Pope Looks into Nuns' Habits: Sisters Urge Resistance

Nuns in the U.S. Are Facing Scrutiny by the Vatican
James Estrin/The New York Times

Mother Mary Clare Millea has been appointed by the Vatican to study the activities of some orders of nuns in the United States.

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
Published: July 1, 2009

The Vatican is quietly conducting two sweeping investigations of American nuns, a development that has startled and dismayed nuns who fear they are the targets of a doctrinal inquisition.
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Jim Wilson/The New York Times

Sister Sandra M. Schneiders has urged fellow nuns not to participate in the study that is being conducted by the Vatican.

Nuns were the often-unsung workers who helped build the Roman Catholic Church in this country, planting schools and hospitals and keeping parishes humming. But for the last three decades, their numbers have been declining — to 60,000 today from 180,000 in 1965.

While some nuns say they are grateful that the Vatican is finally paying attention to their dwindling communities, many fear that the real motivation is to reel in American nuns who have reinterpreted their calling for the modern world.

In the last four decades since the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, many American nuns stopped wearing religious habits, left convents to live independently and went into new lines of work: academia and other professions, social and political advocacy and grass-roots organizations that serve the poor or promote spirituality. A few nuns have also been active in organizations that advocate changes in the church like ordaining women and married men as priests.

Over our dead bodies.

Retired?Farewell, FairviewChurch and Change Betrayed You

James Aderman, a founder of Church and Chicanery, has retired from the ministry, rather suddenly, in fact. He was at Fairview, Milwaukee, part of a Church Growth consortium.

He was a frequent contributor to The Northwestern Lutheran FIC.

Some data:

1. his congregation is dying, down maybe 50% from when he got there 20 years ago.
   
2. a large group of members did an "investigation" on his ministry, found him arrogant, out of touch, not doing his job.
   
3. they gave him the boot and he resigned, then changed it to a retirement.
   
4. another good sized group didn't like that he quit and withdrew their support.
   
5. last week all the teacher's Calls at the school were "terminated" and the school closed.
   
6. there is some justifiable concern about the church even surviving at all now.

Fairview welcomed me and my family into its family in 1987. Fairview has been home ever since. A place of acceptance, of love, of growth, of joy.

God's forgiveness in Jesus is treasured here. That's what makes Fairview a positive place - even when we face challenges.

It's that treasure that we seek to share with our community. What God has done for us, he has done for everyone. We'd like as many people as possible to know about that. To join God's family. To treasure God's forgiveness.

So we view ourselves as a family of disciple makers. Christians who live out their thankfulness for forgiveness in Jesus as we nurture each other and as we invite and welcome still more into our family.

Thank you for visiting our web site.

Pastor Jim Aderman

About Pastor Aderman: A Snapshot

Family
Married since 1972
Three daughters (an attorney, a social worker, a nurse)

Leadership (Past and Present)
Pastor, Trinity Lutheran, Englewood, FL
Member, Board for Parish Services, South Atlantic District
Director of Development, Wisconsin Lutheran College, Milwaukee
Chairman, WELS Lutherans for Life-metro-Milwaukee
Pastor, Siloah Lutheran Church, Milwaukee
Member and chairman, Board of Directors, Wisconsin Lutheran High School
Pastor, Fairview Lutheran Church, Milwaukee
Founding member and vice chairman, Board of Directors, Calvary Academy, Milwaukee
Coordinator, WELS Southeastern Wisconsin District, Adult Discipleship Commission
Member and vice chairman, Church and Change
Chairman, Urban Pastors' Conference, Milwaukee
Circuit Pastor, Barnabas Circuit, Milwaukee

Author
Face the Facts, Northwestern Publishing House
Elijah, Northwestern Publishing House
Esther, Northwestern Publishing House
Editor, YouTHINK
Founding editor-in-chief, LivingBold (LivingBold.net)
Contributing editor, Forward in Christ magazine
Author for Partners magazine, WELS Leadership magazine, Forward in Christ magazine

Education
Bachelor of Arts, Northwestern College
Master of Divinity, Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary
Master of Journalism, Marquette University
Certificate of Website Design, University of Wisconsin-School of Continuing Education
Master of Practical Theology, Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary (in progress)


------------------- P O S I T I O N - E L I M I N A T E D -------------------
Anderson, Mrs Sandra L Palos - Palos Heights IL 06/30/2009
Kerr, Mrs Lisa A Fairview - Milwaukee WI 06/30/2009
Proeber, Mr Kenneth A Fairview - Milwaukee WI 06/30/2009
Sawall, Mr Robert L Fairview - Milwaukee WI 06/30/2009
Strand, Mrs Dawn C Fairview - Milwaukee WI 06/30/2009
Wheeler, Miss Ellen K Fairview - Milwaukee WI 06/30/2009

----------------------- C A L L - T E R M I N A T E D ----------------------
Butler, Mr Harmon R Jr Trinity - El Paso TX 06/20/2009


---

WELS CMOs are 85% of what they pledged as the economy worsens.

Correction - The CMO performance at the end of May was just above 93%, not 85%. The economy is worsening - another 500,000 jobs were lost in June.

Schwan is lowering its gift by a very large margin.

The WELS budget will be far smaller than the disaster scenario already projected. So Plans A, B, and C were far too optimistic.

Line Up at the Trough

Let's recycle the Schwaermer funds.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Ignorance Explained":

Possible Grant Opportunity for Growthers et al.:

The Kern Family Foundation recently (01-06-2009) released $500,000 grants to the following seminaries:

Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, CA; Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary - Charlotte, NC Campus; Assemblies of God Theological Seminary, Springfield, MO; Nazarene Theological Seminary, Kansas City, MO; and Multnomah Biblical Seminary, Portland, OR.

http://www.kffdn.org/

Given that three staff members have ties to WLC (former president - Kriewall; former director and Parish Assistance consultant - Rahn; and alumni - Bode), your chances are good.

Happy grant writing!

Lutherans Against Liturgical Karaoke

Latte Lutheran Church, WELS. The ELS has one too. Doubtless the Little Sect's Doctrinal Board is investigating and finding many cloudy, incomplete, and insufficient areas of Scripture about this topic.

Lutherans Against Liturgical Karaoke

Description:
An underground movement against projection screens and plasma tvs used instead of print in Lutheran Divine Services.
Contact Info
Office:
http://www.reformationtoday.net/id6.html
Recent News
POINTS OF ARGUMENTATION AGAINST LITURGICAL KARAOKE SCREENS

(Some are serious, some are rhetorical, some are satire – use the gift of discernment).

1. They place an artificial distance between the worshiper and the Word

2. They are a visual distraction to the art and architecture of the cross and the altar

3. Luther said the church is a mouth-house, not a quill house (cf. Romans 10:17)

4. They enable easy departure from the historic liturgy

5. They give the impression that modern technology is necessary for the conduct of the liturgy. You are up the creek if the power goes out.

6. They enable the enlivened image of the beast to be worshiped world-wide by people who deny that Christ has come in the flesh

7. They communicate an atmosphere not of the sanctuary but of the living room, ball park, rock concert and the karaoke bar.

8. They are used to project images that are inappropriate and even un-Christian, simply for the sake of entertainment or schmaltz.

9. They take the hymnal out of the peoples' hands.

10. The require electricity to run. Computers are used to project the material. All of this contributes to greenhouse gases and global warming. Unnecessary use of electricity… [If you believe in "global warming."] Hymnals and bulletins are biodegradable.

11. They require proper copyright cataloging and related expenses and labor and thus time.

12. They make it seem as if faith comes by seeing not hearing (Romans 10:17).

13. They can take up space for other important things – flags, banners, altar, cross, pulpit, etc.

14. After demonizing the Television, why are churches so willingly to welcome them into the sanctuary? One more cultural capitulation to the expectations of the old Adam.

15. The Church got along fine without them for 2000 years

16. Even more proof-reading and staff required – waste of valuable staff hours on unnecessary format – more people involved in doing rather than on simply receiving the gospel gifts. Really bad typos can occur. Made up liturgies and hymns do not reflect the faith of the church catholic but the creative imagination of one person or committee or "worship team." Praise services are a one-way street of sacrifice - a protestant version of the sacrifice of the mass

17. They lend themselves to more of a Gnostic “virtual reality” (docetic) understanding rather than an incarnational perspective.

18. They were first promoted by churches of the revivalist tradition that do not emphasize the effectiveness of the Word of God nor the real presence of Christ’s body and blood in the sacrament and thus their use does not arise from a natural, organic Lutheran understanding of theology or liturgical practice.

***

GJ - See The Finkelsteinery for reasons to keep the historic liturgy. Also, see The Church From Scratch, The CORE, Latte Lutheran, Victory of the Movie Screen, and many other living--albeit bad--examples.

---

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Lutherans Against Liturgical Karaoke":

FYI, the pastor of the ELS contribution to Church and Chicanery is a graduate of the WELS seminary.

***

GJ - Nathan Krause used to prop his Triglotta on his desk every day in class and sleep on it, resting his chin on top. I remember that well. The Little Sect said - "Just the man we need for a Church and Change position!"

Some Answers To Kieschnick Are Obvious

UOJ = Enthusiasm, and Satan drives through the gates in a haywagon.
Lutherans Against Those Who Abolish Augsburg and Apology XXIV

Description:
A network of those protesting against the recension of Article XXIV of the Augsburg Confession by the Missouri Synod and other Lutheran Church bodies in North America (or beyond if they want to join).

This group stands steadfast in confessing Augsburg Confession and Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Article XXIV despite the toleration and promotion of so-called "contemporary" and "alternative" and "blended" worship practices borrowed from Reformed, Arminian, revivalistic, charismatic, and other non-Lutheran, non-liturgical sources, which bespeak a different confession, a different theology, and undermine the Lutheran Confessions.

AC, Article XXIV: Of the Mass.

1] Falsely are our churches accused of abolishing the Mass; for the Mass is retained among 2] us, and celebrated with the highest reverence. Nearly all the usual ceremonies are also preserved, save that the parts sung in Latin are interspersed here and there with German hymns, which have been added 3] to teach the people. For ceremonies are needed to this end alone that the unlearned 4] be taught [what they need to know of Christ]. And not only has Paul commanded to use in the church a language understood by the people 1 Cor. 14:2-9, but it has also been so ordained by man's law. 5] The people are accustomed to partake of the Sacrament together, if any be fit for it, and this also increases the reverence and devotion of public 6] worship. For none are admitted 7] except they be first examined. The people are also advised concerning the dignity and use of the Sacrament, how great consolation it brings anxious consciences, that they may learn to believe God, and to expect and ask of Him all that is good. 8] [In this connection they are also instructed regarding other and false teachings on the Sacrament.] This worship pleases God; such use of the Sacrament nourishes true devotion 9] toward God. It does not, therefore, appear that the Mass is more devoutly celebrated among our adversaries than among us.

Apology, Article XXIV (XII): Of the Mass.

At the outset we must again make the preliminary statement that we 1] do not abolish the Mass, but religiously maintain and defend it. For among us masses are celebrated every Lord's Day and on the other festivals, in which the Sacrament is offered to those who wish to use it, after they have been examined and absolved. And the usual public ceremonies are observed, the series of lessons, of prayers, vestments, and other like things.

...78] The adversaries also refer us to philology. From the names of the Mass they derive arguments which do not require a long discussion. For even though the Mass be called a sacrifice, it does not follow that it must confer grace ex opere operato, or, when applied on behalf of others, merit for them the remission of sins, etc. 79] Leitourgiva, they say, signifies a sacrifice, and the Greeks call the Mass, liturgy. Why do they here omit the old appellation synaxis, which shows that the Mass was formerly the communion of many? But let us speak of the word liturgy. This word does not properly signify a, sacrifice, but rather the public ministry, and agrees aptly with our belief, namely, that one minister who consecrates tenders the body and blood of the Lord to the rest of the people, just as one minister who preaches tenders the Gospel to the people, as Paul says, 1 Cor. 4:1: Let a man so account of us as of the ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God, i.e., of the Gospel and the Sacraments. And 2 Cor. 5:20: We are ambassadors for Christ, as 81] though God did beseech you by us; we pray you in Christ's stead, Be ye reconciled to God. Thus the term leitourgiva agrees aptly with the ministry.


Hebrews 12:

22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, 23 to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24 to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.

25 See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, 26 whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” 27 Now this, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. 29 For our God is a consuming fire.
Contact Info
Office:
http://www.reformationtoday.net/id6.html

Kieschnick Invokes Roman Catholic Understanding of the Scriptures

A new icon for real, relevant, relational churches - Elvis.

From Norman Teigen's blog:

Tuesday, June 30, 2009
President Kieschnick of the LC-MS said this:
"...we in the LCMS are not in agreement, citing four of them:

"The administration of the Sacrament of Holy Communion, mainly the question of who should be invited or allowed to commune at the altar of our Lord in LCMS congregations.

"The service of women, mainly the question of in what roles and capacities Scripture allows or commends the participation and involvement of women in the church.
"Questions about proper forms of worship, mainly how much uniformity is necessary in the worship life of LCMS congregations, how much and what kind of diversity in forms of worship is acceptable.

"Inter-Christian relationships, mainly the question of how to remain a biblical, confessional, evangelical, Christian, Lutheran church body boldly confessing the truth in love, relating to other Christians and Christian churches while honoring our covenants of love to avoid unionism and syncretism."

Finally, I note, "In the years ahead our Synod will need to continue to work under Holy Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions to achieve similar solidarity in these matters. Where Scripture speaks plainly and clearly to the question at hand, the matter is resolved. Where Scripture does not speak plainly, clearly, or at all to the question at hand, it behooves us as a group of rational, reasonable, Christian people to come to a godly and common-sense conclusion regarding how to proceed with mutual respect and non-offensive conduct."

[this seems like a very open and honest thing to say: NT]

***

GJ -Nothing becomes a pope more than papal statements, and Pope Kieschnick is one of the most effective. Even his victims like him.

He didn't want to wander into the zone of the Formula of Concord, where mentioning the adiaphora would have condemned him. Missouri is just as busy aping the Reformed as WELS is, but they also have a growing body of Roman and Eastern Orthodox clones, who are like popcorn kernels in hot oil. All of the sudden they POP--or pope--and become the priests they always were, in the words of Neuhaus. Meanwhile their friends cheer them on, hoping they too will POP or pope in the future.

Kieschnick is attacking the clarity of the Scriptures in this pious palaver. The Scriptures are quite clear about all doctrinal matters. When Rome lost to the Lutherans during the initial Reformation debates, they switched from using the Scriptures to attacking the clarity and sufficiency of the Scriptures, as Chemnitz noted in Examination.

If the Scriptures are not clear or sufficient, as Rome claims, then we need a pope to issue solemn declarations which oppose or supplant the Word.

Pope Kieschnick revealed his doctrinal apostasy when he was elected SP. He revealed, as if just told by the Holy Spirit, that Christ is the only way to heaven. Then he added, "Unless there are other ways we have not been told." Nevertheless, Cascione and Otten blessed him and wished him well.

[Kieschnick was quoted in Christian News, when he was just elected, and that was probably from a Missouri news release.]

Ambiguity is a great tool for popes. The conservatives took his statement one way. The apostates rejoiced in his adroit negation of the initial statement. Saying two things at once means Kieschnick does not believe either one.

The doctrinal boards of each synod should be dubbed the Apostasy Boards. They carefully examine the Scriptures and do the opposite.

Church and Chicaneries Might Try This - To Be Real, Relevant, Relational

Church skateboarding evangelism.

WELS - Stop Lying about Kokomo

LutherRocks has left a new comment on your post "Joe Krohn's Free Blog":

One more thing...

http://www.wels.net/cgi-bin/site.pl?1518&cuTopic_topicID=45&cuItem_itemID=2835

Click on it or copy and paste.

Someone else needs to do some homework.

Joe Krohn



Q: What is the WELS teaching on objective justification? My friend and I have had a discussion, and he pointed me to the Kokomo articles, or theses, as an example of what WELS teaches. Being just a layman I was wondering if I should use these to teach others who may have the same question, as he did for me.
A: The teaching of objective justification is that God the Father declared the sins of the whole world forgiven because Christ had paid for all sin. To benefit from that payment and that declaration it is necessary that a person be brought to faith in Christ as his Savior (subjective justification) (2 Corinthians 5:18-21).

The so-called Kokomo Statements should not be taken as representative of WELS teaching. Much that has been put out and circulated about the Kokomo Statements has been a misrepresentation of the WELS position. The Kokomo Statements were not drawn up by anyone in WELS as a presentation of our position. They were drawn up by opponents of the WELS position. Three of the statements are taken from WELS sources, but taken out of context, they caricature the WELS position and should not be taken as as an adequate presentation of WELS teaching. Anyone circulating the Kokomo Statements as a representation of the WELS position is not giving a fair and balanced presentation of WELS teaching.

A brief evaluation of the so-called Kokomo Statements is contained in a 1982 paper by Siegbert Becker, "Objective Justification," which is available from the Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary library. Papers on objective justification also appear in Vol. III of Our Great Heritage, available from Northwestern Publishing House.

***

GJ - I traveled to Kokomo and talked to both families who were kicked out of WELS for rejecting the Kokomo Statements, three of which were almost verbatim from J. P. Meyer's Ministers of Christ, NPH.

I reproduced the letter in Thy Strong Word.

Sig Becker endorsed the Kokomo Statements. Sausage Factory President Panning was in charge of the appeal process, and he supported the Kokomo Statements.

Whenever convenient, WELS denies the Kokomo Statements, but they are official policy. As one Lutheran said, "Didn't they bind the conscience of people who did not agree?"

Someone is obviously feeding Joe Krohn the official, deceitful line about UOJ in WELS. Would that be a stealth member of Church and Chicanery?

---

dk, in plain spoken fashion, addressed Joe. This is what he has left a new comment on your post "WELS - Stop Lying about Kokomo":

Hey Joe,

I have to ask you to think about this: If the WELS do not accept the Kokomo statements as official doctrine (as the WELS Q&A claims) how much more despicable are they for kicking out those two families!

"Um, hey... we don't believe these statements but since you're laymen and acting with authority we're going to kick you to the curb"

Howdy Joe: What do you make of that? Isn't that a pretty blaring contradiction? I'm not thumbing my nose at you, but you have to agree at the inconsistency, right?

What is the best construction that we (as Christian people) can put on this collection of facts?

Ignorance Explained

The kiddies learn to love Rock N Roll in the nursery department.

rlschultz has left a new comment on your post "Let's Hear It for the Eighth Commandment...And Lov...":

I have a theory concerning the ignorance of WELS laity. There are several aspects which come into play here. I have known only a couple of WELS members who have read anything in the Lutheran Confessions beyond the Small Catechism. Most pastors will not take on the Book of Concord in an adult bible study setting. The active and involved members are often engaged in busy work. The congregational activities have become the new monasticism. Boards and committees suck up a lot of time and energy, like a powerful vacuum cleaner. Similar to the mainstream media, the information about the synod which reaches the laity is heavily filtered, spun, redacted, and edited.

Like the Mueller statement that there is no CG in the WELS, we should never believe anything until it has been officially denied. When non-official sources offer information which is both contrary and enlightening, such sources are instantly scorned and spat upon. There are also cultural factors. Many adults today have a short attention span. They may not read much and also may have a hard time with deductive reasoning. A lifetime of TV viewing tends to produce this. WELS leaders often have a fixation with authority, their authority. Many of them have a difficult time admitting to their errors and the errors of their peers. This has produced the stealth infallibility that is rampant in the WELS. I honestly believe that most of the WELS laity are trapped.

They are now being told that the financial problems in the synod are just the unfortunate consequence of a sour economy. It would be difficult for them to fathom the idea that this is nothing more than the chickens coming home to roost. The solution that is being given to them is to sacrifice and open up their wallets. After all, just look at all of the cutbacks that the synod is making. As has been stated so many times on this blog, the problem is false doctrine and the solution is biblical doctrine. Those who look to men and money are barking up the wrong trees.

***

GJ - We learn better what we teach. Pastors avoid teaching the Book of Concord so they do not know their own Confessions. They do not engage themselves in doctrinal discussions, so their intellectual tools grow rusty.

Laity - try asking for a study of the Formula of Concord in your congregation. The pastoral response will be educational. Some congregations do study the Confessions and that study bears fruit.

Church Growth produces more weed seeds.

Joe Krohn's Free Blog

Ichabod is Joe Krohn's free blog. For those who are new to this blog, Joe is a WELS member, a buddy of Kudu Don Patterson, and a promoter of The Church From Scratch in Round Rock, Texas, where Doebler channels Driscoll. Joe used to belong to CrossWalk in Phoenix, the non-WELS congregation from which Church and Chicanery Pastor Jeff Gunn is trying to escape. Gunn hopes to flee to Wisconsin Lutheran College, the nursing mother of Church and Change. We all know the birth father of C and C - Old Scratch hisself.

Joe had a Rock N Roll blog to promote his agenda, but he erased it. His Ichabod comments are entertaining and instructive, because they betray the thoughts of Church and Chicaneries everywhere. Sometimes he even signs them.

Like all Church Shrinkers, Joe is a UOJ Stormtrooper, always trying to justify the erroneous opinion that God declared the whole world forgiven of its sin, without the Word, the Means of Grace, or faith.

He asked about my use of OJ in the first edition of Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant. That has been explained many times before, and the new edition is available for free as a PDF download - either from Lulu.com or from gljackson.com. He can buy the book from his own publishing house, Northwestern Publishing House in Milwaukee.

I publish for everyone, not secretly or on secretive listserves. The issue is not what I think, but what the Word of God teaches and the Book of Concord confesses.

Many people still believe, as I did once, that OJ was a peculiar synonym for the Atonement. Various WELS laity pressed me to study the issue, so I learned otherwise. OJ, called UOJ in WELS, or General Justification in Hoenecke - means that every single person in the world has been forgiven by God: Hottentots (E. Preuss), Hitler, the people who died in the Flood. Everyone in Hell is a guilt-free saint (WELS Kokomo Statements).

The Atonement means Christ died for the sins of the world. The Atonement is not justification, as Robert Preus stated in his last book, Justification and Rome.

Some well established Christian doctrines clash with the weirdness of UOJ: Original Sin, the efficacy of the Word, the Means of Grace, Law and Gospel, justification by faith.

UOJ goes well with Universalism and Church Growthism.

The Sacraments
Joe reminds me of students who phone me without reading the syllabus. That just happened as we drove to the Hoover Dam. I got two phone calls from the same student about the upcoming assignment. "Have you read the syllabus?" No. I parked the van and explained the assignment to the student.

Really Joe. I have all my books linked to Lulu and my domain. Everything is there for free. I have 2,700 posts, which have covered the Word and Sacraments many times. Doing a little homework before posting would be a good idea. The Google search window on the blog works very well. It is the only way I find some material from the past.

Sacrament, like the word Trinity, is a non-Biblical word used to encapsulate the content of many different passages. Ordination is called a sacrament in the Apology - "the best work of Melanchthon," as one Lutheran said recently.

I find it odd that some Lutheran pastors declare, "Ordination is not a sacrament." I dealt with that topic a bit in my last sermon, which I saved as a videotape file (free) and in the printed version on two (2) blogs. I collect Lutheran quotations to help everyone in their sermon preparation.

The Church and Chicanery pastors should do the same - post the printed version of their sermons. They should also offer a link to the original from Driscoll, Groeschel, or their other favorite false teachers.

Baggage Check And Drop a Check at The CORE

Fresh from their baseball vacation, Ski and Katie are presenting

Baggage Check

at

The CORE.

Baggage Check is from Craig Groeschel again.

Baggage
View this series. Series ID: 5
4 week series

Do you have it? Would you like to check it for good? God is ready and willing to claim it, we just have to be willing to let it go. And not on a round-trip flight, but a one-way destination. Learn how you can pack up the pain and hurt, find release from addiction and torment, and break free from the battles that keep you and your baggage grounded.

The totally awesome teaser video can be viewed here.

Notice on the video - no one is there when the man finally pushes his bags into The CORE's lobby. That is because Ski and Katie were gone.

One Lutheran has already observed, "Checking baggage is a bad analogy. People check their baggage so they can pick it up again."

He asked, "Do they charge $25 to check each bag?"

I recall Paul Calvin Kelm using the same baggage illustration for one of his evangelism brochures. That was 22 years ago.

This display of sermon plagiarism from false teachers continues unabated.

Let's Hear It for the Eighth Commandment...And Love

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Where Is Love? WELS Overkill in Rockford Area":

The "facts" in the article "WELS overkill in Rockford area" are anything but facts. Whomever (sic) is ranting against God's work in the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) obviously has too much time on his hands (in this viewers' humble opinion). Whatever happened to "Speaking the truth in love" and "putting the best construction on everything?" I see neither in the above article, and a good start would be, simply speaking the truth. "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor."

---

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Where Is Love? WELS Overkill in Rockford Area":

The above anonymous commentators don't know what they are talking about. I live in the area. I have worshipped (sic) at all the churches mentioned above. It would be nice if people familiar with the area (Rockford & vicinity) rather than people who think they know it all. I personally abhor "church growth", and I know the pastor of New Life (and have met the other above-mentioned pastors), and know that New Life Evangelical Lutheran Church has solid Biblical Theology, and my wife and I am looking forward to joining this congregation soon for this very reason. I have studied theology, so I know what I'm talking about, and I have never been a member of Peace, Loves Park or Hope, Belvidere. The members who attend Bible Study at New Life are knowledgable (sic) of God's Holy Word, and we praise God that this is their focus: Knowing God's Word and Making it Known.

Richard D. Eischen
Rockford, IL

***

GJ - Do these people have a problem with a WELS pastor earning a DMin at Fuller Seminary, having a friend deny it in Christian News, and teaching Church Growth doctrine at Mary Lou College in New Ulm? Larry Olson, from Loves Park, has made a career from Church Growth. Did they perform an exorcism at his old church when he left?

---

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Let's Hear It for the Eighth Commandment...And Lov...":

"Whatever happened to "Speaking the truth in love" and "putting the best construction on everything?" I see neither in the above article, and a good start would be, simply speaking the truth. "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.""

Everyone should cover for false teachings and misleading emphasis on CGM matters that do not count. I do not think so no matter how often the 8th commandment is trotted out.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Let's Hear It for the Eighth Commandment...And Lov...":

Greg, you and I might both prefer "worshiped" to "worshipped" yet they are both accepted spellings.

Furthermore, it should be noted that Tim Gumm who has been at Loves Park for many years now is the "anti-Larry O." Things have been cleaned up there for years now.

***

GJ - Anti-Larry Oh! is good, even though Olson is dubbed the harmless heretic by his fellow pastors. Left unanswered - Is Loves Park selling bonds legally?

Study of Pietism - Starting Next Sunday

Spener started Pietism with his little book.

Our adult study series on Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant has ended.

This Sunday will begin a series on The History and Influence of Pietism.

Lessons are being saved on Vimeo. Check the list in the left column.

I am going to publish my review of Schmidt's History of Pietism, which can be purchased at Northwestern Publishing House. Click here for the book. NPH seems to have the Hoenecke graphic where the Schmidt graphic should be. I am going to check that out. The picture reads "Evangelical Dogmatics I."

The Schmidt book is a tough one to read. Any intellectual history is going to be hard to follow, especially when events are so distant from us in time and culture. However, pastors and interested laity should give it a try.

The Lutheran bodies established in America were profoundly influenced by Pietism and still are. The Muhlenberg tradition (LCA, now ELCA) came from Halle University, the heart of Pietism. CFW Walther belonged to Pietist circles before he came over to America. The Swedes and Norwegians were Pietists. The Wisconsin Synod began as a unionistic, Pietistic sect. Hoenecke - one of their better theologians - was trained at Halle University, under Tholuck, an avowed Universalist.

Some of us are researching the history of Universal Objective Justification. Reformed doctrine and Pietism are the leading causes for UOJ being promoted by Walther, WELS, and the Little Sect on the Prairie.

The Shrinkers of WELS love UOJ, which excuses them from any doctrinal rigor. Everyone is already forgiven, so whatever they do to sign people up is justified by their profound concern for the lost (a core value in Pietism). Taking away trust in the Means of Grace - Pietism. Telling the laity they are responsible for evangelism - Pietism.

Let us pause for a moment and consider the Parable of the Lost Sheep in Luke 15, the Gospel lesson for those who do not follow the Roman lectionary. The shepherd looks for the lost sheep in that parable. He does not stay at home, drinking beer, creating a Vision Statement. Kent Hunter, that guru for all Lutherans, says, "Sheep have sheep. Shepherds to not have sheep." That is his lame justification for inserting the Fuller Pietistic agenda into Lutheran congregations. He is the Church Doctor but more of Kevorkian.

Joel Gerlach repeated the Pietistic Fuller mantra by saying the church must make disciples to make disciples to make disciples....

Pietists are unionistic.

Pietists despise the Sacraments and reject the efficacy of the Word.

Pietists have been polarizing and divisive by broadcasting how superior they are to everyone else.

Does anything sound like Church and Chicanery so far?

Like the Shrinkers in Missouri and the Little Sect?

Getting Adiaphora Wrong

Rock and the Cradle Roll

Dan at Necessary Roughness has an interesting post on some Lutheran practices today.

The desire to copy the worst of Roman Catholicism is a theme of LCMS-ELCA worship. Sometimes this is cloaked by Eastern Orthodoxy, the Lite Beer of Romanism. Someone can get just as drunk on Lite Beeer, but it takes a few more cans, I imagine.

I know the secret formula for Bud Lite. A chemist at A-Bush told me: "Brew Bud, add water." Later he tried to deny this. I said, "I remember when you admitted it to me."

Lutheran pastors are sinuflecting to Rome, or else moonwalking to Fuller. Either way, they justify themselves by calling everything adiaphora, matters of indifference.

The article on adiaphora in the Formula of Concord. Many practices are not commanded or forbidden by the Word of God. However, when false teachers engage in these practices, it is wrong to copy them.

---

5] Namely, when under the title and pretext of external adiaphora such things are proposed as are in principle contrary to God's Word (although painted another color), these are not to be regarded as adiaphora, in which one is free to act as he will, but must be avoided as things prohibited by God. In like manner, too, such ceremonies should not be reckoned among the genuine free adiaphora, or matters of indifference, as make a show or feign the appearance, as though our religion and that of the Papists were not far apart, thus to avoid persecution, or as though the latter were not at least highly offensive to us; or when such ceremonies are designed for the purpose, and required and received in this sense, as though by and through them both contrary religions were reconciled and became one body; or when a reentering into the Papacy and a departure from the pure doctrine of the Gospel and true religion should occur or gradually follow therefrom [when there is danger lest we seem to have reentered the Papacy, and to have departed, or to be on the point of departing gradually, from the pure doctrine of the Gospel].

6] For in this case what Paul writes, 2 Cor. 6:14-17, shall and must obtain: Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers; for what communion hath light with darkness?Wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord.

7] Likewise, when there are useless, foolish displays, that are profitable neither for good order nor Christian discipline, nor evangelical propriety in the Church, these also are not genuine adiaphora, or matters of indifference.

8] But as regards genuine adiaphora, or matters of indifference (as explained before), we believe, teach, and confess that such ceremonies, in and of themselves, are no worship of God, nor any part of it, but must be properly distinguished from such as are, as it is written: In vain they do worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men, Matt. 15:9.

9] Therefore we believe, teach, and confess that the congregation of God of every place and every time has, according to its circumstances, the good right, power, and authority [in matters truly adiaphora] to change, to diminish, and to increase them, without thoughtlessness and offense, in an orderly and becoming way, as at any time it may be regarded most profitable, most beneficial, and best for [preserving] good order, [maintaining] Christian discipline [and for eujtaxiva worthy of the profession of the Gospel], and the edification of the Church. Moreover, how we can yield and give way with a good conscience to the weak in faith in such external adiaphora, Paul teaches Rom. 14, and proves it by his example, Acts 16:3; 21:26; 1 Cor. 9:19.

10] We believe, teach, and confess also that at the time of confession [when a confession of the heavenly truth is required], when the enemies of God's Word desire to suppress the pure doctrine of the holy Gospel, the entire congregation of God, yea, every Christian, but especially the ministers of the Word, as the leaders of the congregation of God [as those whom God has appointed to rule His Church], are bound by God's Word to confess freely and openly the [godly] doctrine, and what belongs to the whole of [pure] religion, not only in words, but also in works and with deeds; and that then, in this case, even in such [things truly and of themselves] adiaphora, they must not yield to the adversaries, or permit these [adiaphora] to be forced upon them by their enemies, whether by violence or cunning, to the detriment of the true worship of God and the introduction and sanction of idolatry. 11] For it is written, Gal. 5:1: Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not again entangled in the yoke of bondage. Also Gal. 2:4f : And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage; to whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour, that the truth of the Gospel might continue with you. 12] [Now it is manifest that in that place Paul speaks concerning circumcision, which at that time had become an adiaphoron (1 Cor. 7:18f.), and which at other occasions was observed by Paul (however, with Christian and spiritual freedom, Acts 16:3). But when the false apostles urged circumcision for establishing their false doctrine, (that the works of the Law were necessary for righteousness and salvation,) and misused it for confirming their error in the minds of men, Paul says that he would not yield even for an hour, in order that the truth of the Gospel might continue unimpaired.]
Book of Concord, Formula of Concord, Adiaphora, Solid Declaration
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The conflict came from the same kind of justifications when the Emperor forced the Lutherans to accept some aspects of Roman Catholicism, after Luther's death. Why did he do that? The obvious reason - he wanted to get Lutherans back into the fold. Melanchthon, who had many great qualities but not a lot of courage, decided to compromise by saying many of these things were adiaphora. That was a case of using a correct term to justify error.

For example, during the 1980s, the Shrinkers in WELS were always saying, "We cannot read someone's mind and identify motives." The same Shrinkers knew exactly why pastors and laity did not like their Fuller doctrine: "They are lazy. They do not care about the lost. They are threatened. They see a false teacher under every rock. They are jealous." The Shrinkers had an astonishing capacity to read minds and find nothing but evil among Book of Concord Lutherans.

When I laboriously listed the doctrinal errors of WELS leaders and contrasted them to orthodox Lutheran statements in a paper I gave, District VP Schroer phoned me and screamed, "You are judging hearts, and that is a sin!" I said, "No, I am quoting your leaders and comparing their statements to Lutheran doctrine."

Someone is using Bailing Water to promote his CLC (sic) sect. I remember Paul Tiefel using every possible excuse to justify following false teachers, just like his cousin James Tiefel at The Sausage Factory. Yes, people in other denominations are Christians too, but that does not commend their doctrine. Yes, there are questionable hymns in The Lutheran Hymnal, but that does not excuse false doctrine. Some prayers among the Collects might be taken the wrong way, but that is not a reason to promote Reformed or Roman Catholic doctrine.

The sign of the cross is an ancient Christian tradition, a good tradition encouraged by the Book of Concord. Many other practices are being introduced to make it easier to de-sensitize people to Romanism. Some pastors are so bewitched that their friends can leave Lutherdom for Rome or Constantinople, denounce Lutheran doctrine, and still be objects of adoration. Many Missouri pastors are still genuflecting before their Fenton icon.

Pope John the Malefactor on LutherQuest (sic)

Pope John the Malefactor once bragged about his world travels.


William Kope (Tonto2)
Senior Member
Username: Tonto2

Post Number: 1262
Registered: 12-2004

Posted on Friday, June 26, 2009 - 2:16 pm: Edit Post Delete Post Print Post
>>Isn't this exactly what you yourself have done by forming the ACLC?>>
Rev. Kurtzahn
The ACLC is not a single congregation. There are other small groups such as ELDoNA which is in discussions with ACLC, The Free Lutheran Church in Finland and a small group of Lutherans in Sri Lanka, called the Lanka Lutheran Church. So you can see by that that these small groups are reaching out to other Confessional Lutheran bodies. There is no Lutheran body that is completely orthodox, yet many bodies still strive for orthodoxy. Isn't that what the Church is called to do?


Rev. Stephen Kurtzahn (Hville79)
Member
Username: Hville79

Post Number: 180
Registered: 6-2008

Posted on Friday, June 26, 2009 - 2:46 pm: Edit Post Delete Post Print Post
Mr. Kope: I fully realize the ACLC is not a single congregation. The ACLC may indeed be having free conferences and discussions with other mini-church bodies. The point I was getting at with my last post is this: Pastor Preus criticizes others and makes sarcastic comments about them, while at the same time he's doing the very same thing.


Pr Rolf David Preus (Rolf)
Senior Member
Username: Rolf

Post Number: 3675
Registered: 5-2001

Posted on Friday, June 26, 2009 - 3:03 pm: Edit Post Delete Post Print Post
No, Rev. Kurtzahn, I am not doing the very same thing. None of us in the ACLC left the ELS voluntarily. We were thrown out. We were not thrown out for doctrinal reasons. None of us was given due process.

I was thrown out because I wouldn't recant a paper I had written unless I was shown that it contained errors or false doctrine. The other pastors were thrown out because they told the man who threw me out to repent of his sin and that he could not commune at their altars until he did. It was not our choice, Rev. Kurtzahn.

***

GJ - Pope John the Malefactor extended the Left Foot of Fellowship to many, yet he is still in elected office. That episode proves that voting does not solve any problems. The worst leaders (Gurgle, VP Wayne Mueller) have been voted into office and even voted back in after being voted out (Wayne Mueller).

The solution is not with the right man but with the correct doctrine. The Lutheran Church needs faithful leaders, but a faithful leader cannot accomplish much alone. Others must also apply the Word of God and study the Book of Concord.

The Third Sunday after Trinity

By Norma Boeckler

The Third Sunday after Trinity

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

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

Bethany Lutheran Worship, 8 AM Phoenix Time


The Hymn #292 Lord Jesus Christ 1.2
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 1 Peter 5:6-11
The Gospel Luke 15:1-10
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #436 The Lord’s My Shepherd 1.33

God Pursues the Lost

The Hymn #339 All Hail the Power 1.57
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 #9 O Day of Rest 1.89

KJV 1 Peter 5:6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: 7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. 8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. 10 But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. 11 To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

KJV Luke 15:1 Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. 2 And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. 3 And he spake this parable unto them, saying, 4 What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? 5 And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. 7 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance. 8 Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? 9 And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost. 10 Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.

THIRD SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY
Lord God, heavenly Father, we all like sheep have gone astray, having suffered ourselves to be led away from the right path by Satan and our own sinful flesh: We beseech Thee graciously to forgive us all our sins for the sake of Thy Son, Jesus Christ; and quicken our hearts by Thy Holy Spirit, that we may abide in Thy word, and in true repentance and a steadfast faith continue in Thy Church unto the end, and obtain eternal salvation, through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end Amen.

God Pursues the Lost

This Gospel passage is famous by itself, and it is also the introduction to the Prodigal Son. So we have three easy-to-remember examples in a cluster:
The first is the lost sheep. Any farmer could identify with that one.
The second is the lost coin. Any woman could place herself in that story.
The third is the lost, prodigal son. Any person could see himself as the Prodigal Son, perhaps as the elder brother. And it reveals to us the nature of our loving heavenly Father, who rejoices in what is found.

We have tender feelings toward our animals. They depend on us, showing us love and affection, especially when they are hungry. They get themselves into trouble in various ways.

The Bible is lavish in comparing our relationship to Christ as that of the Good Shepherd (John 10) caring for the sheep. We are the sheep (Isaiah 53) who have gone astray, and He is the sacrificial, spotless Lamb who has paid the price for our sins. He is both Passover Lamb and the Good Shepherd.

Sheep easily get into trouble. If one heads into the corner of the pen, all the others will line up and crowd into that corner and stay there for a while. We knew a family with a sheep farm, and the son showed us that tendency. Once they were all lined up and pressing into the corner, I tried to get the crowd broken up. The farms kids laughed. They said, “You can’t change their minds right now. Later they will break up.” I could picture four parents saying, “Who did that to the sheep?” But later, they milled around as usual. It was easy to imagine them following each other off a cliff.

We all know animals that can take care of themselves fairly well. I heard about cats that live in luxury in a house, with loving owners. The cats have also tunneled under the fence where a supermarket of mice and other creatures live in a field. It’s hard to imagine a cat being totally dependent, since so many can live on their own if they have to.

Luther had the greatest comparison to remind us of our relationship to Christ, and this little story reminds us of it – He is as anxious for us as we are for Him.

Jesus was accused of welcoming sinners and eating with them. This accusation came in various ways from the Scribes and Pharisees. We should remember that this was historically true but also a hint at problems to come in the visible church.
Jesus attracted huge crowds because they heard and saw something completely different. He spoke with divine authority. He confirmed His divinity with miracles. And He taught that forgiveness came from Him, not from the works we do ourselves.

Those who had no hope for forgiveness from the Scribes and Pharisees were drawn to Jesus. They were open sinners. In other words, everyone knew they were scoundrels. Jesus said, “Righteousness comes from Me, not from your works.” That enraged everyone who trusted in his own goodness, so they hated Jesus and sought to accuse Him this way and that way.

The Lost Sheep addresses God’s attitude toward sinners. Jesus addressed the critics by asking them a question. Who among you would not leave his 99 sheep to look for the lost one?

That would be hard to answer with “I would!”

Now the entire audience is viewing the question of Jesus befriending the sinners in a different way. But there are more details.

Any herd owner search for that sheep until he is found.

Notice how the Enthusiasts turn this around? They want everyone to identify with this parable but they get the basic message wrong. The 99 do not search the woods, the ravines, and the ditches to find their lost companion. The Shepherd does.

How does God pursue the lost? He provides many different ways for people to hear about His gracious love, His mercy, and His forgiveness. Throughout the Scriptures there are hundreds of statements about His desire to forgive, His efforts to provide a Savior for us all.

We do not just have one Means of Grace, but many, if we count them all up.
If you have ever called for a lost animal, you know about this. They do not answer the first call or come on their own. So God pursues us all with many different Means and always in a way that we can understand and trust in His Promises.
Infant baptism is one way in which God draws people into His Kingdom. It is the surest sign of God’s grace and love. Infants have nothing to offer – no works, no money, no merit. They do have the purest trust in God, which is planted within their hearts by the Gospel. As infant believers, everything they do glorifies God, even when they soil their didies or have green stuff coming out their noses.

Enthusiasts jumped on Luther and said, “How can this be? Infants do not have a mature understanding.” Luther responded, “You do, but still you do not believe.”

So Jesus taught repeatedly that we must believe as children to enter the Kingdom. He picked up small children and blessed them to show what He meant. That naturally means that small children, even nursing babies, have faith.

Some are converted as adults, so they are baptized—as Jesus was—because this Sacrament carries with it so many blessings. Are we in His kingdom? We only need to look to our baptism, whether as children or adults.

We have the preaching and teaching of the Gospel as another Means of receiving God’s grace.

Jesus provided, through the apostles, a learned ministry so people would hear the Word of God from men who were well trained in the Scriptures. Jesus taught publicly but also explained more to His apostles. He gathered 500 together before His Ascension and taught them.

Preaching and teaching must be important to God, because that is mostly what Jesus did for three years. He performed miracles to confirm the Word, but most of His time was spent in distributing the Word, like the Parable of the Sower and the Seed.

Holy Communion is another instrument of God’s grace. The hardest work is to focus while listening. Luther commented on how a sermon can fly right past us as we think about other things. One study showed that people think at least 5 times faster than anyone can talk. One distraction can take away an entire audience. I worked for a pastor who had a bat fly above the congregation. No matter what he said, the heads moved around watching that bat. And we think it’s funny when the dog says “Squirrel” in the movie Up. People are just as easily distracted. So Holy Communion gives us the visible Word, which we receive individually. Adult education specialists say, “We should involve the senses in education.” God thought of that a few years ago. It is impossible to ignore what Holy Communion is when we come forward as individuals to receive the body and blood of Christ.

What do Enthusiasts complain about? The Word – they do not trust in the Word alone.

They also rail against the Sacraments. The Enthusiasts do not accept God granting us forgiveness through Holy Baptism and Holy Communion.

Lutherans who study with Enthusiasts begin to be embarrassed, so they get rid of the altar and hide the baptismal font.

What happened to the Shepherd leaving ninety and nine in the wilderness, and going after that which is lost, until he find it?

And yet there are more Means of Grace, if we count everything taught in the Book of Concord.

Absolution is definitely God’s instrument, because the announcement of forgiveness to believers is God’s grace.

The mutual consolation of the brothers – that is how people share the Gospel in their daily lives, forgiving and being forgiven.

Ordination is listed as a sacrament once in the Book of Concord. That is naturally part of the preaching and teaching of the Word. Certain men are set aside to preach and teach. Ordination, the laying on of hands, shows that God offers special blessings and responsibilities to those who serve in this capacity.

So Jesus helps us identify with God’s attitude toward us when He says that someone finding a lost sheep will carry it home rejoicing and celebrate with his neighbors. God is far more willing to forgive than we are to repent.

The Parable of the Lost Coin, in just a few words, once again reveals the attitude of God toward us. If only one item is lost, we search the entire home and engage in massive clean-ups to find it. One of my worst episodes was finding the tickets to Disneyland. I searched everywhere and even began cleaning out the filing cabinets finding them. I was ready to confess, on the day of the trip, that they were completely lost, when I sank into my chair near the computer. My eyes fell on the tickets, two feet away. The happiness was overwhelming.

So there is great rejoicing in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and believes in the Gospel.


Quotations

"If the question is put, 'Why did God ordain so many means of grace when one suffices to confer upon the sinner His grace and forgiveness?' we quote the reply of Luther who writes (Smalcald Articles, IV: 'The Gospel not merely in one way gives us counsel and aid against sin, for God is superabundantly rich in His grace. First through the spoken Word, by which the forgiveness of sins is preached in the whole world, which is the peculiar office of the Gospel. Secondly through Baptism. Thirdly through the holy Sacrament of the Altar. Fourthly through the power of the keys and also through the mutual conversation and consolation of brethren, Matthew 18:20.'"
John Theodore Mueller, Christian Dogmatics, A Handbook of Doctrinal Theology, 1934, p. 447. SA, IV, Concordia Triglotta, p. 491. Matthew 18:20.

"We further believe that in this Christian Church we have forgiveness of sin, which is wrought through the holy Sacraments and Absolution, moreover, through all manner of consolatory promises of the entire Gospel. Therefore, whatever is to be preached, concerning the Sacraments belongs here, and in short, the whole Gospel and all the offices of Christianity, which also must be preached and taught without ceasing. For although the grace of God is secured through Christ, and sanctification is wrought by the Holy Ghost through the Word of God in the unity of the Christian Church, yet on account of our flesh which we bear about with us we are never without sin."
The Large Catechism, The Creed, Article III, #54, Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p. 693. Tappert, p. 417.

"The second argument is that 'God desires all men to be saved' (1 Timothy 2:4), and He gave His Son for us men and created man for eternal life. Likewise: All things exist for man, and he himself exists for God that he may enjoy Him, etc. These points and others like them can be refuted as easily as the first one. For these verses must always be understood as pertaining to the elect only, as the apostle says in 2 Timothy 2:10 'everything for the sake of the elect.' For in an absolute sense Christ did not die for all, because He says: 'This is My blood which is poured out for you' and 'for many'﷓﷓He does not say: for all﷓﷓'for the forgiveness of sins.' (Mark 14:24; Matthew 26:28)
Martin Luther, Luther's Works, 25 p. 375.

"No more splendid work exists than receiving and hearing the Word of God."
What Luther Says, An Anthology, 3 vols., ed., Ewald Plass, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959, I, p. 302. Luke 10:38.

More on the Koeplin Essay

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Koeplin Essay Found! in the Ichabod Archives":

I believe that some who comment on this blog are to Lutheranism what the John Birch Society is to politics. As Birchers find a communist under every stone, some on this blog find a "Church Growther" in every comment that does not come from themselves.

I frequently attended Atonement when I was at the seminary. When Koeplin said that he was trying something "new and different," he was talking about things like singing "All Glory be to God on High" in place of the "Gloria in Excelsis" in TLH page 5 and page 15liturgy. I assume that some bloggers on this site would include Dr. Martin Luther as a raving WELS Lutheran "Church Growther", because as a PC he actually wrote chorales to take the place of liturgical chants -- fool that he was.

Some time ago, I wrote that I thought that the WELS would profit most from an every member visit from July 1 through December 31. Someone ripped me apart as a stark raving liberal who has never spoken out against Church Growth in WELS. I have, in fact, spoken against it with many at the "Love Shack," with district leaders, with my congregations, at conferences, and with those espousing it. I may have even spoke (sic) against it directly with more individual WELS "Church Growthers" than the person who accused me of being complacent. I have also paid what I consider rather high prices for my comments against Church Growth.

I certainly agree that Church Growth is a major, if not the number one, issue in WELS. I am not at all in disagreement with Ichabod and I enjoy the clever way Ichabod presents the issue. However, I do take exception when people who are on the right side and who have been addressing the right people are accused of complacency and "aiding and abetting" the Church Growth movement in WELS by people who are reading more into statements than is really there.

I believe that all bloggers need to be careful not to read all blogs through Church Growth sunglasses. It makes you sound foolish and extreme, when you want to sound wise and level-headed as we face root out this error.

***

GJ - If you want a John Bircher, email James Heiser, Archbishop of ELDONA. He is a trainer and recruiter for the JBS. But - shhh - it's a secret. Everything is a secret in ELDONA.

I thought your idea about an every member visitation was a good idea (assuming it is done correctly). I can imagine a lot of pastors resisting the work. They should look at what they are doing that is really important. I can only think of: preaching original sermons, teaching the Word, and visitation.

I vicared with an old fashioned pastor who believed in constant visitation in homes, hospitals, and nursing homes. I always visited a lot and I thought it was essential pastoral work.

Your comments were terribly general. Someone may disagree and sound fairly caustic, but that is part of anonymous blogging. You should see what I delete every day. It is good not to take a few remarks in the wrong way. Calling the others "John Birchers" is a logical fallacy. It is better to identify a specific remark and explain why it may be wrong.

I teach online at two universities. Feelings are often hurt because of the nature of the medium, almost anonymous. Blogging is similar.

Welcome Dan at Necessary Roughness

I added Necessary Roughness to my blog list. He updates fairly often and participates at Bailing Water.

More Lutheran Heroes

And by proxy, the CLC (sic)

Someone has been trying to promote the Church of the Lutheran Confession (sic) as an alternative to WELS, the Little Sect, and Missouri.

I won't let those comments through because the CLC is worse than the rest, always praising themselves while aping the Shrinkers in the larger groups. The more influential pastors are Paul Tiefel (cousin of James) and David Koenig. Both of them attack anyone who questions the Shrinkers in Lutherdom. As Dale Redlin said about both men, "They constantly have doctrinal problems, and they never listen to anyone."

David Koenig devoted an hour service (all sermon - nothing else) to a rant saying that Lutherans are wrong about evangelism. The Catholics and Reformed to it right. So the CLC (sic) made him a world missionary again. There may be a few Lutheran members among the legalists in that sect, but the pastors are anything but, and they are even more spineless than the garden variety.

Steve Kurtzahn is a hoot. He was CLC and is now WELS. He likes to comment on LutherQuest (sic) about the superiority of WELS. I think his congregation has issued a "divine call" to everyone in the parish except the church mice.

As regular readers recall, Koenig asked Valleskey if the Sausage Factory president really did go to Fuller Seminary. Valleskey had denied it to my face, but he admitted it to Koenig. Poor Dave leaves no thought unrecorded, so he sent one of his ferocious letters to me, including that fact. When I published this information, Koenig went ballistic on me. Apparently Valleskey was not at all happy with the leakage.

Plagiarism and the Emerging Church, Becoming Missional? What A Shock!

The current heroes of Lutherdom are featured on this graphic. Missing are: Josh McDowell, Waldo Werning, Kent Hunter, Robert Schuller, and a few others.

MacArthur: The Emergent Church is a Form of Paganism

Paul Edwards (On Crosswalk.com - oddly enough)

"The Paul Edwards Program," WLQV Detroit

Paul Edwards, host of “The Paul Edwards Program” on WLQV in Detroit, interviewed pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church John MacArthur about the emerging church movement in America. Paul begins the interview by asking Pastor John to respond to a radio interview with prominent emerging church leader Doug Pagitt. In the clip from October 22, 2007, Pagitt denied that there is a place of eternal conscious torment for persons who die apart from faith in Jesus Christ.
Paul Edwards: Help me with this—the emerging church prides itself on conversation, having a conversation, so let’s have a conversation. How can you have a conversation with someone, when you’re not even speaking the same language?

John MacArthur: Let me just cut to the chase on this one: [Doug] Pagitt is a Universalist. What he was saying is real simple. He was saying when you die your spirit goes to God and judgment means that whatever was not right about you, whatever was bad about you, whatever was substantially lacking about you, gets all resolved. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a Buddhist, a Hindu or a Muslim—doesn’t matter whether you’re a Christian really; we’re all going to end up in this wonderful, warm and fuzzy relationship with God. That’s just classic universalism.

I think you know it’s most helpful, Paul, to go back and kind of recast how we view these people. He’s not a pastor; he’s not a Christian; that’s not a church. When you call yourself a Christian and you call yourself a pastor and you say you have a church, all of that has to be—to be legitimate—defined biblically. And if it’s not, that’s not a church and you’re not a pastor and you’re not even a Christian.

What you have here is a form of false religion … A form of paganism that basically wants to be thought of as Christian because it gains a certain ground. But the underlying bottom line of this whole emerging movement is they don’t believe in any doctrine, they don’t believe in any theology. They don’t want to be forced to interpret anything in scripture a certain way and the out is, “Well the Bible isn’t clear anyway.” In other words, we don’t know what it means; we can’t know what it means.

Brian McLaren says nobody has ever gotten it right—we haven’t got it right now—so let’s not make an issue out of anything. Let’s just be open to everything. Let’s not take a position on theology, or for that matter, on morality or behavior because, hey, there’s no judgment anyway so we’re all going to end up in God in some ethereal, eternal relationship. And that’s just non-Christian. It is blatantly, flagrantly non-Christian. It’s as non-Christian as any false religion.

Edwards: [When “Emergents” and many seeker-sensitive church advocates say “We do church a certain way,”] it seems to me that they do it by totally ignoring the book of Acts and the Epistles.

MacArthur: I’m going to seem anachronistic if not an outright dinosaur at this point. I believe the church has one function, and that is to guard the truth, to proclaim the truth and to live the truth. So you take the Word of God, you teach it, you proclaim it, you protect it, you defend it, and you live it, and that’s a church. The Word of God rightly divided, rightly understood.

That’s not the idea in a seeker church; that’s not the idea certainly in an emerging church. Everything becomes style and contextualization and everything is built around the manipulation of people’s hot buttons as if we were selling a product like any other product in our culture. This fails to understand that the only real power in the spiritual realm is Divine and that God works His power through His truth, and that’s all that matters.

I think the illusion of success is created by crowds. You’ve probably heard recently that Bill Hybels, who is the guru of the seeker movement, has openly confessed that they did a big survey and found they’ve been doing it wrong.

Edwards: “We made a mistake,” he said.

MacArthur: Yes, we made a mistake. And so, the solution is—one of the lines in the statement was—we gotta get a blank piece of paper and start all over again. That’s exactly the problem. Why do you want a blank piece of paper when you have all kinds of paper full with the Word of God?

Edwards: Right.

MacArthur: If you want a biblical mandate and you want to do ministry biblically, you teach and preach the Word. I don’t think it matters whether you have smoke and mirrors. I don’t think it matters whether you wear a tie, or don’t wear a tie, whether you wear a black T-shirt and holes in your knees or a blue suit. (I think there are reasons to go with the suit rather the grunge approach—of dignity, respect, sober mindedness, seriousness, loftiness, etc, etc.)

At the end of the day, the only thing that matters is that we proclaim the Word of God. Look, I’ve been doing this for so long, and I haven’t changed anything. Contexts come, contexts go; fads come, fads go; styles come, styles go. I just keep doing the same thing. We show up on Sunday morning, we sing a little bit, we pray, we open the Word of God and explain His meaning to the people. The people just keep coming and coming and what I say goes around the world, on radio, and then it gets transferred into 50 languages and books and commentaries because [the Word] knows no boundaries. It knows no cultural restraint, because the Word of God is transcendent.

Edwards: One of the things I get most frustrated about is whenever people like you who are standing for truth point out the error both in the emergent church and in the seeker movement people will immediately run to 1 Corinthians 9 and begin screaming, “You know Paul said, ‘I became all things to all men,’ which means to the grunge I become as grunge, to the Universalist I become as a Universalist.” But in 1 Corinthians 9 Paul isn’t saying that we compromise the message and we become whatever the audience needs us to be in order to make the gospel palatable.

MacArthur: Well, of course not. All he is saying is there’s a foundation in the proclamation of the gospel with the Jew and there’s a different starting point with the Gentile. If I’m going to evangelize a Jew, I’m going to start with the Old Testament because that’s the substantial basis. So every time the Apostle Paul preached to the Jews he started with the Scripture—the Old Testament Scripture. Every time he evangelized Gentiles he started with creation. For example, in Acts 14 and Acts 17 he talks about the unknown God. Who is the unknown God? He’s the God who made everything—that was the foundation.

All he is saying in 1 Corinthians 9 is you must understand the starting point of your audience and here’s the point: ideologically. In other words, how do they think ideologically, philosophically, religiously? What are the ideas, the theories, the viewpoints that they hold? It’s not about identifying with their lifestyle; it’s not about being able to converse about every episode of South Park, every R-rated movie and every Rap song—that’s not it at all.

How do people think religiously, how do they perceive truth?—those are the starting points that Paul was establishing. That’s a far cry from saying that to reach this generation we must do their music, we must dress the way they dress, we must live the way they live, we must be familiar with the baser components of their culture. That’s a million miles from what the Apostle Paul had in mind. He was talking about those things that controlled their thought process and their worldview.

Paul Edwards: Help me with this—the emerging church prides itself on conversation, having a conversation, so let’s have a conversation. How can you have a conversation with someone, when you’re not even speaking the same language?

John MacArthur: Let me just cut to the chase on this one: [Doug] Pagitt is a Universalist. What he was saying is real simple. He was saying when you die your spirit goes to God and judgment means that whatever was not right about you, whatever was bad about you, whatever was substantially lacking about you, gets all resolved. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a Buddhist, a Hindu or a Muslim—doesn’t matter whether you’re a Christian really; we’re all going to end up in this wonderful, warm and fuzzy relationship with God. That’s just classic universalism.

I think you know it’s most helpful, Paul, to go back and kind of recast how we view these people. He’s not a pastor; he’s not a Christian; that’s not a church. When you call yourself a Christian and you call yourself a pastor and you say you have a church, all of that has to be—to be legitimate—defined biblically. And if it’s not, that’s not a church and you’re not a pastor and you’re not even a Christian.

What you have here is a form of false religion … A form of paganism that basically wants to be thought of as Christian because it gains a certain ground. But the underlying bottom line of this whole emerging movement is they don’t believe in any doctrine, they don’t believe in any theology. They don’t want to be forced to interpret anything in scripture a certain way and the out is, “Well the Bible isn’t clear anyway.” In other words, we don’t know what it means; we can’t know what it means.

Brian McLaren says nobody has ever gotten it right—we haven’t got it right now—so let’s not make an issue out of anything. Let’s just be open to everything. Let’s not take a position on theology, or for that matter, on morality or behavior because, hey, there’s no judgment anyway so we’re all going to end up in God in some ethereal, eternal relationship. And that’s just non-Christian. It is blatantly, flagrantly non-Christian. It’s as non-Christian as any false religion.

Edwards: [When “Emergents” and many seeker-sensitive church advocates say “We do church a certain way,”] it seems to me that they do it by totally ignoring the book of Acts and the Epistles.


Paul Edwards is the host of The Paul Edwards Program, a columnist and pastor. His program is heard daily on WLQV in Detroit and on godandculture.com. Contact him at paul@godandculture.com.

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GJ - I want to steal a march on Brett Meyer and post the obvious - Universal Objective Justification is an ideal doctrinal partner with Church Growth and implicit Universalism.

One WELS DP denied to me that WELS has ever taught Universalism, but I mentioned the "evangelism" campaign with posters that read, for all the world to see, "You are saved, just like me." Everyone is saved = Universalism.

Everyone is forgiven, without the World, without the Means of Grace, without faith - that is the UOJ message and the basic content of Universalism.

Teaching grace (forgiveness) apart from the Means of Grace is Enthusiasm.

The WELS, Missouri, and ELS leaders cannot defeat the Schwaermer Shrinkers because they are also Enthusiasts, as long as they cling to UOJ.