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| Pastor Paul Rydecki is standing above Pastor Steve Spencer. Both were WELS at the Intrepids' first and last conference. Rydecki's congregation is now in ELDONA; Spencer's DP is still promoting UOJ and endorsing such apostastes as Rick Johnson and Jeff Gunn. |
Pastor SpencerJanuary 2, 2015 at 3:18 PM
Based on the many documented cases you chronicled in this post, it would certainly seem that this type of thinking and these practices are not merely the "future" of the WELS, they are the PRESENT! And as this thinking is coming from many who are touted by some of our synod and district leaders as the experts in "growing" congregations, this kind of thing has the potential to spread very widely very quickly.
It brings the question: How long before confessional Lutherans will no longer find any WELS church in which to worship according to their consciences? It is so sad. And it is all so needless and useless. This stuff has not kept the synod from shrinking since the late 80s, and will not keep it from disappearing altogether by the end of the next decade or two. These things are all mere "proposals" of man, while the Lord of the Church will dispose matters as He sees fit, according to His honor and glory. There are so many churches who already do all this junk so much better than we could ever do; for what does God need another one? But how many have the true, historic, orthodox, and truly evangelical, confessional and Lutheran theology AND practices? It would seem to me that WELS would have a better chance at God keeping us around if we were actually DIFFERENT from the rest of the world, instead of trying to be exactly like it. Just sayin'!
Anonymous:
Being in the military meant constantly moving around and when settled temporarily, look for a church and service that we as a family could worship and praise our Lord in a respectful way. Most times we would settle for the military's "generic" protestant service on the installation because the offered "Lutheran" services were not conducted as we were raised. And that is the main point of this comment. The Word of God in Ephesians instructs fathers to raise their children "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." It seems not many churches are assisting parents in this task. Bible study and instruction should be taught not interpreted into "contemporary" styles so that they are entertained. The Christian Church should stand strong against becoming more worldly in their services just to have people in the pews.