Update on ULC in Minneapolis (Assault on the Gospel)

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Rev. David Dissen <ddrev@clas.net>
To: Chapel of Hope Board List
Sent: Tuesday, September 13, 2011 8:57 AM
Subject: Fw: [CampusTalk] Update on ULC in Minneapolis

Please keep this Campus Ministry and their pastor in your prayers, that God
will lead the District Board of Directors to keep their present place of
worship.  What a shame it would be to lose such a place, even as it would be
to lose the wonderful site and facilities that we have for our Campus
Ministry at SEMO at Lutheran Chapel of Hope.

I know Rev. David Kind personally.  I baptized him as an infant when his
parents were members of Trinity Lutheran Church in Beloit, Wis. while I was
pastor at Trinity.

Pastor Kind is a very effective, conservative and confessional Campus
Pastor.  All of them in his ministry need our prayers.


    In Christ Jesus,


    Pastor Dissen,
    Rev. 2,10b


----- Original Message -----
From: "Rev. Marcus T. Zill" <zill@higherthings.org>
To: "CHRIST ON CAMPUS TALK" <campus-talk@higherthings.org>
Sent: Tuesday, September 13, 2011 7:17 AM
Subject: [CampusTalk] Update on ULC in Minneapolis




> Dear everyone,
>
> It is with a heavy heart that I beseech you and your people to pray in
> earnest for Rev. David Kind, the members of University Lutheran Chapel
> in Minneapolis, and all or her members and students as they await news
> as to whether or not the Minnesota South District plans to sell their
> campus ministry building and leave them homeless. Pray also that the
> Minnesota South Board of Directors will be led to reverse their
> apparent course of action and not make such a shortsighted decision.
>
> In case you haven't heard, today (9/13) the Minnesota South Board of
> Directors is considering a proposal to sell University Lutheran Chapel
> to a development company for $3 million for the purpose of leveling it
> and developing apartments for college students. Of course, college
> students at the University of Minnesota can find other temporary
> places to live, but what they can't hear everywhere is the timeless
> and eternal Gospel.
>
> We were afraid that this day might come and unfortunately it appears
> it has. Make no mistake about it. This is an assault on the Gospel.
> However, we can take solace in the fact that we all have done all that
> we could and that we have a God who has a consistent habit of taking
> things that the Evil One means for our destruction, and using them for
> His purposes in ways that we can not even fathom.
>
> May God care for those most closely effected at ULC, comfort those who
> mourn such a loss especially the young and impressionable college
> students whom we all seek to serve together, and grant all of us
> further resolve to support and defend the preaching of the Gospel and
> the administration of the Sacraments on our nations campuses precisely
> for the sake of the Gospel and not mammon.
>
> God's will be done.
>
> Lord, have mercy.
>
> Marcus
>
> __________________________
>
> Rev. Marcus T. Zill
> Christ on Campus Executive, Higher Things
> http://higherthings.org/campus
>
> 1309 Grand Ave, Laramie, WY 82070
> 307.745-5892 (study)
> 307.760-7497 (cell)
>
> "Confessing Christ on Campus Since 1517"
>

Second Retirement of Pastor David Dissen

This post is a few weeks overdue. 

Pr  Dave Dissen recently retired after eleven years of part-time service as Vacancy Pastor of the University Lutheran Chapel of Hope in Cape Girardeau, Missouri and after over fifty years of ordination as an LCMS pastor.  He has also served as the Vacancy Pastor at my congregation -- Zion Lutheran Church in Poplar Bluff -- and Senior Pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Cape Girardeau. Over the years he had supervised twenty LCMS Seminarian Vicars, including my current Pastor, Rev. Marty E. Reed.  His own vicarage was in Cuba at the beginning of the communist revolution there.  Pr. Dissen has also served as a Missouri District Vice President, member of the Board of Regents at Concordia Seminary, chaplain of the Cape Girardeau Fire Department and member of various synodical task forces.  According to Dr. Martin Noland's paper in The Theology and Life of Dr. Robert D. Preus, Pr. Dissen was president of Dr. Preus' International Foundation for Lutheran Confessional Research which was originally associated with the Confessional Lutheran Dogmatics series.  His chapel devotions are frequently seen reprinted in Christian News.

Here are the last letters he sent to the University Lutheran Chapel of Hope board of directors:

Greetings everyone,

    I want to express my sincere thanks to all you Board Members for the very thoughtful gift presented to me yesterday by Beverly Lewis at the Chapel service by the Board at my retirement. 

    Thanks so much for the digital desk clock and pad and also the very nice card.  I'm glad to see the numbers on the clock are very large.  At my age, large letters help.  Most of you don't know what I am talking about now but if you live long enough, you will experience it for yourself.

    Thanks also for the beautiful altar flowers.  It is not often that we have altar flowers for our Chapel services so this was an extra added touch.

    Thanks also to Curt Wills for providing the supper, to Kirk Sandfort for the very tasty and wonderfully decorated cake, to Howard Hemman for bringing the salad and Joyce Wollenburg for bringing special plates, napkins and also some brownies.  Thanks also to all those who cleaned up after the supper.

    These past eleven years have gone quickly.  I thank the Lord for permitting me to provide a Word and Sacrament Ministry to our college students and also to see some of the immediate blessings of this ministry in the lives of some of the students.

    You have a great leadership team for the future in Pastor Schwiesow and Matthew Younghouse.  Give them your continued support in the coming years as you have supported my ministry in the past.  You have been a true blessing to his ministry and will continue to be. 

    Thanks again for a wonderful retirement supper.  Since I have asked but have not received a "clear" answer as to who all was involved in planning yesterday's event, I will say to all of you and especially to those who did the planning: "THANK YOU SO MUCH" for a wonderful retirement gift.

    In Christ Jesus,

    Pastor Dissen,

    Rev. 2,10b

     

GREETINGS EVERYONE AS ANOTHER ACADEMIC YEAR COMES TO A CLOSE,

Tomorrow, May 8th, is our last worship service for this semester.  We worship at 5 PM with Holy Communion and supper after the service which is provided by the Board Members and co-ordinated by Curt Wills.  Thanks, Curt, for your help.

This is my last service in my present capacity since I am retiring from the Campus Ministry after the end of this month.  Pastor Wayne Schwisow and Matthew Younghouse are assuming the new leadership.  They are a real God-send to our campus ministry and, with God's blessings, will do very well.

Many thanks to all those who have been such a tremendous help to me in this vital ministry the past 11 years.  It has been a joy to be involved in this campus ministry.

No Bible Study next Wednesday.

All personal possessions must be removed from the campus facilities by the end of Friday, May 13th.  The locks will be re-keyed and your present key to the back door and the library/computer room will no longer work.

Congratulations to all our graduates.  May you be a blessing to many in the future. 

In Christ Jesus,

Pastor Dissen,

Rev. 2,10b

STAND UP! - STAND UP FOR JESUS!
One of my many favorite hymns in The Lutheran Hymnal is "Stand Up! - Stand Up for Jesus!" I realize that some Christians do not like this hymn because they think that it is too militant! They don’t want to hear Christians singing about fighting and warfare! However, these Christians overlook the inescapable truth that this side of heaven we Christians are members of the Church Militant, not the Church Triumphant.
Jesus Himself reminds you and me and all His followers that in this life there is a daily battle going on between right and wrong, and truth and falsehood in which we are engaged. He states very plainly: "I came not to send peace, but a sword."
As Christian students at a secular college at SEMO in Cape Girardeau, you know all too well the constant temptations you have both on and off campus to become bed partners with sin, to silence and desensitize your conscience when it comes to sins of commission and omission, and to excuse and/or rationalize any covenant you make with sin and Satan.
Christians with a knowledge of God’s Word and an operative brain know that our college students (and all of us) are constantly faced with very powerful anti-moral and anti-Christian forces that confront all of us. These forces are evident in college professors and fellow students who ridicule the Bible and Christianity. These forces attack our Christian faith in classroom books that undermine the truth of God’s Word.  They assault our Christian faith and moral decency through the filth of poisonous pornographic magazines and the moral debauchery of inter-net websites that feed sinful lusts. They seek to destroy our Christian values through seductive and destructive movies, songs and TV programs that laugh at sin and chastity, ridicule Christian family life and make a mockery of Christ’s morally pure truths.
As you students either continue your studies at SEMO after I leave the campus ministry or as you pursue your chosen career after graduation, my prayer is that you will always "Stand Up - Stand Up for Jesus! Fight against all the treacherous forces of evil and your own sinful flesh by taking to heart the words of the hymn writer: "Put on the Gospel armor, Each piece put on with prayer; Where duty calls or danger, Be never wanting there."
Receive the daily strength that you need to "Stand Up for Jesus" by going to the Word of God’s Grace in which He assures you that He forgives you all your sins and removes the guilt and stain of your sinful lives because Christ died for you and rose again. Keep up your DBR degree—your Daily Bible Reader degree. Read it with reverence. Read it for the indwelling guidance and strength of the Holy Spirit. Read it to build up your Christian faith, life and character. Through the unconquerable power of God in His Word and His holy sacraments, He will use you to be a spiritual and moral blessing in this sin-perishing world and will on the last day give you the crown of eternal life by His grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Never be ashamed to "Stand Up! - Stand Up for Jesus!" and His Word of truth.
Prayer:

In Christ Jesus,
Rev. David V. Dissen,
Lutheran Chapel of Hope
PO Box 1465 Cape Girardeau, MO 63702
Tel.: Home: 573-334-5736 Cell: 573-837-0969
Website:  www.lutheransonline.com/chapelofhope
　 O God, help us always to Stand Up for Jesus! We pray in His holy name, Amen.

Lord Have Mercy

Attached below is something one of my congregation's former presidents wrote to me four years ago.  This man was one of the ringleaders who tried to get rid of our pastor over the last four years -- through my entire brief experience as a church council member.  His bragging points over the years were introducing female membership to our voters about forty years ago (not a big deal these days), promoting theistic evolution, writing letters to the congregation stirring up strife and dissent.  He also suggested we emulate the practices of a RIM (LCMS charismatic/pentecostal errorist) pastor in Florida. He later transferred to a congregation that drove away four pastors in a row.

Dr. A.C.  Piepkorn wrote that allowing impenitent members to transfer for the sake of getting them out out of your hair is damage to the unity of Synod, but that's becoming a very common thing.

----- Original Message -----
From: --- ------
To: tcschenks@
Sent: Monday, July 02, 2007 9:37 AM
Subject: Convention

Hi: I was pleased to read you are a delegate to the convention. I hope the delegates in all their wisdom are able to help guide the LCMS in its path to bring Christ to the world.

The LCMS has been loosing members. There is a great diversity among the many individual ministers within the church. I have found that some are attracting people and some are repelling them. This seems to be caused by whether or not the minister follows an extremely conservative stance or not. For instance, although a member of the church since a child, I never heard any Lutheran minister expound his belief that the universe was created in 6 days time. They all seemed to realize that science has disproved this. A few years ago, a Lutheran minister expounded the belief in the 6 (24 hour) days of creation, contrary to all knowledge learned over the past 500 years. Now, this would not be harmful in itself, but it is the type of thing that drives educated people from the church, and the reason we are loosing so many people. Each week, I listen to the frustration of our parishioners in this reguard. I presume they vent their frustration to me because in the past I have help guide the church away from such archaic views as male only voters and positions such as male only secretary.

So, I would hope the delegates would be guided by the churches who are bringing people into the fold as opposed to those who are driving them away. I mention the above paragraph as just an example. In itself, it is not that important, but it is a symptom of the illness spreading its virus throughout the LCMS.

Best wishes, --- ------

Commemoration of Issues, Etc. Cancellation

Issues, Etc. Producer Jeff Schwarz
LCMS, Inc. Termination Debriefing
Courtesy of Board of Communication Services

This is the anniversary of a notable event, an LCMS Night of the Long-Knives.

MAR 18 2008 (Monday of Holy Week)




The LCMS cancelled the radio program bearing the name “Issues, Etc.” The Executive Director of the LCMS Board for Communication Services, David Strand, directed KFUO-AM management to remove immediately all references to the name “Issues, Etc.” from KFUO-AM broadcast programming and website. According to Strand, “Once the decision to discontinue ‘Issues’ had become public, modifications had to be made to the KFUO-AM website to reflect the changes in the programming schedule and to remove references and links to the discontinued program... Many things had to happen quickly on the afternoon of March 18 to make the necessary changes to the programming schedule on the AM website and to remove references and links to ‘Issues, Etc.’”

They're still here. Listen to them at http://issuesetc.org/

Don't forget:  April 14, 2008 -- March on the Purple Palace (AKA Prayer vigil at LCMS International Center, Kirkwood, MO).

Rev. Marty E. Reed
Pastor
Zion Lutheran Church U.A.C.
Poplar Bluff, Missouri

Walk in Your Vocation.

Volume 2 (That is, Year 2) of the English translation of Der Lutheraner, published by C.F.W. Walther in 1845, is now available.  Subscribe at http://markvpublications.com/

Excerpt from Volume 2, No. 2:

Walk in Your Vocation.

God's Word, command and work alone must be regarded, and that alone honored and praised and what comes along outside of God's Word and Command must all be reproached as something else.  Now when a maid tends to the chickens, a wife bears her children, a husband attends the labor of his hands, a prince or a lord has wicked fools knocked on the head, they should all be approved regardless of their station and say: God has done that.  But even if you had the ability to save all the world with your preaching and yet you did not have a command to do so, just leave that alone, for you would transgress the legitimate Sabbath and it would not be pleasing to God.

--Luther on Exodus 20:8-11

Zion Chasuble

Dropped this off at Pastor's office today.  It's a white-parament fiddleback chasuble that we've donated to Zion Lutheran Church of Poplar Bluff, Missouri.

Mercy Journeys with Pastor Harrison: Wyneken on how to preach in America.

Mercy Journeys with Pastor Harrison: Wyneken on how to preach in America.: "Rev. Karl Boehmer just privided a translation of Friedrich Wyneken's letter to Biewend from Nov. 25, 1842. Wyeneken was..."

Why Don't We Simply Follow The Procedures?

(This is standard procedure for liberal members of Synod: trump Holy Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions with By-Laws and Procedures).

After the LCMS Synodical Convention declared his position to be one that 'could not be tolerated in the Church of God', Seminary President John Tietjen stated to the Convention:   "I believe I have been grievously wronged by the Convention, and I should like to state a number of reasons why.  The Convention Workbook contains any number of overtures which ought not to have been included in that workbook because they are unconstitutional in that there are provisions in the constitution and bylaws for handling the concerns that were expressed in those overtures."

Why Do Church Members Stop Coming To Church?

Because their social needs are not being met (lack of closeness and friendship; a “cold congregation”, isolation, rejection)

Because they are not willing, finally, to accept the responsibility of church membership. (not interested in shouldering responsibility, treating church as a spectator sport)

Because they no longer agree with the church’s position in some matters.

Because of outright unbelief.

Because they are “cold” toward the Word of God. (lack of desire for the Means of Grace)

Because of sins that particularly bother their conscience.

Because of laziness: physical and spiritual. (lack of motivation)

Because of self-righteousness and work-righteousness. (they feel they don’t need to go to church)

Because they lack love and concern for their fellow Christians.

Because of work conflicts.

Because they allow their sinful flesh to rule them. (they don’t get anything out of the service; they are bored; would rather be doing something else)

Because of peer pressure. (they are around un-churched people much of the time who often ridicule church-goers)

Because of hurt feelings, anger and frustration over something that was said or done by the pastor or a member of the church. (or didn’t get their way, or can’t come to grips with the situation)

Because of personality clashes.

Because of disagreement with the way the church is run.

Because they may not have been ready for Confirmation. (or they feel that Confirmation is “graduation” and they don’t have to go anymore)

Because of negativism and rebellion. (they don’t feel they have a need to go to church)

Because of mixed-marriage difficulties. (spouses being members of different Christian denominations)

Because of greed or miserliness. (they don’t want to give; they resent being confronted with offering plates or envelopes, or hearing about stewardship)

Because they may not perceive the Body and Blood of the Lord in the Lord’s Supper. (and are not alarmed about this)

Because the devil has robbed them of their faith.

Because they have become captivated by worries, cares and wordly desires, which destroy the good effect of God’s Word on them. (materialism and pleasure)

Because of family problems. (raising children, money, family friction, disagreements, hurt feelings)

Because of health problems. (physical, mental or emotional)

Because when they do come to church, they let the devil perch on their shoulder. (they dwell on their sins, guilty even after their sins are forgiven)

Because they feel sorry for themselves. (“Sunday is the only day we have to …”)

Because they don’t get anything out of the sermon. (they don’t understand the purpose of a Lutheran Law & Gospel sermon)

Because they don’t like such things as hymns and the liturgy and they refuse to adjust.

Because it’s too much bother to bring their young children to church. (too busy trying to keep the kids quiet; or, the church lacks a nursery, when often the simple fact is that they don’t have their children under control)

(This list came from the WELS Elder handbook)

Walther League

Some members keep stating that our current youth group (LYF) is simply a renamed Walther League.

I remember hearing that the old Walther League (eventually replaced by the Lutheran Youth Fellowship) was thrown out or disbanded because it had become too liberal or out of control.

Actually, the Walther League was the youth organization of the Synodical Conference, which no longer exists, although that's not the reason the Walther League isn't around any more.

The Lutheran Encyclopedia has a detailed history of the problems.

-----------------

But how was this corruption allowed to happen in the first place? An old book published by the Missouri Synod listed only one reason for the Walther League's existence. The Walther League, an association of young people which has the object of keeping our boys and girls, as they grow up, faithful to their confirmation vows.

From The Story of Our Church in America (Told in Simple Words). Th. Graebner. Concorda Publishing House, St. Louis, 1922.

Synodical Numbers

1922:There were 3,675,000 baptized Lutherans in the United States.

Of that total:

1,000,000 baptized members were in the Missouri Synod.
260,000 baptized members were in the Wisconsin Synod.
13,000 baptized members in the Slovak Synod.
6,500 baptized members in the Norwegian Synod.

The Missouri Synod consisted of 3,309 congregations and 858 preaching-stations, with a total of a little more than a million souls, served by nearly 2,500 pastors and professors and more than 1,000 schoolteachers.

1932:

The Missouri Synod consisted of 3,898 congregations and 906 preaching-stations, 1,189,000 souls, served by 3,127 pastors and 1,885 teachers.

The Wisconsin Synod (WELS) had 206,000 baptized members.
The Slovak Synod had 14,600 baptized members.
The Norwegian Synod had 7,300 baptized members.

From The Story of Our Church in America (Told in Simple Words). Th. Graebner. Concorda Publishing House, St. Louis, 1922 (and 1932 Supplement)

Past Elders

Reading through our church council and voters' assembly archives I found some reports from the Board of Elders dating from the late 1940s to the early 1960s.

Instead of peaceful release (what we call leaving us to join a non-LCMS congregation) the term they used back then was defection.

Instead of self-exclusion the term they used back then was despising the Word and Sacrament.

What Can Each Member Do For His Synod?

1. He can pray for it. Let us all remember the missions and colleges of our Synod when we say: "Hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come!"

2. He can tell others about his Synod, its history, its faith, its works. And in order to be able to do this, every one ought to read the papers published by our Synod, Der Lutheraner and The Lutheran Witness, which explain to all men what we teach, what we stand for, and which also tell our Christians what our Synod is doing.

3. He can and will give of his money for the support of colleges and missions. He will try to give regularly, and according to his means. Sometimes he will go to the minister and hand him an extra donation and say, "Please give this money to a poor student," or, "The Lutheran Witness says that the treasury for Negro Missions is empty; here are five dollars," or he will ask his congregation to introduce the envelope system, by which everybody is enabled to give a little every Sunday for missions.

Do you know how much we would have for our missions and colleges if of our 600,000 confirmed members only 500,000 would give, every week, five cents for these purposes? One million and three hundred thousdand dollars -- or four hundred thousand dollars more than we now receive! But why should we give so little? Has not Jesus given His life for us? Shall we not do all we can to bring others to faith in Him?

From The Story of Our Church in America (Told in Simple Words). Th. Graebner. Concorda Publishing House, St. Louis, 1922.

Schwan Constitution!

In the early years of the Missouri Synod, Pastor Schwan (future Synodical President) found himself being told over and over again by fellow pastors that his poor small congregation needed a constitution. This is what he submitted:

Title, constitution and by-laws of the German Evangelical Lutheran Congregation at ...

(1) In our congregation all divine and spiritual matters are to be done in accordance with Scripture and Luther's doctrine (Concordia, 1580).

(2) But all other matters to be done in accordance with love.
From The Heart of Missouri: A History of the Western District of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, 1854-1954. by August R. Suelflow (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1954.)

My Old Missouri Books

Zion on the Mississippi (CPH, 1953), hardback, 2nd printing

Service Prayer Book authorized by the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio and Other States, Second Edition (Army & Navy Commission, 1941)

Abridged Treasury of Prayers (CPH, 1930)

Book of Concord reprinted from the 1917 Concordia Triglotta by Bente/Dau with Historical Introductions by Dr. F. Bente (CPH, 1922)

Die Bibel translated by Dr. Martin Luther -- Old Testament, New Testament & Apocrypha (CPH, 1910)

Starck's Prayer-Book, from the German edition of Dr. F. Pieper; translated/edited by W.H.T. Dau (CPH, 1921)

Celebration Book of the 100th Anniversary of the Saxon Immigration (Local Printer, 1939)

Dietrich's Katechismus -- Luther's Small Catechism w/ Explanations by Dr. Johann Conrad Dietrich (CPH, 1904)

Luther's Small Catechism w/ Explanation (CPH, 1943) -- original would have been solid dark-blue, this is probably the 1950s/1960s reprint

Evangelical Lutheran Hymn-Book, Abridged Edition (CPH, 1927) - pocket-sized hymnal

Kirchen Gesangbuch (CPH, late 1910s/early 1920s)

Kirchen Gesangbuch (CPH, 1909 printing/1892 copyright)

Not in Picture:

Hymnal for Evangelical Lutheran Missions (CPH, 1905) -- a small olive-tan pocket-sized hymnal with the words Lutheran Hymnal on the front cover

Old Intercession for Communicants

Intercession for Communicants from the 19^th Century Saxon Liturgy of the Missouri Synod



Lord Jesus, who callest unto Thee all those that labor and are heavy laden, to refresh them and give rest unto their souls, we pray Thee, do let these guests also experience Thy love at the heavenly feast which Thou hast prepared for Thy children on earth.  Keep them from all impenitence and unbelief, that no one may partake of this holy sacrament to his damnation.  Take off from all of them the spotted garment of the flesh and of their own righteousness, and adorn them with the garment of the merit earned by Thy blood.  Strengthen their faith, increase their love and hope, and once make them sit at Thy heavenly table, where Thou wilt give them that are Thine, to eat of the eternal manna and to drink of the river of Thy pleasures.  Hear us for Thy own sake.  Amen



Dr. Robert Preus on Luther's Theology of the Cross

Transcript Excerpt from Luther’s Theology of the Cross by Dr. Robert D. Preus
(Audio Cassette by CURE/Christians United for Reformation, 1995)

Question from Audience:  As far as a person in the pew, who’s seeing the preacher wandering away from this great truth that we’ve discussed here tonight, what can he or she do to help bring him back.

Dr. Preus:

Boy, that’s an all-embracing question.  I mean, you got a preacher who won’t preach the Gospel, now what do you do about it?  Well, I know what one old Norwegian lady in the Midwest when I was a little boy said. “Why don’t you preach more Christ and less Jortland?” Jortland was the name of the preacher.  I’m not sure that she made any impression with Rev. Jortland but we used to go listen to him (he’s dead now) as seminary students up at St. Paul and we would count the minutes until he mentioned Christ and sometimes he didn’t mention it after preaching forty minutes.  So you didn’t have to wait for neo-orthodoxy or anything else – this was way back when I was a student.  I don’t know what you do.  I think you play it by ear.

Nowadays people react with their feet.  They just join another church; it’s a free country.  Most of the time they probably joined another church for the wrong reason.  If it’s for that reason it’s a good one. 

I would certainly try to talk to the pastor and I’d try to get other members of the church to talk to him and say “you’re simply not preaching what God called you here to preach – you’re a hireling!”  That might get some reaction out of him, I don’t know.

I’m reading a book right now on musical pulpits or something like that.  It shows how many Baptists and Methodists and Presbyterians are getting kicked out of churches.  They don’t mention Lutherans because Lutherans don’t tell.  We’ve got these district presidents – they don’t want people to know how many guys they’ve gotten rid of.

But if you were to look at these musical pulpits you’d find that very seldom does a pastor get put out for the right reason.  They just don’t like the way he parts his hair, or his personality, or he’s not dynamic enough, or … oh I got the one!  He doesn’t have people skills.  Have you ever heard that one?  Oh boy!  Every time some Missouri Synod pastor gets shoved out he didn’t have people skills, which means he didn’t conform to the world.  Well, pardon my dogmatism.

I could talk all night, but I think every situation is going to be different.  I’m one that thinks he should stay and fight, but if he refuses to speak the Gospel it’s a dead church.  I don’t care how much growth they have.

Do You Remember Your Confirmation Vow?

YOUR PROMISE TO GOD

From the 1941 Service Prayer Book of the Evangelical Lutheran  Synod of Missouri, Ohio and Other States (later known as the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod).

Do you remember it?

On the day of your Confirmation you made the highest and holiest promise you have ever made or ever will make. When your pastor took your hand, he was standing in the place of God. You were making a promise to the Most High. You renewed your vow once made when in Holy Baptism you entered upon a covenant with God Himself. Never again, as long as you live, will you make a more solemn vow. It was an either-or promise; either you keep it and are blessed in this world and the world to come, or you break it and unless you repent are lost for time and for eternity. It will make or break your life from now on.

It was not a promise made in private or before a single person. Think of all who were listening as you made your vow. Your pastor was listening. He must report to God that you kept or broke it. Your parents and friends were listening, hoping and praying that you would never forget. And above all, invisible but surely present was your Savior Himself, Who died on the cross in order that you might be able to make your Confirmation vow.

Perhaps there will be men and women in your life who will forget a promise you made to them. God never forgets. Even on the Last Day, when heaven and earth shall pass away, He will ask you before His throne on high concerning the vow you made before His altar on earth.

Do you remember that vow?

"Do you as members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, intend to continue steadfast in the confession of this Church, and suffer all, even death, rather than fall away from it?"

"We do so intend, with the help of God."

"Do you intend faithfully to conform all your life to the rule of the divine Word, to walk as it becometh the Gospel of Christ, and in faith, word and deed to remain true to the Triune God, even unto death?"

"We do so intend, by the grace of God."

God never forgets. Do you remember?

Lord Jesus, without Thee I cannot keep my Confirmation vow. Help me, I pray, to remember and keep it forever. Amen.

Schismatics

Quoting Hollaz:  “Are schismatics true members of the church? I answer: Those who knowingly, willingly, maliciously, contrary to their own conscience, and moved by admiration of their own virtues and the purpose to offend others, incite trouble in the church, are not true members of the church.  Schismatics, properly so called, are those who voluntarily and deliberately separate themselves from the church and cause divisions in it without any just cause, purposing only to disrupt its unity. (C.F.W. Walther—The True Visible Church and the Form of a Christian Congregation Pg. 31-32)