Mordor professor Richard Gurgel seems to borrow a canned sermon, one that can be found all over the Net. Perhaps he added his own little ingredients, but it is the equivalent of biscuits in a can from the freezer section.
I will leave it to readers to find an exact match.
The idea of preaching about Biblical characters - not Christ - is strictly a Reformed gimmick that should be dropped immediately. Copying from the Net, using a cute gimmicky series, that should have been killed long ago.
Leaving the pulpit to gesticulate in the aisles - that was old in the Methodist church 30 years ago. Roman Catholic clerics do that too. I saw a Roman Catholic bishop walk all over a large church - plain silliness - and he thought he was so clever and different.
The idea here is - Gurgel channels Joseph with a long, silly, gaseous exposition on what Joseph was thinking about Mary being with child.
Just be thankful Gurgel did not write any of the Gospels. At his level of prolixity, the New Testament would be thousands of pages long.
If you want to find out who is aping the Church Shrinkers, just look at the sermon titles. If it is a series with a common theme, the pastor is borrowing and perhaps even plagiarizing the entire sermon. I have a license to use Craig Groeschel's endless sermon ideas, outlines, content, graphics, and promotions. However, I have never been moved to open up anything from that swamp of liberal Enthusiasm.
Oddly enough, The CORE in Appleton was using all those without giving any credit, as expected by Rev. Craig. When an attorney correctly identified that as plagiarism, the church member was excommunicated, and the District President followed up with an endorsement of plagiarism.
All of that is typical of WELS Antinomianism.
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| Drive '08 - Studying theology. Wink. They have their own "sign of the cross." |
So little Richard is serving as an example to Mordor seminarians in how to give a pathetic, content free, manipulative Reformed sermonette.
Does anyone wonder why WELS attendance is cratering? Look at the audience in that attractive church? I hear from all over that WELS attendance is pathetic and getting worse all the time.
Perhaps people trained in Reformed gimmicks are either bored with the tactics or off to congregations where the effort is more polished.
