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| Pastor Paul Rydecki met with Tim Niedfeldt hours before the tragic accident. |
Tim Niedfeldt died in a tragic accident on Thursday. He had just visited his daughter in Tucson, Heading back East to meet his wife, he stopped to see Pastor Paul Rydecki for a two and 1/2 hour discussion in New Mexico. This photo was taken and posted immediately after.
Tim drove East after that Thursday meeting with Pastor Rydecki and stopped on I-20 because of a minor traffic accident blocking the lane. A semi going too fast for conditions hit his van from behind and he was pushed under the semi parked ahead of him. Tim died at the scene.
I hope people can grasp what a loss this is from the recollections below.
Tim and I sparred on Ichabod when his family was at Victory of the Lamb. Unlike most, he always took such things with a sense of humor, such as the time I found and posted his graphic of Jesus surfing, created by one of his friends. I called him Tim Felt-Needs because of his identification with Church and Change, the Church Growth faction that runs WELS.
Tim called me a Confessional Crusader in 2008 and posted a graphic for that, although I cannot find it. Here is another post on the topic. In this post Tim welcomed Ichabod readers. Instead of saying "there is a certain blogger out there," I always linked the material I addressed. Tim is one of the few who grasped what I was trying to do, even though he disagreed with me at the time.
A little later, Tim identified himself as a Confessional Crusader, October 2010. "Alright I have been silent for many months in the area of debating those I affectionately named the Confessional Crusaders. It has been a lesson about be careful the terms you coin, you just might become one."
In February of 2012, he began to question contemporary worship.
He left WELS in 2013.
At some point his family saw the folly of soft drinks and snacks given to people going in to "worship" at Victory of the Lamb. Like someone working at a fast-food restaurant, Tim saw the ingredients and lost his appetite. He was running a server for like-minded WELS congregations and helping with the entertainment service. The Word converts and the subversion of the Word repels.
Tim's family affiliated with ELDONA, the only Lutheran group (apart from the Church of the Augsburg Confession) to teach justification by faith without reservation.
I never got to meet Tim, but we exchanged information from time to time. He served as a key connection among those laity who wanted to study doctrine. Some people assume I have a big role among such people in Missouri and WELS. In fact, I only touch base with a few from time to time, usually because someone has a question or comment.
I was quite pleased that Tim was taking a leadership role and being visible in his comments about ELDONA. I know many are just as shocked and saddened by his death as I am. Looking at his Facebook page, about his ELDONA tour, as he called it, tears fell from my eyes.
We are wrong to think there is so much death in the midst of life. Because of the Gospel there is life in the midst of death. Wherever the Gospel is proclaimed and believed, eternal life springs up and begins its energy in the lives of believers. The energy comes from the Gospel-Word and leavens every part of our lives.
Martha blamed Jesus for not being there to save her brother from death, John 11 -
21Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. 22But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee. 23Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. 24Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. 25Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: 26And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? 27She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.
At some point his family saw the folly of soft drinks and snacks given to people going in to "worship" at Victory of the Lamb. Like someone working at a fast-food restaurant, Tim saw the ingredients and lost his appetite. He was running a server for like-minded WELS congregations and helping with the entertainment service. The Word converts and the subversion of the Word repels.
Tim's family affiliated with ELDONA, the only Lutheran group (apart from the Church of the Augsburg Confession) to teach justification by faith without reservation.
I never got to meet Tim, but we exchanged information from time to time. He served as a key connection among those laity who wanted to study doctrine. Some people assume I have a big role among such people in Missouri and WELS. In fact, I only touch base with a few from time to time, usually because someone has a question or comment.
I was quite pleased that Tim was taking a leadership role and being visible in his comments about ELDONA. I know many are just as shocked and saddened by his death as I am. Looking at his Facebook page, about his ELDONA tour, as he called it, tears fell from my eyes.
We are wrong to think there is so much death in the midst of life. Because of the Gospel there is life in the midst of death. Wherever the Gospel is proclaimed and believed, eternal life springs up and begins its energy in the lives of believers. The energy comes from the Gospel-Word and leavens every part of our lives.
Martha blamed Jesus for not being there to save her brother from death, John 11 -
21Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. 22But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee. 23Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. 24Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. 25Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: 26And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? 27She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.