An interesting idea for confessionals to think about via Lutherquest

The other concern that I have is that following a liberal victory in '04, that the Confessional/conservative men and congregations will simply flake off one man and/or congregation at a time rather than stand together to take a very needed concerted action in the face of such a possibility.

It seems to me that the process, (should things go south), would be to organize a large, broad-based, concerted statement declaring the signers in statu confessiones against the synod.

Secondly, this group of men, women, and congregations would serve as the organized voice of decent and set a deadline for the righting of the wrongs itemized in the statement (say 2007). It must be clearly understood that should the false teaching not be corrected, that there will be a new synod following the '07 convention and that mechanisms to bring that about will be on-going from the conclusion of the '04 convention to the '07 convention.

Should satisfaction not be received, the organization would then find it necessary to bring forward a overture seeking the formal dissolution of the LCMS and a dividing of the resources proportionate to the size of the groups dividing.

Concerted action is the way to go, should it become necessary, but for now, we must concentrate in making sure it is the other guys who will find it preferable to take a hike.

and

[T]he hoops one must jump through to call a special convention make it nearly impossible. As I understand it, such a convention requires:

a. A three-fourth majority vote of the delegates to the 2004 convention.

b. A three-fourth majority vote of the Council of Presidents.

I could be wrong on the exact percentages above, but I'm not far off.

The other advantage of waiting until 2007 would be simply a logistical one. It will take a good three years of hard work to put into place the mechanisms of a new synod so that we are not scrambling around and have our act together. Additionally, during that time, there are many things that could be done to work around the synod, in effect, acting as our own synod while in a state of confession. We could provide alternative ways to call pastors circumventing the adverse actions of negative DP's. We could do the work needed to set up retirement and health insurance for those coming along with us. We could put into place screening mechanisms for accepting pastors, teachers, DCE's etc., into our group and finally into our new synod. It would provide us time to put together a governmental structure that would, then be fully functional by 2007. All the while, we can impact the synod in a more organized fashion and bring more along with us without having to leave the synod during that three year period. Additionally, during that three year period we could encourage all participating congregations to discontinue their funding of the synod and instead send their funds to the organization to impact the LCMS in a Scriptural/Confessional way and/or to provide the resources necessary to establish a new synod.

It is not logistically realistic to just declare a new synod and think it will function right off the bat. It would require a huge investment in time, energy and resources.

Both posts were by Pastor Richard Bolland and the originals can be found here.

The Law Driven Life. Maybe the people at Lutherquest should register that trademark. It might be useful someday. One of the nice things about this discussion is that Pastor Wheedon is participating in that discussion, so if you have any questions about the Issues Etc. program remaining after listening to it, he is around to ask.

Issues Etc. has a nice criticism of The Purpose Driven Life. Scroll down to October 29.

Name me Pope Martinius.

Once again, I am blogging when I am at a loss for material. I spent most of today in front of the TV watching the never-ending stream of college football offered to today's modern consumer. OU won, and that's all I care about. That and the fact we're studying Bach tomorrow during Bible class. I haven't mentioned my love for Bach recently, but I will listen earnestly to anything the man composed. That reminds me, I need to put up the J.S. Bach Homepage on my links along with my home congregation.

In case new people are actually reading my site. You can e-mail me at beerisforamateurs@yahoo.com. I'd put the link up, but then spambots would pick it up and I hate spam, unlike the bloody Vikings.

I know what some of you are thinking. How do I know this? Alright, I don't really know what you are thinking, but since I do have friends who read this blog and are reading The Purpose Driven® Life (I had an epiphany and realized they registered the words purpose driven®. This is as bad as the It's OK to Pray™ nonsense), I thought I might inform them on how the book confuses Law and Gospel.

This quote is from page 44, top paragraph.

The good news is that God wants you to pass the tests of life, so he never allows the tests you face to be greater than the grace he gives you to handle them. [Quotes 1 Corinthians 10:13 from Today's English Version]

Every time you pass a test, God notices and makes plans to reward you in eternity. [Quotes James 1:12 from God's Word to the Nations

There is so much wrong with this passage I do not know where to start. The first problem is where does the gospel end and the law begin? It's tough to tell at first. When you pick the passage apart, you realize that there is no Gospel. This passage begins by telling us God wants us to do well. How do we know God wants us to do well? He gave us the Decalogue. There is no mention of Christ saving us, and, considering the context of the rest of the quote, I don't think the atonement was given one though. It then states the grace of God is the power to handle these situations. I always thought God's grace was giving us a Son to suffer and die in my place. Silly me. If the guy cannot properly define grace, what other terminology throughout the book does he muddle and confuse? I don't know since I haven't started Chapter six. That second part is the easiest part. Tests have two possible outcomes in the most simplistic form: pass or fail. We get told about passing our test and told how happy God is with us and how we are rewarded in heaven because we passed this test. Would someone like to tell me the difference between this statement and what the Mormons teach? Anyone? Anyone? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!!!!!. This is Pelagianism, an outright heresy. God rewards you for doing good, the natural religion of man at its finest. The worst part is Mr. Warren assumes you are going to succeed. What if we fail? Nothing. There is no mention of God's love for us on the cross. There is no mention of the atonement, no mention of the reward we don't earn, no mention of the forgiveness. Law and Gospel are confused when the law is presented as the new gospel. Mr. Warren might as well sell indulgences. They'll work about as well as what he's perscribing.

You're earthly body is just a temporary residence for your spirit.

Nothing says gnosticism like this says gnosticism. There is a reason Jesus was resurected from the dead bodilly. It's because his resurection is a precursor to our resurection. Yes, we will be bodilly resurected in the end as well, once again uniting our flesh with out spirit.

Two heresies in the first five chapters, and Lutheran pastors think they can use this book and "Lutheranize" it? Sure, and I'm the pope.

Our problems are getting run again in the Wall Street Journal. Lutherquest does point out some of the weaknesses of the piece. She does make a good point: liberals are tolerant until you express an opinion that does not fall under their definition of what you should be thinking. Go ahead and read the posts for yourself.

I am mentioned by Fearsome Pirate. While I would not call myself grumpy (I would be able to watch Monty Python and the Holy Grail an umpteen amount of times if I was), I do get very angry when certain subjects come up, and it comes out here. My friends know I go out of my way to make people laugh and make silly comments in the middle of serious situations. As I like to say, I am getting more immature as I grow older.

Larry the Cable Guy on Rosie O'Donnell. What can I say? I have a warped sense of humor.

I am probably going to continue adding useless websites until ..., I don't know. I need to put up a Monty Python link and a couple of geology links (or maybe a couple of Monty Python links and a geology link) soon. Either that or my links will be swamped by conservative and libertarian websites.

I changed the look of my site, and now it looks so much cooler. Thankfully, this new template had built-in Links, so all I had to do was type in some internet addresses and now you all can link and look at the same stuff I do every day. Yes, I am obsessed with the stupidity of the French. It makes me feel better after reading obnoxious theology. I better get back to my thesis project. Uggg.

I reread the first five chapters of The Purpose-Driven Life, and all it managed to do is irritate me to no end. By Chapter Four, I was convinced that the confusion between law and gospel was so egregious as to make me have to quit highlighting the parts I didn't like because the whole book was a mess. This book is such a mess that no amount of "Lutheranize" a pastor might think he could do could even come close to saving this book. The proper thing to do would be scrap the thing and use God at Work: Your Christian Vocation in All of Life. Law and Gospel are rightly distinguished in that book.

For those who might have trouble with what I just said, I'll refer you to What Is This "Law & Gospel" Thing?

I made a couple of clarification edits. Big deal.

Good News. World Magazine now has a blog

Bad News. My little piece of the net doesn't come up on Google since no one really links to me, and I am too lazy to change my site so I can put links up to other people. So, I will sit here in my blogger mediocrity and pout.

More good news. Fish Communicate By Farting.

Even better news. The Purpose-driven Life now makes sense. All I needed to do was read it through a a jive filter.

Bad News. I still can't dialectize my own blog. I think it would read better in redneck.

Good News. There is good Lutheran theology that covers what is covered by the book The Purpose-Driven Life. And Here

Bad News. The book is still popular.

Good News. Calvinist don't like the book. Ouch.

I've had enough fun at this book's expense.

Alright, One more. Gnosticism.

A Critique of The Purpose-Driven Church. Read this and weep at what is happening to our Synod. The same pastor who planned the Reformation Service is now trying to shove this tripe down his church's throat. This also being my former church and the church my parents still attend. I am now extremely glad to get out when I did. I will probably drop by my old bell choir this Monday to drop off a few items (I still have some music order forms, oops) and to voice my concerns about how the church is going to hell in a handbasket. This could be very interesting...

Things are looking better in Southern California. Now they'll have to begin harvesting all the burnt timber so it doesn't sit there, dry out even more, and become an even bigger fire threat. Will the Sierra Club or Greenpeace like that? No, but it is necessary to rebuild a healthy forest. Why would they be against such a thing that would help the forest? Becuse logging companies would have to do it and that would go against all the pinko, communist, socialist tendencies the enviro-wackos have.

I got to get back into blogging more regularly.

I am an idiot.

Reformation Sunday was nice, but it didn't rock like I thought it would. I'm still trying to get "Ancient Words" out of my mind. Thanks to a local pastor for planning this travesty and then not showing up.

Life is good.

I have a job interview tomorrow. God willing, if I get this job, I can move out of my parent's house and get a better set of wheels. I need to spend some time tomorrow getting all my ducks in a row. I am the man. If I don't believe that, I will fail. Failure, in this case, is not an option. I will get this job.

Something happened to me this past Sunday and I'm not sure I can explain it. It started when Pastor began explaining what one does to be a mature Christian. Sometimes, you do not realize what you have until someone else points it out. If the rest of this week goes well, I will have a wonderful Reformation Sunday.

Richard Perle on U.S. Policy Toward Iraq

F the french.

The more I think I want to blog, the less ideas come to my head. You would think I would have at least one bright thing to say about beer or geology or science in general, but not today. I seem to be having a brain block, and large doses of baroque music do not seem to be clearing my mind out. I think my rant against the french might have frazzled some of my brain cells.

Rather than reread my pitiful postings, go read Fearsome Pirate.

F the french.

I do want to warn anyone who might read this that this post may be profanity-laden. Hopefully, you can excuse my profanity due to its target: the cheese-eating surrender-monkeys known as the french.

The idiot mayor of Paris has decided to give convicted cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal honorary citizenship of Paris. What does this asshole have going through his head. Considering his head must be firmly stuck up his ass to do such a thing, his head is full of shit. What the fuck do the french (they no longer deserve to have the name of their country capitalized) think they are doing? I know enough Krauts within my church to go over there with a truckload of arms and scare the shit out of them and probably get the assholes to surrender. Officer Daniel Faulkner deserves more than to have the man who killed him in cold blood celebrated as some sort of hero by the loony left. The fuckwad who did this deserves to have a hole blown out of his head where the killer would proceed to skullfuck the asshole until there was nothing left. Then again, whoever did it wouldn't want to put his cock into a head full of shit. Asshole. For dumbass shit like this, the french language deserves to go extinct. This t-shirt says it all.

My best friend did not like the fact I called him a Frenchie, but until he gets his brain cleared out and quits expousing Frenchie ideas, he will be a pinko Frenchie to me, not the Jewish Phillipino I called him last night.

Proof of Saddam's WMDs

"Where are Saddam's WMDs" he asks. Well, your answer is right in that link, and it is worse than we knew. Saddam had not one, but two WMD programs going on. We've already recovered Botulism bacteria from a refigerator of one of Saddam's scientists. Nice. I wonder if the we'll find some Antrax in someone's deep freeze. Probably.

Kieschnick's in YOUR Checkbook Again!

Great, our SP is continuing to spend money on junk rather than actually funding missions and supporting our synodical schools. God forbid he actually find a way to spend money on things that are required rather than paying for his wife's travel expenses and getting another pastoral assistant. This man is going to bankrupt our synod.

How to Screw with you Best Friend's Mind
Stories You Won't Hear Reported on NPR

Isn't it great when you are right?

Guess what. My best friend once again had to run his mouth, during a poker game no less...

I do not get him. He was complaining that we were willy-nillying in Iraq when in fact every one of the reports I have heard from troops returning from the field are we are winning. Why are the media contradicting everything I am hearing from the field? Why isn't my best friend, who is closer to the military than I am, hearing this as well and just rolling his eyes at NPR reports? How come he can't realize that WMD's don't matter and the fact that people are no longer being tortured for their political beliefs does? Maybe Einstein is right. Common sense is no longer all that common.

Balfour Declaration
Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations

I just realized something: my best friend's arguments are sounding awfully French in their nature. No wonder they stunk.

Since I have exhausted myself in questioning the LCMS up to this point, I wanted to address something that popped up in my boss' e-mail today: Yellowstone. As some of you know, I am a better geologist than theologian, and, while this topic is outside my area of specialty, I am informed enough about how this works to give a informed opinion on the subject. Why would I want to talk about Yellowstone? The park had to close an area because the ground was getting too hot this summer. You may be asking yourself what in the world am I talking about. The area of Yellowstone National Park contains a caldera approximately 80x40 km in size. For those of you that do not know what a caldera is, it is a giant volcano that exploded with such force that the volcano collapses upon itself after a massive eruption. A new magma chamber has formed underneath Yellowstone and is currently filling. Due to this filling, Yellowstone is rising. Currently, there are areas of the park that have risen two feet since 1923. Some areas are rising at a rate of 3/4 of an inch a year or greater. This may not seem like much to the average person, but, considering geologists discuss rates like this most of the time in term of inches or centimeters per 1000 years, you get an idea of why flags are going up in my head. If the volcano were to erupt, it would throw tens of cubic miles of ash into the atmosphere, and would be bigger than any volcanic eruption in recorded history. It would make Mt. St. Helens look like a coke bottle exploding after a kid shook it too long. The climatic effect from such an eruption could be devastating.

However, this is no reason to panic. Concerned? Maybe not even that. The situation at Yellowstone is something to keep an eye on, however. The amount of inflation due to the filling magma chamber and does make me raise an eyebrow, but I do not see any immediate danger to the area. Much of the reporting about Yellowstone has been quite exaggerated, and geologists get more grant money if they exaggerate the possible effects of an eruption. That does not mean we shouldn't be aware of the possible danger. The hydrothermal activity that makes the area so popular and beautiful is purely the effects of a giant magma chamber beneath the area.

Information on the Yellowstone area can be found at the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory Homepage.

Putting the BOD's recent financial report into context

More commentary on this new situation in our Synod.

Did you know they have a spell-checker now? I only have to use it...

I haven't posted my e-mail address lately. I figure the worst that could happen is someone writing saying they are bored. So am I.

beerisforamateurs@yahoo.com

If I ever went to seminary and went for a S.T.M., I would title my thesis, "The Theology of Monty Python."

Something that never seems to be pointed out is when Monty Python leans right. Those who have seen the sketch "World Forum" which has Karl Marx getting pissed off because he didn't win a lounge suite. Maybe I'll explore this later on.

If I ever get my own computer, I'll download blogger so I can change all the crap on my blog and actually make it look cool with links to various other bloggers all around the world.

A new favorite site of mine is Dissecting Leftism. Dr. Ray has his ducks lined up and ready to shoot. I found him while trying to find something to refute the Berkley study claiming people who are politically to the right are psycho. Good stuff.

Just so you know, there has been a very interesting development in the Synod heirarchy. It has generally been thought that the Synodical President (SP) was the top dog in all Synodical functions and one could not get any higher on the power scale. The Synodical Board of Directors (BoD) didn't seem to like what was going on, and hired a law firm to write up a brief describing how a not-for-profit corporation in Missouri (where the Synod is incorporated. Who would've thought) is supposed to be run according to the state law of Missouri. Lo and behold, the law firm dug up a little gem that states the Board of Directors can hire and fire whoever they want. This contradicts the CCM opinion that states the SP is the head honcho, and the BoD serve at his pleasure. This little gem of an opinion could get our synodical charter revoked. Thanks to the Holy Order of the Daystar and Jees, Us First for making this all possible. Now, if only the BoD will have the guts to can the SP for incompetance and allow Dan Preus to take his place. They should also fire the CCM for not consulting State law before spouting forth. It would make Confessionals lives much easier. It would also make stacking the BoD with Confessionals imperative at the next convention. Of course, all the parties threatened by this (the CoP) are going to sue. This will get tied up in court. Just remember, church government is just like any other government: it is the relm of the Kingdom of the Left.

LCMS BOD versus Kieschnick and The COP

Christ himself has described the way to heaven as a narrow path. Just so narrow is the path of pure doctrine. For the pure doctrine is nothing else than the doctrine regarding the way to heaven. It is easy to lose your way when it is narrow, rarely traveled, and leads through a dense forest. Without intending to do so and without being aware of it, you may make a wrong turn to the right or left. It is equally easy to lose the narrow way of the pure doctrine, which likewise is traveled by few people and leads through a dense forest of erronous teachings. You may land either in the bog of fanaticism or in the abyss of rationalism. This is no jest. False doctrine is a poisin to the soul. An entire banqueting party drinking from cups containg an admixture of arsenic can drink physical death from its cups. So an entire audience can invite spiritual and eternal death by listening to a sermon that contains an admixture of the poison of false doctrine. A person can be deprived of his soul's salvation by a single false comfort or a single false reproof administered to him. This is all the more easy because we are naturally more accessible to the shining and dazzling light of human reason than to the divine truth. For, "the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them."--! Corinthians 2:14

From what has been said you can gather how foolish it is, yea, what an awful delusion has taken hold upon us so many men's minds who ridicule the pure doctrine and say to us, "Ah, do not cease clamoring, Pure Doctrine! Pure Doctrine!This can only land you in dead orthodoxism. Pay more attention to pure life, and you will raise a growth of genuine Christianity." That is exactly like saying to a farmer, " Do not worry forever about good seed; worry about good fruits." Is not a farmer properly concerned about good fruit when he is solicious about getting good seed? Just so a concern about pure doctrine is a proper concern about genuine Christianity and a sincere Christian life. False doctrine is noxious seed, sown by the enemy to produce progeny of wickedness.The pure doctrine is the wheat-seed; from it spring the children of the Kingdom, who even in present life belong in the kingdom of Jesus Christ and in the life to come belong to the Kingdom of Glory. May God even now implant in your hearts a great fear, yea, a real abhorrence of false doctrine! May He graciously give you a holy desire for the pure, saving truth, revealed by God himself!--The Proper Distinction Between Law and Gospel by C.F.W. Walther, pp. 20-21

The Holy Order of the Daystar and Jees, Us First would do well to ponder the words of our first synodical president.

You know, sometimes I just do not feel like blogging, and I am not disciplined enough to just post even when I do not feel like it.

There is a question being asked more and more around confessional Lutheran circles right now. Who will we run against SP Kiechnick? The biggest problem is that the conservatives are in at least two groups, maybe three. The Waltharians vs the "hyper-Euro Lutherans." All that is involved is differences in church polity. Neither side likes the other, and they both tend to go after each other's throats when they are not being attacked by the JF/Daystar crowd. To me, the problem is not so serious as to not get behind one canidate. The problem are the various confessional groups themselves. I am personally inclined to support Dan Preus, but that is just me. If he can be elected 1st VP without any problems, then he is electable as SP. His election, realistically, will not change anything. Most of the District Presidents are still liberal and still hold much of the power.

The French body count is now well over 11,000 people. People sometimes come around and berate me for actually believing in American health care, even though it is expensive for just about everybody. (All we have to do to bring the price down is to string up every trial lawyer, except the one representing the guy who had his penis cut off because the doctors thought it was cancerous and then they look at the organ and find it isn't cancerous. That guy deserves every cent he can get out of the doctor.) Well, we had a heat wave recently in the midwest and a whole whopping two people died in that heatwave. Even if you adjust your numbers to the populations, we loose 10 people for every 11,000 people the French loose. Now, I know most of the deaths are of elderly people, but come on. The health care system should have been able to prevent at least half these people's deaths. The numbers are ridiculous, and it's one more reason why universal health care sucks.

I received this e-mail today. It explains more about the money we are spending as a synod.

[Ed. One week ago I posted information about President Kieschnick's high paid outside consultants, J. David Schmidt and Associates (www.wiseplanning.net). I have yet to hear back from their office in Wheaton, IL as to their involvement with the LCMS. In the meantime, the interest in learning more about this organization and its relation to our Synod (and specificially the Office of the President), has continued to increase. While many have asked me directly about this, one individual has now provided information that not only confirms the use of this high-priced non-Lutheran consulting firm by the Synodical President, but moreover, demonstrates the incredible effort that pastors and congregations of the LCMS must go through to get the Office of the President to provide full disclosure about their activities on behalf of the pastors and congregations of the Synod. This information also helps to bring clarity to what this firm is actually being used for in the first place. To that end, I would like to publically thank President Kieschnick for his eventual involvement in what is described below, and for his stated desire to lead the Synod in "a spirit of complete openness." Our love for the Gospel and each other, especially at this time of unprecedented crisis, makes such openness all the more essential.]

You may recall the following resolution in the minutes of the May 15-17, 2003, LCMS Board of Director's Meeting:

"Resolved, That the Board observes the large increases in the President’s budget for travel, entertainment, and consulting fees, most of which will be covered by restricted gifts, and encourages the President in these days of financial stringencies to reconsider the large increases in these areas."

After reading the above minutes, Rev. Jay Wheeler of Osceola, IA, decided to simply ask about these consulting fees in lieu of Bylaw 3.72 regarding synodical "full financial disclosure." (the pertinent bylaws will be available in a separate upcoming post). Being referred to the President's Office by LCMS Chief Administrative Officer, Dr. Brad Hewitt, Pastor Wheeler asked regarding "... (1) the amount of the funds being used by our Synodical President, (2) to whom and (3) for what purposes."

One would have thought that such would have been a simple question to answer. However, Pastor Wheeler found himself repeatedly questioned about his purposes for desiring such information and what his plans were once he obtained it. He was even asked, "Can the President’s office be assured that, in using this information, you will not break the 4th, 5th, or 8th commandments?" Pastor Wheeler tells me that he continually replied that he simpled wanted "to be able to know and tell the truth about this matter."

Eventually, Pastor Wheeler was referred by the Presidents's Office to Mr. Charles E. Rhodes, Executive Director of Accounting. Mr Rhodes asked Pastor Wheeler to have his congregation directly ask for such information from the LCMS Board of Directors in order to follow the "letter" of the bylaw. They did so.

Once this matter was finally brought to the attention of the LCMS Board of Directors and was placed on their agenda at their recently concluded August meeting (minutes not yet available), President Kieschnick finally issued a memo copied, among others, to the Chairman of the Board of Directors and the Iowa West District President, requesting that such information be made available by his Office, "because I desire to lead the Synod in a spirit of complete openness...."

Thankfully, though after an excessively lengthy two month period of correspondence, Pastor Wheeler finally received the following information on August 8, 2003 from Kieschnick assistant, Rev. Jon Braunersreuther. Pastor Wheeler, in the spirit of the openness expressed by President Kieschnick, believes that this factual information should be made available, especially given the wide-spread questions being asked at present about the use of this consulting firm:

"In the fiscal year 2003, $60, 877 was spent on consultant fees – all for J. David Schmidt and Associates of Wheaton, Illinois. Thus far in fiscal year 2004, $8,452.36 has been expended for consultant fees, also for J. David Schmidt and Associates of Wheaton, Illinois. At this juncture, J. David Schmidt and Associates of Wheaton, Illinois is the firm that we intend to continue to use for consultative purposes. This firm is working with the Office of the President in an overall effort to reverse the thirty year decline in baptized membership of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod and in the process to coordinate and align the boards, councils, commissions, entities, institutions, agencies, auxiliaries, and partner churches of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod."

Special thanks to Pastor Wheeler for making this information available so that the truth on this matter may be made known, and so that future discussions on the role of J. David Schmidt and Associates can proceed on such a foundation of factual information. Hopefully, the above information will help set aside any confusion.

However, this whole situation raises a great number of foundational and critical questions:

1) Why is it so incredibly hard to receive such basic information from the Office of the President in the first place? Also, why can't the CAO of the Synod provide such information?
2) If President Kieschnick desires to truly lead the Synod in "a spirit of complete openness", why is a pastor of the Synod continually questioned about why he even desires to receive such basic information that should be readily available to members of the Synod? Moreover, should members of Synod be asked to make promises to not commit sin in order to receive such information? Is full disclosure, full disclosure, or not? And what ever happened to "let charity prevail"?
3) If there really is a "thirty year decline in baptized membership" (see upcoming separate post), is the answer to be found in paying outside consultants who have no commitment to the Lutheran Bibilical and Confessional Perspective anyway? Is this not at least an indirect admission that the proclamation of the Gospel simply doesn't work, or needs to be supplemented in some way? Is this the origin and genesis of the whole "Ablaze" program?
4) What business does an outside consulting firm have in helping to "coordinate and align the boards, councils, commissions, entities, institutions, agencies, auxiliaris, and partner churches of The Lutheran
Church - Missouri Synod?"
5) Do all of the above listed "councils, commissions, entities, institutions, agencies and auxiliaries" of Synod have a say in any of this? Have they been informed of what plans are being developed to "coordinate and align" them? After all, are they not already "coordinated and aligned" by virtue of our present Synodical Constitution and By-laws (which we are always hearing so much about by the President's Office and the Commission on Constitutional Matters)?
6) Further, and most importantly, did we as the Synod ever ask the President to do this anyway? Is such "alignment" and "coordination" the responsibility of the Office of the President to begin with? What does the Board of Directors have to say about this? And don't we have a Commission on Structure for such purposes? Why are they not being engaged in what appears to be a plan to provide an "overhaul" of the Synod and the way it works together?
7) Why are we seeking to "coordinate and align" our partner churches? Do they not have a say in this? Is this what "partnership" is all about? Would we like it if we knew that they were working to "align" and "coordinate us?
8) Since these enormous consulting fees are being paid by "outside" gifts to the Office of the President, are these funds being used appropriately if one of the goals in engaging this firm is to do what is described above in #4? Should not "synodical monies" be used at "syondical direction" to help with such a project as large in scope as this?
9) Do we really want outside groups/individuals consulting the Synod about what it should do to realign itself, all while having their activities paid by outside money?
10) Why is what amounts to such an "overhaul" of the Synod's structure deemed so necessary to begin with, and if it is, why does J. David Schmidt and Associates know more about it then the Synod itself?

I see an endless field of red flags!

Kyrie eleison,
Pr. Marcus Zill

I have thought about the lodge question, and I have decided I will from here on out refer to Daystar and Jesus First as the Holy Order of the Daystar and Jees, Us First. I will refer to them in such terms until such a time that they open up their forums of discussion to the rest of the Synod. The Devil likes to hide in the shadows, but the truth lives in the light.

Being that I have started ranting against the environmentalists, I thought I would include this small gem.

Energy Tax Blacks Out Many Lives in Europe

If figures the French would do this to themselves. They laid down for Hitler, so they might as well help the environmental movement practice their own form of eugenics. Anyway, the article points out that energy is taxed at such a rate that air conditioning is unaffordable for most, to the point where hospitals and nursing homes cannot afford it. Good job. Not only that, the bodies are piling up because, like the rest of the country, all the morticians are all currently on vacation. The next delivery of French goods could be delievered by a truck that was carrying bodies! Just one more reason why the French suck.

Markets Reward Eco-Terror. So Let's Fix Them

I came across this link via Instapundit

A very nice, simple way to punish environmental terrorists for their own nitwittery.

I had been wanting to blog on the ELF and their own stupidity, but I kept forgetting. I remembered wanting to cover this thanks to the above story.

The ELF has to be a bunch of morons, setting fire, thus releasing carbon dioxide and a variety of other nasty chemicals and particulates into our atmosphere. It's just like a bunch of egostical, narcisistical morons to think that buring a few buildings and setting SUVs on fire will save the envioronment. It doesn't take a genius to realize buring tires are not a bright thing for an environmentalist to do. Then again, most of these people do not think through the consequences of their actions.

Jesus First is at it again, using tactics that never would have been approved of just 20 years ago. This is an e-mail sent by Rev. Eric Stefanski on the Cat41 e-mail lists.

The past five years have seen an unprecedented secularization of the Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod. Whereas throughout the rest of her history it was thought that "the office should seek the man, not the man the office," and that it was unseemly to seek to influence the nominations process, much less to criticize an incumbent for anything except false doctrine, immorality, or gross--provable--malfeasance.

All of this changed with the vicious attacks made against the Rev. Al Barry by the blasphemously-named political influence group 'Jesus First'. This group could find no actual false doctrine in Barry or his
administration, so they simply asserted evil intent in every action he or anyone else took during his time in office. When the 1998 synodical convention voted to give the synodical president the sort of supervision
of district presidents that district presidents have over pastors, the so-called 'Jesus First' bunch took this as Barry's seeking to 'consolidate power in the office of the president'. (Funny, then, that the current president sought to retain power in the David Benke case, refusing to recuse himself from sitting in judgment of a case wherein he had both given prior approval to and made a subsequent defense of Benke's words and actions...but this is now declared meet, right, and salutary by the misnamed 'Jesus First'.)

An overture was offered to the 2001 LCMS convention specifically condemning the idea that anyone should be organizing lists of people *to nominate*, skewing the process of staffing the synodical bureaucracy. Apparently, that overture never became a resolution, as now this group of political thugs who has misappropriated and tarnished our Lord's name by their brutal attacks on Dr. Barry and others, as well as their consistent twisting of the truth to present their unscriptural and anti-confessional notions has decided to tell you *exactly* whom you are to nominate if you wish to be "Gospel-Centered, Mission-Driven, Future Oriented." (Forget the fact that they think tacking "in the precious name of Jesus" onto the end of a prayer and comments that made Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, and anyone else think that their 'gods' and their proclamation was valid and 'strengthening' is somehow "a bold witness to the Gospel.")

Further, they desire a corruption of the whole system from its very roots! "We also hope you have organized your electoral circuit for the delegate election process that will elect delegates and alternates to the 2004 Synodical Convention in St. Louis," they write. They have now politicized and secularized the whole process down to the congregational and circuit levels, brazenly doing things that real Lutherans would shy away from.

As they profane the name of our Lord, 'Jesus First' has shown openly that their idea of 'Gospel-Centered, Mission-Driven' is nothing but a 'churchification' of law-based, secular power politics; it's not about Jesus and the lost to them: it's all about power and control.


From: "Jesus First Coordinator"


JESUS FIRST E-MAIL UPDATE
For Gospel-Centered, Mission-Driven, Future Oriented Leadership in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod

August 24, 2003

----------

Dear Fellow Laborer for the Lord,

Your congregation will soon be receiving the official nominating ballots for President and for the Vice Presidents of Synod. We are writing to encourage your congregations participation in this process. Our Synod has been besieged by those who seem intent on splitting it apart. They do so with inaccurate portrayals of recent events in the church and with character assaults upon many in the church, especially our President, Jerry Kieschnick. We cannot sit idly while this group actively seeks to change the gospel-centered direction of our beloved church body. In order to elect a Presidium of Synod that will support President Kieschnicks vision of One Mission, One Message, One People, that is centered on the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ we recommend the following pastors for nomination: (Note: President and Vice President of Synod positions are constitutionally limited to pastors)

* Each congregation is allowed two nominees for President of Synod; therefore we recommend for nomination REV. DR. GERALD KIESCHNICK and one of the following: Rev. Bill Diekelman or the Rev. Vern Gundermann.
* Each congregation is allowed two nominees for 1st.Vice President of Synod; therefore we recommend for nomination Rev. Bill Diekelman and Rev. Vern Gundermann.
* Each congregation is allowed four nominees for Vice Presidents two through five of Synod; therefore we recommend for nomination the following: Rev. Victor Belton, Rev. David Buegler, Rev. Paul Maier, Rev. Dean Nadasdy, and Rev. Tom Zehnder.
It is important to note that all individuals recommended as nominees have agreed to serve if nominated and elected.

The deadline for receipt of the nominations is March 10, 2004; however, we plead with you not to procrastinate in this process.

Your active support - making sure these men are nominated, will do much to help our Synod in this hour of trial and opportunity. There is much work to do that will uplift the name of the Lord! God will work his mighty wonders among us and will restore his people as together we keep our eyes on Jesus, the Alpha and Omega, our Lord and our Redeemer.

Joy in Jesus,

The Leadership Team of Jesus First
For Gospel Centered, Mission Driven and Future Oriented Leadership in the LCMS

* PS We also hope you have organized your electoral circuit for the delegate election process that will elect delegates and alternates to the 2004 Synodical Convention in St. Louis. Most of those electoral circuit elections take place this fall. Having supportive folks elected from our electoral circuits is essential. Make a difference by getting involved in the process! For information on the process read the Jesus First monthly publication or visit our website at www.JesusFirst.net

It's me again. Please do get involved to keep these people out of office!

The only thing that could possibly pull me away from Lutheranism.

Beer Church

I am just posting just to waste time right now. I am bored.

Looking For Something

I have been looking for quite a while now for open gatherings of Jesus First or Daystar types on the internet. There are none. Pastor Bischoff mentioned that the way these groups are hiding is similar to the way some of the lodges hide. That begs the question of how do you define a lodge?

Lodges have a few characteristics:

1. They do not plan and convene in the open. Jesus First and Daystar both have e-mail lists not open to the public and, in order to access them, you must be invited and "initiated." Check.

2. Hierarchies with a very strict pecking order. Heck, JF and death, errr, Daystar are known to have a pretty strict pecking order, including people rostered in the ELCA. Check.

3. Teach universalism. With their affiliations with the ELCA, it's close enough. Check.

Having now discovered the true nature of these two groups, I propose two new names for these two groups. I have yet to find names satirical enough for me to actually use. I will sleep on this problem. Either that or post it on LutherQuest, where they will eat up the challenge.

Our dear SP has done it again. Who knows how much we are spending, but the SP is flushing synod money into a consultant named J. David Schmidt. You may be asking the same question I am: why are we spending money on a consultant when he wacked a third of our missionaries? Of course, the fact that his office's budget is incresing while making everybody else take cuts goes to show the grand and wonderful leadership of a man who (I was told this by someone with a straight face) would, "unite the synod." Way to go! Cut missions! Cut youth! Cut Campus Missions! Create disunity! What great leadership from a great man. Earth to McFly! Hello McFly! Anybody there! Helloooooo!

After much thought, I must say that out SP is a threat to the health of our synod and must be removed from office ASAP. Rather than keeping missionaries in the field, he spends money to have his wife come with him on trips. Rather than keep the Office of Campus Ministry open, he hired another assistant, thus removing another rostered pastor from a congregation and exasorbating our vacancy crisis. Cut the purse strings. Do not send any money to the synod. If you want to support missions, send it to the office of missions. Also, quit sending money to DP's who end up spending it on things like the bureaucracy and district cars. We need leadership at all levels, and the word needs to get out amoung everybody what a financial mess this man is making.

I have finished (again) the first two parts on what is looking to be a very long Bible study series on music. I will not reveal what I have finished, just that it has been done and it should be, well, interesting. From here on out, to quote Simon Cowell, "It's all about song selection." I am making sure to include music styles that should annoy everyone around me. The problem is, I'll listen to just about anything and like it, so they have to cater (somewhat) to my tastes in music. I'll ask if I can start this soon. I shall go get five more songs to love and annoy...

Merde in France
Dissident Frogman

I have to give a couple of plugs to two of my favorite sites on the internet.

Some interesting news stories of late thanks to Fark.com

Eagles battle giant gerbils
Man jailed in Quebec hit-and-run case
Wisconsin Priests Want Celibacy To Be Optional
Congress to hear anti-BCS talk
GLOBAL warming is caused by the hot flashes of millions of Baby Boomer women

Astrologers fail to predict proof they are wrong

Nice.

I appologize for not blogging regularly. It's not that there isn't a multitude of ideas to blog about. It is just that, sometimes, I do not make it to the computer...

Sunday was, well, interesting. Synergism in sanctification. I could have gone across the street if I wanted to hear that. The problem is the study leader was reading the law in Ephesians 4 without reading the Gospel in Galatians 3. God lives in us and we are dead. How does a dead man cooperate with God on anything?

The Joys of Friendship...

Last night, we had dinner at the center, like we have every night, and an incident occured. Now, mind you, we are all friends here (supposedly), and I have seen this guy (we'll call him Mike to protect the guilty) act stupid and do things to people before. We've even been kind of mean to each other, but we both realize it's all in fun and understand that we are not trying to inflict too much pain upon each other. The problem is Mike doesn't know when to stop with others. He grabbed the leg of the chair of this gal (who we'll call Tammy to protect the guilty) and pulled up upon it (I don't even know why) and she spilled off the chair. Tammy gets off the ground about to cry, sits down for a second, and then decides to get up and leave. Her sister (we'll call her Erin) goes to try to talk to her. Now, at this point, I have one thing going through my head: GROW UP BOTH OF YOU!!!!!! Erin comes back and orders Mike to appologize, to which Mike tells her she is not his mother. Mike decides that it is time to bail and leaves, leaving his girlfriend (Annie for this story) to defend him. Annie talks to Tammy and they get into a big argument. Annie leaves pissed off at Tammy.

I've already made one piece of commentary on the situation, which is the basic framework under which I will work. Mike needs to grow up a little and realize he cannot pull stunts off on everyone. Tammy needs to realize that Mike didn't actually mean to dump her on her rear, and that he is immature so, when things like this happen, she is the mature one and not acting like she's 5 or 6. Erin needs to realize she's not Mike's mom and, rather than ordering him like a drill seargent, ask him to appologize. At any of these points, if someone had stepped up and been the better Christian, the whole situation could have been diffused. Instead, everyone involved went home mad. The biggest problem is, I didn't think of all of this until after the fact. That, in a way, is my failing since I could have diffused the situation. Rather, I kept my mouth shut and watched this whole thing disintegrate. Good job on my part.

My day started bad, but has slowly gotten better, I think.

The Episcopalians are out shooting themselves in the foot again. You figure the Church would have learned after they allowed and agnostic named John Shelby Spong to become a "bishop" would get a clue, but it didn't. Of course, just as disturbing, is the fact these same "conservatives" didn't raise nearly as much noise when Spong was elected bishop. I hate to say this, but they deserve what they get. You let Spong in, the whole bloody culture comes spilling in after.

Thankfully, we've all been so fascinated by the the trainwreck that is the ECUSA that nothing has developed in the LCMS. Let the ELCA deal with this mess...

Saddam Had WMDs
: There was no conspiracy, and the press knows it
Errors of Mass Destruction: WMD search and accusations
Not Just WMDs: Why we went into Iraq
WMD & More: Remember what we have found in Iraq
Weapons of Mass Distraction: Are we blind?
The “Bush Lied” Case Falls Apart: The president’s critics have to ignore too much evidence
Cheney’s Supposed Lie: What did he say and when did he say it?
The Surreal World of Iraq: Let us thank our soldiers on this Independence Day
Uranium-Gate?: Some context
Democrats’ Iraqi Attack Ad: Former Clinton officials produce an ad attacking the president on WMDs
Lies about Iraqi Nukes: Bill Clinton & Carl Levin
Are Iraqis Better Off?: Is that a joke?
War Folklore: Don’t listen to the latest groupspeak
Saddam: Dead or Alive?: The dictator’s ultimate fate

You know, I wouldn't be plastering my blog with these links if my best friend would pull his head out of his rear end and quit listening to NPR, whose opinions on the war he spouts frequently and doesn't seem to realize it. The day NPR actually reports the news will be the day I convert to Buddism and reincarnate as a flea. Bush went in with the best intelligence he had and to claim he went in "for the oil" is to ignore the fact that 97% of our oil comes from this hemisphere.

Why Did Bush Go to War?
No Flies on Bush
Saddam plus al-Qaeda = WMDs
The French Connection
Symposium: Bush’s Decision to Go to War. Was it Justified?
The Politics of Mass Destruction
The War Against Bush
Where, O Where Have the WMDs Gone? Part Deux

To my other friends who might be reading this, sorry. I'm sure you can find something interesting here.

I now know there are three people reading my insufferable excuse for writing. The joys of being read and well-received...

I ran into a statement today by a guy who thinks he knows alot about age dating but said something extremely stupid. I immediately pounced revealing to the world this man's idiocy and, hopefully, keeping him from saying something so stupid ever again. He said rocks from the earth have been dated at 4.54 billion years old. He might as well have said, "It's just a flesh wound!" because I would have laughed just as hard. The earliest period in time in Geology is known as the Hadian. The Hadian comes before the Archean which comes before the Proterozoic, like you needed to hear that. There is a reason we call that period the Hadian: there are no bloody rocks to represent that period of time geologically! The earliest-dated rocks are a whopping 3.9 billion years old. Hey, he's only off by the whole Phanerizoic! The tounge-lashing he got was purely for misrepresenting the scientific evidence. I could jump all over him for some of the silly assumptions of radiometric age-dating, but I thought I would take the criticism one thing at a time.

This is for Ron

Once again, I found one of my favorite websites of all time. I forgot about it until I stumbled upon it when I was piddling around on Bored.com. It is called The Dialectizer. You take any website you feel like (it didn't work on this blog, for some reason), out it through the dialectizer, and you get a new version of whatever website you are looking at. Are you sick of Deathstar spouting? Dialectize it! Sick of Jesus Last's tired takes on Benke and why it's good for him to get off? Dialectize it! Do you hate the Faiders as much as I do? Dialectize that website as well. This ought to be in the bookmark of any intelligent person who needs the occasional laugh, even at sites they might love.

An Open Letter in Response to 'the Benke Matter'

The laity of the church needs to sign this document to show that most of us are not as dumb as they think we are.

You know, your friends can sometimes drive you crazy.

Last Sunday, my best friend got into an argument with the campus missionary over whether or not Lutheran laymen should pray in public places. First, our campus missionary knows how to push my best friend's buttons and get him suckered into these arguments. He should know better. Secondly, my friend took the bait, swallowed the hook, and about ruined dinner. Now, I don't know about everyone else, but at dinner, I do try to shove food in large quantities into my mouth, and I happened to be working on dessert when this little argument erupted like Mt St. Helens having a bad case of the explosive runs. Even worse, both sides tried to drag me into their little sludge pit and make me spout an opinion that, honestly, I didn't want to give because I was at the dinner table and not at the bar where the liquor would have made me jump right into the argument. You argue over beer and you talk about the cult of Mary Kay at the dinner table. I should have told both of them to take it to the bar next door. Third, I reall don't agree with my friend on this issue anyway. The Confessions are lacking, and Scripture gives some guidance on how not to pray like a hypocrit and to pray away from everybody, but how you get from that to no public prayer is beyond me. Of course, there's the good old standby tradition, which, if I believed wholeheartedly in, I would be praying to St. Anne right now and prommising I would become a monk just to get away...

Speaking of monks, if you haven't seen this you are missing out. I cannot wait to see it. It shall be awesome!

Uday and Kusay (however you spell their names) are dead. Thank YHWH. Hopefully they are both where they belong, with Tim McVeigh, getting various large and hot items shoved up their respective rectums.

I have gotten zero e-mail response, so I am going to quit posting my e-mail address and use it to send messages telling you about how to get a bigger penis. Also check out the Alter Call.

You know, purging is good for the soul. I purged on Thursday. You see, I do not normally talk like that with, well, anybody. I had a discussion with one of my good friends tonight over things like why I left my old church and Pietism. All said, it was a good discussion, and I hope he will grow because of it. I am not the most eloquent speaker, and sometimes I contradict myself. I think he understood. Keep your eyes on the cross.

I have not received any hate mail yet. I have not received much of any mail, as a matter of fact. I have a captive audience of two right now (maybe three soon!), thus my rampant optimism. I do not have a respond feature, so if you read and your name is not Ron or Erica, e-mail me at beerisforamateurs@yahoo.com and I will know someone is out there actually reading.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Daystar is back. I was hoping God had permanently disbled their internet connection. They are back spouting off more about how Rev. Benke's participation at Yankee Stadium was a good thing and how us confessionals are the scum of the earth and must be eliminated. I sometimes wander if Deathstar and Jesus Last are the Borg.

WE ARE DEATHSTAR. YOU WILL BE ASSIMILATED. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE. I guess I could make a comparison to myself and Picard since he was assimilated and came back. I once would have agreed with everything these groups are saying when I was a stupid teenager who couldn't have found his ass even though it was right where I left it. I am sure the Deathstar/Jesus Last people will eventually find this blog. As a matter of fact, I'll post the link to this blog on their little piece of cyberspace, give out my e-mail, and say, "Bring it on". They will probably say. "That's not very Christlike!" to which I'll reply, "No Shit! Neither are you!"

If you didn't know, ad homenin attacks were considered a proper form of debate in Luther's time. That's how he could get away with many of the things he said, like comparing much of the clergy to hogs lying in their own, well, shit. An apt analogy for the Daystar/Jesus First crowd to think about.

I am starting to blog much more regularly now. Don't count on it lasting too much longer...

I hate core. I hate unloading core. I especially hate unloading core when it's getting hot outside and the boxes are wooden. I drank three bottles of Poweraide this morning in a futile attempt to keep myself from dehydrating. It happened anyway, and I've spent this afternoon trying to rehydrate. I think I am finally there, and I stink of sunscreen. What a day.

Why is it so hard for someone like me to talk to women? I mean, I have the perfect sob story (being bitten in the face by a dog when I was six) with a very high empathy factor, I am funny (Monty Python-warped funny, but funny none the less), and I have a nice dog who likes everyone. So why can't I ever get more than three words out of myself when I actually talk to someone available? How come it's easier to talk to women who are already hitched or in a relationship which you know they won't be pulled away from? I need a better job.

All in all, it's been a Murphy's Law week. Thank God. Otherwise, I wouldn't know what a good week is. I think. Maybe.

E-mail me at beerisforamatuers@yahoo.com and don't be too lazy to copy and paste. Maybe if I knew someone besides Ron was reading this, I might actually put more effort into keeping this silly place on the internet updated!

I love poker.

I don't know if any of you have seen the TV show on the Travel channel called "World Poker Tour", but it is some of the best TV I have seen in quite a while. Talk about your reality TV. Thousands upon thousads of dollars are bet in single outings and the drama of how someone will play and whether the cards will come up in their favor is amazing. Not only that, people will bet everything they have to try to "double up". The risk/reward factor is extremely high. Not only that, the tour goes to places where you would just love to play poker, like a cruise ship or Aruba. Everytime I watch the show, I want to get a deck out and start playing just to show my friends that I could cream them from what I have learned. No limit Texas Hold 'em, the greatest card game in the world.

What I am about to discuss is something I need to get off my chest. Please realize I am ranting, and, at times, I may not make much sense. Hopefully, I can clarify later. I really need to thank Ryan for taking time out of his busy schedule to answer my questions as I struggled through this process. Ryan was a big help and, unfortunately, probably more of a pastor to me during this time than my own pastors. That, however, is for later.

It all started with a song. The song was innocent enough at first. I mean, who wouldn’t like to listen to an upbeat song every once in a while during the service like “Shine Jesus Shine”. There was one problem, however. The aesthetics of the song are not pleasing when played on a pipe organ. I also began to wonder if we should really be ordering God around by telling him to “Shine”. After that, the questionable theology began to pile up. Bad Baptist hymns replaced the Gloria, a “Jesus is my Boyfriend” tune (Open my eyes Lord) replaced the confession of Peter (Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life), and the liturgy was slashed as to be and hour or less, guaranteed. About a year and a half ago, I began coming home from church angry and questioning what the pastors were trying to do. Why was the service being dumbed down? Why were theologically questionable songs, at best, being introduced to the congregation, stuff so bad I wanted to puke? Why couldn’t the bell choir reverse this trend?

Article XIV of the Augsburg confession states, “Of Ecclesiastical Order they teach that no one should publicly teach in the Church or administer the Sacraments unless he be regularly called.” (Bente and Dau) So when the Vicar began consecrating the elements, I was quite confused. Ryan was a big help with my reservations about this practice. He reminded me of Article XIV and what it states. So, unless Vicars have suddenly received calls I am unaware of, he has no business consecrating the elements. This one drove me nuts because, somehow, I always ended up with the Vicar consecrating elements no matter what service I attended. I now wonder how many times did I participate in an empty ceremony without any meaning or power. I should have just had crackers and wine at home.

At this point, I am not only angry at my church, I am angry at myself for being at a church that has a problem with orthopraxy. What drove me even more insane was when I was asked to participate in a service in which the doctrine of Two Kingdoms would be proclaimed and then muddled. Ryan, once again, was a voice of reason to me, and I confronted the senior pastor about what I believed to be a violation of Article XVI of the Augsburg Confession. We discussed my conscience, my views, and he then sent me home with a CTCR document on Church and state. He said that the CTCR document was the official position of the Synod. I know CTCR documents are not the official positions of the Synod (except one that went through the proper means to become official) but just documents for further study and reflection. To his credit, he also said that if I was uncomfortable with the service, then I shouldn’t do it lest I sin against my conscience. I am not happy at this point, and I go to a different pastor and a vicar who tell me to see if I could separate the “masturbation for America” (as I called it) from the rest of the service. If not, I was given the bad advice of just gritting my teeth and bearing it because it was an issue not worth fighting over. I cannot really blame them. I was the one who decided to participate to help keep the peace, and I was the one who sinned. The other part of the conversation, however, was what really made me think. The conversation was about trust and the necessity of it. Did I like my pastors? Yes. They were both outgoing and cared deeply about the congregation. Did I trust my pastors? To answer that, I asked a different question: why was I asking Ryan and other pastors questions I should be asking my own pastors? Would I be bringing these other people into these problems if I completely trusted my pastors? The answer is “No”. At the point I realized that, I knew that all the thinking I had done about leaving prior to this would, at some point, turn to action.

After all of that, however, I still hadn’t requested to be transferred even though I began to attend other congregations when my obligations to my home church did not interfere with my plans. I intended to just fade away into oblivion and transfer somewhere else where I would not be angry after the service. I didn’t want nor need perfection. I just wanted somewhere where I could bicker about the church wasting its valuable money on decaf rather than questioning the practices of the pastor. My idea of transferring changed when I heard that District President Benke’s case had been reversed. Both of my pastors were big Benke fans, as was much of the congregation. I was alright with staying in fellowship with everyone as long as the Benke case was in limbo. I justified it somehow using logic. I don’t really remember how I justified such a move now. Anyway, as soon as the decision was announced, I began writing a letter of resignation. I neither resigned from my position as bell director nor my position as LOGOS chime director. I resigned my membership in the church. Many will say churches work very slowly. The elders accepted my resignation within 48 hours. All I have to say is I was happy. I no longer deal with the hypocrisy I saw every Sunday. I soon joined a church with a confessional pastor and arguments about the type of coffee. It’s amazing how much you appreciate the petty arguments after coming out of the situation I was in. I also have a pastor who I trust and can bring up concerns. That is a blessing I have not had in quite a while.

Here comes the hard part: where did I go wrong? Through this whole process, could I have done something differently that might of resulted in change or, at least, me leaving like I did? My only real regret is that I did not discuss my problems with the liturgy, the vicar, and the trust issue with either of the pastors. I believe those issues really needed to be discussed and much of the bad blood I now possess might have been avoided. At best, we might have found solutions to these problems so I could, with a good conscience, stay. At worst, I would end up where I am now. I do miss many of the people at my old church. I miss the bell choir. I am saddened by what I had to do, but yet I accept the burden gladly, because being sad is easier than being angry.

Numbers 6:24-26

For someone who hates it when websites don't update themselves, I am sure piss poor at it.

Good news: Daystar's website is no more (for now).

You know, I read the description of my blog and realized I had spent so much time bitching about the various problems within my own synod that I forgot about the good old E*CA. Yes, there is always someone in a worse situation than you, and the E*CA fits the bill perfectly. The Word Alone Network does a marvelous job of reminding those of us within the confines of Missouri that it could be worse. We could be in altar and pulpit fellowship with the ECUSA.

I am not sure I have discussed this yet. I love beer. The more opaque the beer, the better IMHO. Guinness is God's gift to mankind, even though most of America thinks its Budweiser. There is nothing wrong with Budweier, except that, when you drink as much Guinness as I have, drinking Budweiser is like drinking water.

Monty Python. Who else could end a movie by crucifying all the main characters while singing a happy song. You go to love guys like these. Who else will allow you to change your starsign to lumberjack or frog or a newt (I got better).

Geology is only interesting to those who have an interest in it.

Thanks for reading these random thoughts. Now let's see how bad my blog is screwed up thanks to new software!

I am relieved.

My fight is finally over. I am going back within the wings of the LCMS this Sunday, and I am glad to be at a church where the confessions are respected and I don't have to sit in the pew wondering if I am going to quietly fume because the pastor chose "Shine, Jesus Shine" as the hymn of the day. I shall not worry.

I once lived in Utah, and I have tried to keep track of the former pastor of St. Mark's in Provo. He took a call to a church in Ft. Wayne and has remained there since. I was reading through the list of people who have singned the That They May Be One document, and his name is there. He is one of the many pastors whom I have the greatest respect, love, and admiration for. He was a great help and a rock during my many trials and tribulations I encourtered from living in Utah. Thank you, Pastor Stube.

I shall try to remember to at least update my blog daily, if not more so if I believe soething must be addressed. Keep the faith.

So much for me posting every day this week.

The Animatrix was awesome. If you haven't seen this DVD, you need to see it. It explains a lot that is just assumed in the movie.

I appologize for not blogging all this time. The trip to Alaska (which was wonderful) and just plain getting out of the habit of blogging (like I was ever in the habit) were part of the problems. My goal is to blog everyday this week, even if it's only some obnoxious phrase.

Having internet access available is one thing. Paying for it is another. 50 cents a minute on the ship. Blogging on the ship wasn't worth it, and I found the internet cafe in Ketchican too late to do squat about it. I only had about an hour until I had to be back on the ship, and I had e-mail to check, news to catch up on, etc. Sorry I didn't blog Alaska.

One of the things that happened while I was gone was this thrilling memo. Our wonderful SP has decided he wants to purge every living being who signed That They May Be One. I have to give him credit: he is doing what the late Dr. Barry should have done: purge his enemies. Being I am not a member of an LCMS congregation, I have no need to sign this document. When I join this new LCMS congregation, however, I will sign it that day.

E-mail me at beerisforamateurs@yahoo.com. I am sick of getting only yahoo junk mail. Tell me if I am off the wall, or if you agree. I don't care. I won't post your e-mail here unless you give me permission. I promise.

To be free...

I visited a new church yesterday. I do really enjoy chanting and all the other "smells and bells" that go on during a service. It is amazing how I am becoming more "catholic" in my liturgical theology. It almost scares me, except I cannot accept the crap Rome throws upon one's conscience like purgatory and earning one's salvation. Actually, that latter point is also why I could never be an American Evangelical. "Sanctifying" oneself is extremely annoying, and a good dose of The Door will cure it. It will teach everyone not to take themselves too seriously.

Bad writting is bad writting. I am the master of pedantic, anoying, and obnoxious writing. Anything I cannot write about, I am sure I can find an extremely annoying link on the internet.

Well, if I have anything to write about soon, I will.

It was official as of Tuesday evening that I am no longer a member of any church. I am officially a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of No-mans Land. Which is basically to say, I hold to the symbols of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, I just have no congregation to be a member of. As you might expect, this shocked quite a few people. The thing is, I have been planning to leave for quite a while. My family does not understand why I made this move. As I mentioned before, I am extremely confident in this move and why I made it. The Benke situation has a lot to do with it. I wanted to make sure I am at a church that, in 2004, would bail out of the Synod if need be. I do not want to be part of a Synod that allows heterodoxy to mingle with orthodoxy.

Telling my handbell choir I am leaving went very well. They all seemed to understand why I decided to leave and why I went about doing the things I did recently. I like the people I directed, and I still consider them friends. Too bad I had to do this.

I am off to Alaska a week from today. I shall be cruising off the coast of Canada a week from tomorow. There should be internet acess on the ship, so I will blog my experiences in Alaska and Canada. It should make for some interesting reading, and also be a way for my friends (I have those) to keep up with what is going on.

I actually did it. Yesterday, I broke all ties with my church via a letter sitting on the secretaries desk. I emphasised my point by just leaving after the bell choir played rather than hanging around and partaking communion. The Vicar was, once again, consecrating the elements aginst the wishes, I have found out, of both seminaries and Augsberg Confession Article XIV. The joys of leaving the church. Surprisingly, this is one of the few descisions I have made with this much confidence in my life. I am almost overjoyed to be relieved of the burden I was under at that church (which shall continue to remain nameless, I think). I will miss some of my friends, but at least I know where I am going now.

My last, yet unofficial duty is tomorow. Before I completely disapear, I shall polish the handbells and go celebrate another wonderful season of playing. As you might expext, I am stepping down from directing the bell choir. At least they will not be in complete disarray when I leave.

I have finished my letter resigning a a member of my current congregation. It takes effect after I direct the bell choir. I tried not to be too harsh, yet I had to get the point across. Being diplomatic is not my forte.

I am reading the book The Black Book of Communism right now. It brings the 1917 Revolution in a whole new light. The repression of the Russian people began almost immediately after the takeover by Lenin and his gang of thugs. Trotsky was in on destroying people's lives as well as Lenin. Both became good templates Stalin follwed. Right now, I am reading about the influence Communism International (Comintern) has on the world of communist parties. Fun light reading.

I have had a little time to stew over the whole Benke situation and what this means for me and my future in my local church, which is pro-Benke. First thing is I am leaving my current congregation this Sunday. I direct the bell chior and we are playing for the last time until fall this Sunday. I will miss being in the bell chior, but I have a feeling that in 2004, if I stay where I am, I will be on the wrong side of a probable split. Call it strategic positioning. I know where I'm probably going to transfer. I am writting a letter giving the reasons why I am leaving, but not where I am going. I have honestly contemplated leaving my church for over a year now, and I am finally going to have the, ummm, juevos, to take such a large step.

I went to see The Matrix Reloaded Wednesday night. I have to say it was awesome. If you are a martial arts geek like I am, you will love the film. I have to say, the plot is a little week and convoluted, but, if you, like me, enjoy badly-dubbed kung-fu movies, the plot in this is 1000 times better.

Remember, my address is beerisforamatuers@yahoo.com. If anyone actually reads this, send me something. If anyone else blogs, I find getting things off my chest here to be easy, yet to tell something to someone's face so difficult.

Benke got off. I am mad. The man is no longer worthy of wearing the collar. If anybody thinks that we will just "try to get along", they are crazy and need to be put into a mental hospital. This issue isn't going away. As a matter of fact, it will simmer and stew until the 2004 convention, where, hopefully, we will have a new SP and a confessional VP core.

The Schulz Reprt on Benke-Yankee Stadium

I could sit here and whine, but I will do what I have to do. My church has been way too suportive of Benke, and I will sever fellowship with this congregation. I know of a good, confessional congregation being served by a wonderful, confessional pastor (ironically, he graduated from SEMINEX) in my area where I will now be attending on a regular basis. I cannot, in good conscience, stay where I am at right now.

Professor Marquet is sending a letter of encouragement to the confessionals throughout the Synod. Take a look.

A WORD OF ENCOURAGEMENT from Kurt Marquart

Having been asked by friends to address the plight of those who are so deeply discouraged by the turn of events in our Missouri Synod that they are tempted simply to leave, I humbly offer a few thoughts:

It is quite natural to become discouraged when things go wrong. To see our Synod--once known throughout the world for its firm, unyielding, and united stand for the pure Gospel of Christ--now awash in confusion and contradiction, even about such clear and basic issues as joint services with official representatives of paganism, that is of course profoundly and painfully sad.

And while the Lord founded His Church so solidly on Himself that the very gates of hell shall not prevail against her (St. Mt. 16:18), it is true that no visible church of a particular town, region, nation, or continent has the guarantee of remaining faithful to the truth forever. Indeed, history teaches us that even great and strong churches can ultimately abandon the truth. Think only Jerusalem, Rome, Wittenberg!

But now is not the time to abandon our Synod. It is not a false, heterodox church, but an orthodox church with serious troubles. For confessionally sound pastors and people to leave the Synod now, is simply to hand it over to those who hate its strict, confessional stand. Besides, we didn't get into this mess in a hurry, and we're not going to get out of it quickly either. But, to put it colloquially, "the old girl is worth fighting for"! Think of all the generations of devout souls who prayed and sacrificed for this Synod--and of those many who still do! Our Dr. Walther himself wrote to a confessional student in Erlangen, who wanted to leave the Bavarian Lutheran state church:

"I can advise separation from a degenerated communion which formerly had taken the right stand, only when it is notorious that it has 'hardened ' (verstockt) itself; and that is notorious only when everything has been tried to lead it back, but in vain . . . Would to God that I had had this understanding thirty-some years ago, then I would likely still be in America, yet not as one who had abandoned his office, but as an exile (Briefe von C.F.W. Walter, Concordia, 1916, pp. 196-197, my translation)."

And to another pastor in Germany he wrote:

"From a heretical or schismatic communion one must exit without consulting flesh and blood, also from a syncretistically constituted one; it is not so with a church which originally took the right stand, and in which false faith and unbelief still fight for the right to exist. Here it is a matter of leaving the sinking ship, not the one that has sprung a
leak (p. 194)."

It seems that most of our troubles in doctrine began as loose practice: open communion, neo-Pentecostalism, joint services with official representatives of false doctrine, and so forth. Then there came the pragmatic urge to adjust our formerly strong theology to our weak practice. The basic problem, it seems to me, is an organizational, bureaucratic approach to theology and church life. People want to justify any status quo that has become customary, and habitual--"like petty public officials [who] quietly approved the errors of their superiors, without understanding them." (Apology XII, 69, Tappert, p. 192).

The problem is not new: The Commission on Constitutional Matters (CCM) "now has well-nigh total and absolute power to turn any issue involving the practical application of the Confession into a constitutional one," and then to issue a "binding" decision! "The real question is the wisdom of such total concentration of virtually unchallengeable power in a small body of administrative appointees. Should someone be thinking of theological, churchly remedies?" (Church Polity and Politics, John Fehrman and Daniel Preus, eds, Luther Academy and Association of Confessional Lutherans, 1997, pp. 199-200).

The cat is fully out of the bag in the new CCM ruling that one can't be charged for actions for which one had prior approval from one's ecclesiastical supervisor! The practical import is that bureaucratic standing may now override Holy Scripture and the Confessions! For details see the argument in the attached resolution. You are free to use this resolution, or any part or aspect of it you find helpful, as you see fit.

Of course only God can help us. Relying on Him alone let us do what we can to encourage good outcomes at the 2004 Convention, and the one after that, and the one after that, etc. That will mean sharing relevant factual and doctrinal information, also at District conventions, sending in appropriate resolutions, nominating and electing confessionally responsible people, and defeating the dishonest emotional propaganda which seeks to exploit the sacred urgencies of Mission to sweep inconvenient doctrinal issues under the carpet.

Finally, the battle for the sacred truth of the Gospel must be fought with kindness and love. We must not demonize human opponents, but realize, as St. Paul teaches us, that "our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." (Eph. 6:12, NIV). The Lord of the Church bless us with zeal and courage and joy in Him Whose mercies are new to us every morning!

Fraternally yours,
signed

Kurt Marquart,
Ft. Wayne, IN, 8 May 2003

Today is my birthday. It's depressing...

The Benke situation, for some reason, is driving me nuts again. The new issue of Forum Letter has some more comments on the general state of the LCMS and the Benke situation. Here, Read it for yourself.

------------------------------------
"A Theology of Emotivism"
Rev. Prof. John T. Pless
Forum Lettter (May 2003)
------------------------------------

It is a foregone conclusion. David Benke will be exonerated of the charges that led to his suspension. With the Synod's Commission on Constitutional Matters now dominated by partisans appointed by President Kieschnick, the stage is set for the ruling of Vice President Wallace Schulz to be reversed. The case will be decided not by appeal to clear scriptural and confessional teaching but by the manipulation of by-laws and an appeal to procedural matters. Now that the Commission on Constitutional Matters has decreed that a member of Synod cannot be charged if he or she secured the prior approval of the "ecclesiastical supervisor" for activities that run counter to the Synod's position, the way is cleared for the dismissal of the case. Even as the moderates' cry for a decentralized and less hierarchical synodical structure, they have succeeded in giving even more power to the synod president. This is a dangerous side-effect of the Benke case that might just come back to haunt the moderates on another day when the office of president is not occupied by their man.

In some quarters David Benke is venerated as a martyr. His own parish (St.Peter's, Brooklyn, NY) is hawking a full array of relics ranging from "Its OK to Pray" hats, coffee mugs, T-shirts (x-large only), and posters. The proceeds, of course, will go to the "David H.Benke Advocacy and Defense Fund." Free buttons will accompany each order. These items can be ordered from the congregation's website. Chalk up another point for consumerism in the church. The congregation has also established an institute with the ominous name "St.Peter's Institute for Religious Interfaith Tolerance" (SPIRIT).

The most troubling aspects of this unfortunate episode have nothing to with the outcome of Benke's case or the "Its Ok Pray" trinkets (although I think that they are tacky) but rather in what it reveals about the embrace of the ideology of tolerance in our world and more sadly in the church. In postmodern fashion, Benke's prayer at the Yankee Stadium service is seen as an exercise of toleration for other gods. This, many of his supporters argue is a noble and laudable thing. We are finally rid of the Old Testament notion that God is a jealous Lord who will share His glory with no other. Typical is a letter supporting Benke published in the December 7, 2001 issue of the Los Angeles Times. The Rev. Butch Henderson of the Claremont United Church of Christ writes "Many families of faith worship the one God. I'm not privy to any information which indicates that God favors one family more than another. Equality among religions is not as important as authenticity. When I participate in interfaith prayer, worship, and other activities, I am affirming, encouraging, and sharing the authenticity of other religions. Given a choice between the view that all religions are equal and the view that only my religion is authentic, I'll take the former every time…and I suspect God does, too."

A few have tried to defend Benke's prayer theologically. Some have suggested that Benke was not praying with representatives of other faiths but merely praying in their presence. Others contend that Benke was not there to worship but to bear witness to Christ. These defenses ring hollow with an empty sophistry that seeks a loophole where there are none. I applaud the honesty of ELCA theologian Ted Peters who celebrates Benke's involvement in the Yankee Stadium service "If we reduce Benke's public appearance to witness, then we inadvertently pit Jesus over against everyone else. What the civic situation calls for is cooperation or even solidarity between Christians and members of other religious communities" (dialog, Summer 2002, 84). Peters sees more clearly what many in the LCMS miss.

We live in a culture that is committed to tolerance and is governed by what Alisdair MacIntrye identifies as the "ethic of emotivism." This ethic maintains that there is no rational way to secure agreement on ethical matters. We are left with the power of emotion. Issues are decided not by reason but by passion. Failing to make a theological case, the appeal is made to the emotions. Doctrine is divisive but love, sweet love will unite us! In our time, emotions will carry the day. Lutherans have a theological category for this- enthusiasm. Such enthusiasm provides a spiritual veneer for our culture's attitude of tolerance. The coalition of Jesus First and DayStar, the political machines most vocal and active in support of Kieschnick and Benke have learned this lesson well. The March 26, 2003 issue of Jesus First carries an article entitled "The Breath of God" by the Rev. Vernon Gundermann, a veteran LCMS moderate. Gundermann is bold to identify where the Spirit is blowing in the LCMS. Not surprisingly one of the places that Gundermann sees the Spirit working is in the Commission on Constitutional Matters! One wonders whatever happened to that old Lutheran notion that the Spirit works through the Word and is known only there.

The editor of the Forum Letter asked me to reflect on life in the LCMS in the months following Yankee Stadium. It seems to me that this last year and a half have revealed several things about the current state of affairs. There is much that could be said about the lack of theological, churchly leadership in the Synod as well as the prospects for change in 2004. There is the matter of Synod's bleak financial picture and drastic cuts in missionary personnel. One could comment on the obnoxious removal of Wallace Schulz from his position as Lutheran Hour speaker. Most disconcerting, however, is the extent to which the acids of pluralism have eroded the theological integrity of the Synod. This can be seen from much of the rhetoric that has been used in support of Benke's participation at Yankee Stadium. Emotive arguments have been used that subordinate faith to love. Any critical, theological engagement of unionism and syncretism are dismissed as being "unloving." Forgotten is Luther's insistence that "We are surely prepared to observe peace and love with all men, provided they leave the doctrine of faith perfect and sound for us. If we cannot obtain this, it is useless for them to demand love from us. A curse on a love that is observed at the expense of the doctrine of faith, to which everything must yield-love, an apostle, an angel from heaven, etc! They would know that one Word of God is all and all are one, that one doctrine is all doctrines and all are one, so that when one is lost all are eventually lost, because they belong together and are held together by a common bond" (AE 27:38).

Rev. Prof. John T.Pless
Assistant Professor of Pastoral Ministry and Missions
Concordia Theological Seminary
Fort Wayne, IN

Apparently no one is reading my rantings except a few of my friends (maybe). I am going to have to promote my blog better.

I went to see the midnight showing of X2 this early morning. I am paying for it now. Excellent special effects, good acting, hot babes playing in crucial parts. It's a winner.

I cannot just try to rant about the same old stuff I have been since I began this blog (my church, my synod, the state of Christianity in America in general). I have to be more creative. Maybe I will start trying to review albums and movies. Maybe not, since the review usually ends up like the above review of X2.

Now, just so you don't think I am hung up on problems with the synod, here are a few links I visit frequently.
Badjocks.com
Jerkoftheweek.com
National Review Online
I Think I Need a Stiff Drink
Front Page Magazine

You know, it is always good to have friends around to e-mail you and tell you how much they enjoy reading your blog. Then again, they are your friends and their opinions are somewhat, ummm, tainted. As with anything, I would still like an outside opinion as to the soundness of this blog and whether my logic is on track.

You know, I need to give a little love to my man Johann. I am Lutheran and I am German. Therefore, I must love Bach. Nothing is more lovely to the mathematician's ear than to hear four lines of melody interfingering in the most imaginative ways and each line of melody serving as harmony to the others. Counterpoint is a wonderful thing. There is power in his works, unlike the moronic garbage being produced by the Christian Money Machine. Oh, "Christian Music" and "Christian Books" and "Christian Trinkets". I walk into a "Christian Bookstore" (where did the books go?) and I'm overrun with "Trinkets for Christ". I'm embarassed by most of the emotional garbage they sell there. I have taken to buying stuff off the internet just because I cannot find what I want in a Christian bookstore. For instance, how many of us can find Lutheran classics like The Proper Distinction Between Law and Gospel or Two Natures in Christ? No Christian bookstore will cary these. It drives me insane. They do not even cary any of the great classical works that have sustaned the Church for centuries. I have to go into Borders to Handel my love of Bach.

I love classical music in general. Yes, I love Bach most of all, but I enjoy other composers as well. I am interested in Medieval and Renesance Church music. As with many things, as I have come to find out, old does not equal useless. How many people can meditate to Michael W. Smith or Amy Grant or whoever else is popular right now?