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| It's never too young to begin despising the Means of Grace. Martin Luther College, Early Childhood Education |
WELS Discussions
Joe Jewell There's a real asymmetry there though, Seth Bode, in that one side (the side that wishes to defend anything with the label "WELS", no matter how aberrant the practice) risks no censure whatsoever for using their real names, whereas the other side certainly does. It is a very "cheap" courage that allows a Synod Firster to toss brickbats at those who are skeptical of the latest Chuch'n'Change innovation or the latest liturgical invention. He risks nothing in so doing, and may well win plaudits from his DP.
But there are real consequences to pay for speaking certain truths from the "wrong" position; e.g. a seminary professor who was a member of the TEC told a roomful of around 100 of my brothers that I was "misleading them" in quoting verbatim from a document (which at first he claimed did not even exist, until he realized that I had a copy of the same in front of me on my laptop!) wherein the LCMS criticized and subsequently rejected the NIV2011. That President Schroeder quoted precisely the same lines from precisely the same document about 9 months later in his pastoral letter to the synod is of no consequence, I suppose--he was in the "right" position (though his view was marginalized anyway), which is all that matters sometimes. (This attitude of alethic relativism, by the way, is endemic, likely stems in part from the functional Arminianism which is now rampant among those who wish to dispose of our Lutheran heritage, and is--I think--what resulted in the NIV2011 even having a chance in the WELS, essentially alone among those denominations professing a belief in verbal inspiration).
I don't pretend that's especially severe, mind you, to be falsely accused of all but lying by a man with a microphone and a position of authority. But then, I'm a scientist, not a pastor. If the opinion of one influential sem prof were enough to derail my ministry or my family's livelihood (as it certainly could potentially be), I would have thought twice about speaking my mind, and maybe chosen to make my comments in an anonymous internet forum instead. As many have. Do I wish they were public? Yes. But can I blame them? No.
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| Church and Changers have DP protections - ask Jeff Gunn. Justification by faith...walks. |
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| Let's teach children to put women's makeup on the pastor and council members at Redeemer (WELS) in Tucson. |
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GJ - I was thinking of one incident. I was invited to speak to the some pastors from the Michigan District - Northern Conference, I recall. I mentioned Paul Kelm endorsing, in writing, a Kent Hunter Church Growth program.
Frosty Bivens immediately rose up to accuse me of slandering Paul Kelm's "good name."
Right away, someone asked, "Do you have proof?" I did not thing it was a big deal. I wondered why they implied that I was making it up. But that is the style of liars.
I had the brochure in my briefcase, and I produced it. Next, "How do we know that Kelm was actually quoted?" I guess Kent Hunter was now a liar.
Later on I spoke with Hunter and he confirmed: a) He asked for the endorsement from Kelm; b) Kelm willingly supplied it.
Anyone who thinks he can have any impact on these adulterous drunks is fooling himself. They have used these tactics successfully for decades and will not change until they pull the walls of their cesspool down around their ears.
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| Wearing your Mark Jeske button will make you invulnerable to all criticism, no matter how incompetent you are in covering up the incompetence of other Jeske disciples. |