But He also promised the Savior, who would crush the head of the devil. The Savior would pay for our sins, defeat death and Satan.

Jesus the Son of God

Jesus is the only-begotten Son of God, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary. He took on our human nature and kept His divine nature.

Harmony Witnessed by the Holy Spirit

The Son obeys the Father’s will and teaches in harmony with the Father. The Holy Spirit witnesses to this harmony. Therefore, we know the grace, mercy and forgiveness of God the Father through the grace, mercy, and forgiveness of God the Son. When Jesus speaks, God the Father is speaking to us. The Holy Spirit teaches us through the Bible, God’s Word.

The Holy Spirit Spoke Through the Prophets

God’s Spirit spoke through prophets, who told people to turn away from pagan gods, human sacrifice, and immoral religion. God promised His Savior in the Psalms and the prophetic books.

The Prophet Isaiah Portrayed the Mission of Jesus

Isaiah 53 showed such a clear picture of the cross of Christ that people call it the Old Testament Gospel.

Isaiah 53:3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.

Isaiah 53:5 He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

Isaiah 53:7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter…

Isaiah 53:11 11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many…

This short chapter revealed how the Savior would die for the sins of the world, so we would have forgiveness and eternal life through faith in Him.

The Public Ministry of Jesus

Baptized by John, Jesus called His twelve disciples. He taught them for three years as He traveled on foot. Jesus healed many people and raised the dead, showing His divine power with His powerful teaching.

The Miracles of Jesus

The Savior revealed His power as the Creating Word. He changed water into wine, quieted the storm, walked on water, and fed the crowds with only a few fish and bread. He did this to show God’s help in time of need and to prove His divine message. He raised the dead, which showed Jesus to be the Promised Savior and Son of God.

Raising the Dead

Jesus raised the widow’s son and the official’s daughter from the dead. The biggest excitement came from Lazarus, the friend of Jesus, dead and buried in a tomb. Friends and relatives came to the funeral and stayed for days, mourning him. When Jesus came, He told the sisters, “I AM the Resurrection and the Life. He who believes in Me, though He die, yet he will live.” He called the dead man to life, and Lazarus came out of the tomb with burial clothes on.

Jesus, Lazarus, and Palm Sunday

Fear and opposition were building about Jesus. Lazarus came to Jerusalem with Jesus and the disciples, a short distance away, as a sign of God’s miraculous power. Roman authorities feared Jesus as a new king. Jewish authorities were afraid of His power and angry about Him being the Son of God. Jesus entered Jerusalem with crowds shouting and palm branches spread before Him. They cheered Him as the Son of David, the Messiah and Savior.

Arrest and Trials

Judas, a disciple of Jesus, turned his teacher over to the authorities. The armed men fell over backwards when Jesus said, “I AM,” which is the Name of God. They took Him to be tried, where He was denounced by the religious authorities. The soldiers insulted and slapped Him. Worst of all, they whipped Him with leather attached to metal. “By His stripes we are healed.” They condemned Him to death, and He carried His own cross to the place called The Skull.

Crucifixion – Cruel Death

The authorities nailed Jesus to the cross, a cruel and painful way to die. He quoted the Psalm, “My God, My God, why have you abandoned Me?” Jesus felt the wrath for the sins of the world and died being mocked by the same crowd that cheered him as Messiah days before. The soldier pierced His side, and He was taken down for burial, a rich man’s tomb, carved into the rock.

The Women, Easter Morning

The women came to honor the death of Jesus, to finish the preparation of His remains. Instead, the angel told them, “He is not here – He is risen from the dead.” Followers on the road to Emmaus walked and talked with the Risen Lord. He appeared to the disciples that evening and a week later. Jesus told them they would fulfill His first Promise – to become fishers of men.

Jesus appeared to 500 believers, who carried His Gospel message across the Roman Empire, using the Roman roads and shipping lanes. Persecution only expanded their reach.

He Ascended to Heaven

Jesus ascended to heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father, sending the Spirit to help Christians in every way. The Spirit plants faith in our hearts through the Gospel Word. The Spirit dwells in us through Holy Baptism and helps us to pray.

Alec Satin - Anecdote about Luther's Galatians Lectures

Found this very interesting aside written by Krauth as part of the Reminiscence of Christopher F. Bergman.

 

Hope you had a good Independence Day.

 

Alec

 

----

 

Several interesting incidents are on record, in the early history of the colony of Virginia, of the influence of Luther's writings in producing seriousness, and in leading individuals to a knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus. At this period the Church of England was the established religion, and much formality prevailed. Rev. Samuel Davies writes to the Bishop of London,

 

    "that a little before the year 1743, about four or five persons, heads of families in Hanover, had deserted from the established church, not from any scruples in reference to her ceremonial peculiarities, the usual cause of non-conformity, much less about her excellent articles of faith, but from a dislike to the doctrines generally delivered from the pulpit, as not savoring of experimental piety, nor suitably intermingled with the glorious peculiarities of the religion of Christ. These families were wont to meet in a private house on Sundays, to hear some good books read, particularly Luther's; whose writings were the principal cause of their leaving the church."

 

    It is also stated, "that a gentleman got possession of Luther on the Galatians. Deeply affected with what he read, so different from what he had heard from the pulpit of the parish church, he never ceased to read and pray till he found consolation in believing in Christ Jesus the Lord his righteousness."

 

    Several refused to attend the ministrations of the church, and determined to subject themselves to the payment of the fines imposed by law. They agreed to meet every Sabbath alternately, at each other's houses, and spend the time with their families in prayer and reading the scriptures, together with Luther's Commentary on the Galatians — an old volume which had, by some means, fallen into their hands."

 

    Mr. Morris moreover remarks, among other things respecting the interesting awakening that existed at the time, "that as we knew but little of any denomination of dissenters, except Quakers, we were at a loss what name to assume. At length recollecting that Luther was a noted Reformer, and that his book had been of special service to us, we declared ourselves Lutherans ."— _

Vide Sketches of Virginia_, by Rev. W. H. Foote, D. D.

 

Foote, William Henry. Sketches of Virginia: Historical and Biographical. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1856.

WELS Kept This Post Up Forever - Ski Babbling about Gay Activist Andy Stanley's Conference, From 2012

Drive ’08 - Pastor’s Conference - North Point:

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW:

WHO WENT THAT YOU MIGHT KNOW?

Pastor Ski - St. Marcus - Milwaukee

Pastor John Parlow - St. Mark - Depere

Pastor Jim Buske - Lighthouse Youth Center - Milwaukee

HOW LONG WERE WE THERE?

May 3rd - May 7th

WHERE WAS THE CONFERENCE?

North Point (Babtist) Church, Alpharetta, GA

FAVORITE PART OF THE CONFERENCE:

Final Main Session with Andy Stanley

FAVORITE BREAK OUT SESSION:

A Healthy Staff Culture [Does Not Apply to WELS]

- Jeff Henderson

FAVORITE QUOTE FROM DRIVE ‘08

“Leaders don’t get people, they attract them”

- Andy Stanley

DRIVE ’08 JOURNAL

Whew!  Day 5, it has been a heck of a road trip.  Today was the last day.  As you can see it was jam packed.  Before I get into Day 5... Let me just say this, “We should have sat in traffic to go to the Brown Bridge Campus!”  Buske & I were bitter.  Remember that I had said John got frustrated sitting the parking lot for 30 minutes?  So we went to dinner & called it a night.  Well, on Day 5 they showed the video for what happened at Brown Bridge.  Sweet cookout, the food looked awesome, games and fellowship outside (without snow or cold, I might add) and then a surprise JEFF FOXWORTHY show.  Man, how are they gonna top that next year?

Anyway, Day 5.  It is kind of crazy, just when you think it can’t get any better, it does.  Well, sort of.  In the morning they had Q & As for different groups.  I went to one that was about linking adults into small group studies.  It was well done, but for me it is difficult because everyone is looking for concrete answers on how to solve their own personal small group issues.  Many of the questions didn’t apply for us at St. Marcus.  However, the leaders were great and had a ton of info.

My final breakout session was entitled Parental Guidance Required.  The leader was Clay Scroggins.  He kind of looked like Steve James (he’s a St. Marcus member, Steve that is) but he talked with a Texas drawl.  He was high energy.  Based on his presentation and his passion for kids, I imagine that he rocked it out with kids.  The gist of his session was that what happens in the home has a greater influence on the spiritual life of children than what happens at church.  Based on that it becomes imperative that parents & the church partner.  Here are the steps that North Point uses:

1. 1.Inform Parents - inform them about what is being taught to their children.
2. 2.Partner With Parents - invite parents to be in an environment with their children.
3. 3.Equip Parents - provide parents with the tools to assist in the spiritual development of their children.

Pretty good points and a really good session.  

After that session we broke for lunch.  John took off for the airport, so Buske and I were on our own.  That might sound a little scary, but it is true.

The final Main Session with Andy Stanley was just phenomenal.  We began with awesome worship.  Today though, they began with a Christian rapper, Toby Mac.  Our school kids would have loved it.  I’m not sure that they would have believed that it was church though.

When Andy began his session.  He started by saying that he was not going to follow his notes in the Drive ’08 Journal Book.  Instead he was going to do something that he called, “Recent Random Thoughts On Church Leadership.”  He shared 5 points and 5 takeaways.  I think that he was at his absolute best this afternoon.  Here are the 5 point & takeaways:

1. 1.To reach people no one else is reaching we must do things no one else is doing.

Takeaway - Become preoccupied with those you haven’t reached as opposed to those you keep.  This is easier said than done.

Wow, it seems so simple.  And yet so hard.

2. 2.The next generation product almost never comes from the previous generation.

Takeaway - Be a student not a critic.

What more can be said?  How do we approach things?  When things are different & involve change are we scared?  Do we criticize or do we look to learn and implement?

3. 3.What do I believe is impossible to do in my field?  But if it could be done it would fundamentally change my business.

Takeaway - Pay attention to the people who are breaking the rules.

Crazy sounding isn’t it?  We can fight technology and change, but in the end it will pass us and we will become archaic and irrelevant.  Not our Message, but the manner in which we present it.  Who would have ever thought texting would be as big as it is?  How about multi-site church?  Video church?  These are all things that have changed how we worship.

4. 4.If we got kicked out & the board brought in a new CEO what would they do?  Why shouldn’t we walk out the door & then come back in & do it ourselves?

Takeaway - Acknowledge what is NOT working & own up to why you are unwilling to change it.

Some thoughts on this - rarely does the church (in general) get concerned about change until they run out of money.  What if we asked some questions before it was too late?

1. a.What’s in decline?
2. b.Where are we manufacturing energy? In other words pretending something is important.  An example would be if I continued to say that Bible Study was important, but never attended.  I’m blowing hot air, “manufacturing energy.”  I don’t believe that anyone wants to stand behind that or get involved in something like that.
3. c.Finally, when are we going to unearth all underlying assumptions?  Sometimes, what we assume, is not the reality.  Are we willing to dig to find out the truth or are we happy with assuming? 
5. 5.When your memories exceed your dreams the end is near.

Takeaway - Don’t let success or momentum overshadow your vision.  Keep the out front.

How quickly can we be satisfied?  How often do we look at things and say, “Well, it’s not great but it is better than such and such church.” Scary, but we sometimes fool ourselves into thinking like this.  Some questions to ponder:

1. a.What the burden on your heart? (sic, yo)
2. b.What breaks your heart?

That was it.  After that Andy just ended and prayed for all the people there & for there ministries.  As you can see from the pictures above, Buske & I got to get a picture with Andy, pretty cool.  He is way down to earth.  His wife Sandra was there also and she is just great.  We actually got to talk to her a little more than Andy.  You also notice John with the North Point member who played Bender in one of their sermon series called “Twisted”.  The series was all about how Satan twists God’s Word.  Finally, there is a photo of Buske & Todd Fields.  I’m a little bitter about that one, but you’ll need to ask me why.

Thanks to everyone who read this while I was gone.  Be looking for some cool stuff that we will be implementing at St. Marcus, especially in Sunday Night.  Thanks also for all the patience.  Writing this thing mostly between 1 AM & 2 AM means that there are probably a ton spelling and grammar mistakes.  I can’t wait to see you guys on Sunday.  Check out the Picture Page for some added photos from Drive ’08.

I’m out!

THE CORE copied the Rock bar lighting scheme.

 Not my graphic.

 Also not my graphic.

Calvinism Strangles Faith

 Many Lutheran leaders will deny their Calvinism, but they were obsessed with an urge to build and improve Biblical doctrine, just like Calvin.

"Young Calvinist, old Unitarian." - That is a popular saying that describes New England so well. Fifty years ago, the Calvinist congregations had morphed into the United Church of Christ (UCC). Large buildings were almost empty; the ministers denied the articles of faith in the Apostles Creed.

Nor did the Unitarians stay the same over the years. They went far beyond a denial of the Trinity to an antagonistic stance toward religion. How did they fill the void left? They found a purpose in extreme Leftist social justice warrior, more strident than the UCC.

The letters in Unitarianism can be rearranged to spell - "Tis I ruin a man."

The Other Side of Calvinism is a good analysis of their theological pitfalls, but Calvinism is more than a dogma. Calvinism starts with an attitude of building and correction, amalgamating like mercury onto silver or gold. When kids used to play with drops of mercury in school, they found the liquid would attach itself to silver or gold and never come off. A ring could become precious metal with toxic mercury virtually welded on.

In Baptist churches today, Reformed (Calvinist) Baptists take over congregations, change the constitution, hire their own people, and change the doctrine to:

• double predestination, 
• what they call sovereign grace,
• the subordination of faith, and
• adding a heavy dose of human reason, intellectualism.

Calvinism in the Lutheran Church is as natural as dry rot, mildew, and decay, something that happens when Biblical doctrine is neglected, in the name of building and correcting. Our history of united Protestantism by surrendering to Calvinism is shameful, both in Europe (facilitated by Halle's Schleiermacher) and in America (endorsed by Samuel S. Schmucker).

Calvinism denies the efficacy of the Word, so it denies the Sacraments. Calvin mocked the Real Presence in Holy Communion. One is born into the Covenant of Grace - sound familiar, Edward Preuss fans?.

 A Calvinist can turn every color but white, imitating the chameleon. Walther loved this essay.

BY GRACE!

How many times have I heard a pastor say to me, without prompting, "We are saved BY GRACE! through faith"? 

Innocuous? Why pull out the organ stops on BY GRACE? 

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

The statement is not wrong by itself, but it is an odd slant to use a salvation passage to build upon and correct justification. Subtle! The implication is that everyone is already forgiven and saved BY GRACE! and that message becomes valid when someone believes he was already forgiven and saved BY GRACE!

Note also that the misuse of this passage pits grace against faith, contrary to Romans 4, and it is constantly used to correct people, leaving the individual feeling that Justification by Faith is a denial of grace.

 Another dream down the drain, but there is more money and less work in life insurance, and so many good causes to support.

Church Growth

What have we learned about Church Growth after 17,000 posts on this blog? The initial leaders were Robert Schuller, a liberal Calvinist, and Donald McGavran, a liberal Disciples missionary with a PhD in sociology. The Donald came to Fuller after they repudiated their weak, watered-down inerrancy statement and the more conservative faculty left (See the Battle for the Bible).

And yet, the WELS-LCMS-ELCA leaders were

1. enthralled by Fuller, 
2. sent to be trained there, especially world and domestic missionary leaders, and 
3. rewarded for studying there and denying it - numbskulls like Larry Olson, Frosty Bivens, and David Valleskey

The Fuller salesmen declared, "We do not want to change your doctrine." (Ha!) "We only want to build upon and improve what you are already doing. God wants His Church to grow."

The Fuller faculty showed the Lutherans what human reason craves - the exact answers on how to be successful by studying the numbers, the demographics! 

Look at Schuller's example - get rid of the denomination name! But now - he was kicked out of his own congregation and the campus is now a Roman Catholic Cathedral. Garden Grove Community Church no longer exists.

Look at Paul Y. Cho's example - build on cell groups. He was jailed with his son for raiding the church treasury.

Look at the Church of Joy in Glendale, Arizona! The pastor had a sudden revelation about the worth of entertainment evangelism. He fired the staff, and saw his chimera collapse and disappear, faster than a meringue pie left on a sunny window sill.

 The NIV and ESV are distinctively Calvinist, so lots more people will join our unionistic sect!

BECAUSE IT MAKES SENSE!

Slogans are so handy in taking people away from Biblical truth to man's understanding.

"The church is just like a business. If it isn't growing, it's dying."

"We can market the church the same way retail products are sold."

"Because Jesus died for the sins of the world. the entire world has been declared righteous, forgiven and saved, by God."

LCMS, ELS, WELS, CLC (sic) 

"Evangelism is easy for WELS. Just tell people - you are already forgiven." 

Former WELS SP-in-Waiting Wayne Mueller, Waldo Werning Lecturer, Camp Trinity, New Haven, Missouri

Scholasticism and So-Called Lutheran Orthodoxy - As Meaningless as the Confessional Lutheran Label

Just before he joined the Roman Catholic Church as a priest, Richard J. Neuhaus (LCMS, AELC, ELCA) called himself a Confessional Lutheran. Those who agreed with him were also Confessional Lutherans, some of them following in the wake of his incense. They sinuflected all the way to Rome, too.

If we turn a gimlet eye toward the LCMS, we can see that its favorite labels are misleading too. Supposedly CFW was an Old Lutheran aiming at the repristination of Lutheran doctrine. That is such a laugh. He was a Pietist before his group made Martin Stephan their Pietist guru, and they sought him out chiefly because their previous Pietist leader moved and assumed room temperature.

Moreover, Stephan was a Bohemian Pietist (as in Count Zinzendorf) and only received his call, lacking a diploma, because it was a Pietist congregation built on land donated by Zinzendorf, with permission to hold cell group meetings only on the property.
Stephan studied at Halle, making him the perfect Pietist.

Most Lutherans came to America through Pietist missionary societies or movements. Many were shocked by the religious zoo they found and gravitated toward the Book of Concord and Luther.
A prime example is the Swedish Augustana Synod because they kept their loyalty to Pietism but moved away from revivalism and such movements as Bishop Hill, Illinois. William Passavant served as a godfather to Augustana and other groups, and he too had reacted against revivalism. He encouraged the study of the Book of Concord, which was the reason for the name - Augustana (Augsburg Confession - Confessio Augustana).

 Stephan brought the group over because he was under house arrest and unemployable - for his cavorting with young women and misuse of funds. Stephan left his wife behind but took his main mistress in the next cabin on his ship.

The German Synod

The LCMS was almost entirely German during the years of Walther and his hand-picked disciple F. Pieper. It seems that many of the Pietists and revivalists sought direction from the late scholastic or orthodox theologians.

The Calvinists attacked the Lutherans during the post Book of Concord (1580) era, and that led to increasing reliance on Latin terminology, truly a terrible path to follow.

J. Gerhard worked with Chemnitz, but he was already drifting into the verbose and overly technical language of scholasticism. Afterward Gerhard, there was often a blend of Lutheran doctrine and Pietism, so Old Lutheran is really a mixed label. So is Orthodox Lutheran.

Walther was insecure (for good reason) about Biblical teaching, so he lectured in Latin (!) and asked questions in Latin, demanding Latin answers. He used an otherwise forgotten theologian (Baier) for his dogmatics text, and infused the LCMS with a repeat-after-me system of learning, copied by WELS.

Walther-Pieper inspired an obsession with Latin theological terms. David Scaer created a large book explaining the terms, yet he never caught onto the Chief Article, hating anyone who taught Justification by Faith.

So if you think the path to understanding Justification is Latin, Walther-Pieper-Scaer prove otherwise. They also created entire lobbying groups (Higher Things, Steadfast Lutherans, Gottesdienst) devoted to their Pietistic cause.

 The hideous Walther shrine is a spooky eye-sore.

We only have so much time, so much mental energy. If that is spent pursuing the exact meaning and history of the non-reciprocity of the second genus, the Scriptures will be neglected.

Pastors are tempted to wow others with their vast knowledge (one inch deep) of those terms. I remember Paul Kuske talking to the Columbus WELS pastors and getting the terms mixed up. They all acted superior in harmony with him because they were trained to think they were the best.

Recently, Steve Spencer and another Objective Justification sell-out insisted to me that they held to a quia subscription to the Book of Concord, another fig-leaf to cover the shame of the Olde Synodical Conference, which once taught Justification by Faith and now brays "OJ OJ OJ."

Luther's and Formula of Concord Term
I was impressed with the editors of the Book of Concord identifying with Luther's term - Theologian of the Augsburg Confession. They agreed and also considered themselves "theologians of the Augsburg Confession."

Do you wonder why the LCMS-WELS leaders do not like Melanchthon at all, when Luther praised his brilliant associate?

So our little church does not have an organization to venerate. We reach Europe, Australia, and the Philippines. A lot of readers come from Russia.

However, we are big because those who actually agree with the Augsburg Confession are one with us. We do not have an adulterous sugar-daddy to give us millions of dollars, so we rely on the efficacy of the Word in the Means of Grace. As I look around, the Word has had more success than those glittering mausoleums to synod glory.

 Be sure to read the LCMS jokebook, to learn how one organizes a mob to threaten, rob, and kidnap church leaders. Synodical elections would be so much more newsworthy using Walther's tactics against Stephan.