{"id":332,"date":"2008-03-27T14:12:42","date_gmt":"2008-03-27T21:12:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/2008\/03\/27\/the-wilken-statement\/"},"modified":"2008-03-27T14:12:42","modified_gmt":"2008-03-27T21:12:42","slug":"the-wilken-statement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/?p=332","title":{"rendered":"The Wilken Statement"},"content":{"rendered":"

The following statement was read by Pr. Michael Kumm (Pr. Todd Wilken\u2019s pastor) at the Congress on the Lutheran Confessions (March 25-27, 2008, in Bloomington, MN). <\/span> <\/p>\n

You have to appreciate how Pr. Wilken puts things in perspective with his comments about blood and martyrs, but especially with Christ Jesus being our true, eternal Friend, and the true Martyr who shed His blood for us!<\/span><\/p>\n

Wilken Statement<\/span><\/p>\n

When I was on the air, I often joked about retreating each night to the \u201cWilken Compound\u201d and closing the gate. Radio can be an isolating profession. I would even say in jest, \u201cI have no friends.\u201d I was wrong.<\/p>\n

In fact, the first thing Jeff said to me as the International Center\u2019s doors closed behind us on Holy Tuesday morning was, \u201cNow we\u2019ll find out who our friends really are.\u201d We have.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you\u201d seems to fall short. \u201cThanks be to God\u201d is better. In the days to come, we will need all the friends we can get.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll always have one. His enemies called Him \u201cthe Friend of sinners.\u201d To that I can testify. \u201cWhile we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first person I called on that holy Tuesday morning was not my wife. The first person I called on that morning was my Pastor.<\/p>\n

I love my wife (I called her next). My wife is my best friend in the world. But that morning I didn\u2019t need a friend; I needed a pastor.<\/p>\n

Our Church needs a faithful pastor too.<\/p>\n

If you want to carry on the legacy of Issues, Etc., you already know what to do: Pastors, go to the pulpit and the altar, be faithful to God\u2019s Word and the Lutheran Confession in everything you preach, teach and practice. Preach Christ crucified for sinners.<\/p>\n

People of God, require your pastors to do nothing less and nothing more than that. Hear the Word, trust Jesus, live for your neighbor.<\/p>\n

Everyone, when decisions are required (be they congregational, district or synodical), remember: You need a faithful pastor, and so does your Church.<\/p>\n

I keep hearing in my head those words from Hebrews: \u201cYou have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood.\u201d This is so true.<\/p>\n

This story has no martyrs; no one has died. This story has no sacrificial lambs; no blood has been shed.<\/p>\n

The only story I\u2019m interested in telling is the story of the one Martyr, the story of the Lamb of God. That story has all the death and blood I will ever need.<\/p>\n

The writer to the Hebrews also asks a question:<\/p>\n

The Lord is my helper;
\nI will not fear;
\nwhat can man do to me?<\/p>\n

What can man do to me? What can man do to you?<\/p>\n

The answer to that question is seen just inside the threshold of the hollow tomb; it is heard in the frightened voices of the women who saw Him alive again; it is written in the blood of the true martyrs mingled with the blood of their Savior.<\/p>\n

What can man do to me? Nothing; Christ is risen.<\/p>\n

Wir sind alle Bettler,<\/p>\n

Todd Wilken<\/p>\n

(Source: RAsburry’s Res<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The following statement was read by Pr. Michael Kumm (Pr. Todd Wilken\u2019s pastor) at the Congress on the Lutheran Confessions (March 25-27, 2008, in Bloomington, MN). You have to appreciate how Pr. Wilken puts things in perspective with his comments about blood and martyrs, but especially with Christ Jesus being our true, eternal Friend, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[788725],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-issues-etc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=332"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revtucher.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}