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Exposing the ELCA asked its readers this: "Would Jesus approve of abortion and homosexual practice?" There were a total of 272 people who answered. 196 people answered "No." (72.06%) 76 people answered "Yes." (27.94%) 1 Comment Inez Torres Davis, the Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (WELCA) Director for Justice, is a regular writer for WELCA's website. She made this statement in her latest contribution to that website: “I pray to discover Sofia’s guidance so that I may identify and then take actions that carry God’s promises.” (see here) I don't know how Inez Davis defines “Sofia,” whether it is some gnostic, feminist feminizing of God or if it is the pagan deity. But neither is right and it should be rejected by Bible-believing Christians. ----- The ELCA's North Carolina Synod had this announcement in their latest e-newsletter: LGBT Couples Retreat--Saturday, May 11 (see here) This is the ELCA. And Bible-believing members are having it forced upon them. ----- The ELCA's Southwest California Synod recently wrote this on their Facebook page:
Notice “partner.” ----- The ELCA 1991 Social Statement on the Death Penalty declared “we oppose the death penalty.” (see here) The ELCA's Rocky Mountain Synod is publicly advocating the repeal of the death penalty. Their March e-newsletter said this: Abolition Sunday - Focusing on Repealing the Death Penalty (See here) So the ELCA believes the Bible is supportive of homosexual relations and abortions but is against the death penalty? They must be living in a Bizzaro World where right is wrong, up is down and wisdom is foolishness. Are you involved with Women of the ELCA? Did you know that this organization is a vocal supporter of homosexuality? If not, prepare to be stunned. Last week, Women of the ELCA posted a comment on its Facebook page which associates Christ's arrest and crucifixion to gay rights. The comment said: “Many of you know Mary Button for the resources she's written for Women of the ELCA or articles for Cafe. You also might remember art that Mary created last year during Lent that she shared widely. Mary's done it again, creating Stations of the Cross that depict the struggle of the LGBT community in the 20th and 21st centuries. Mary offers this art for your Lenten journey.” (here is Women of the ELCA's facebook page. You will have to scroll down the page to find the comment). The outright support shown by Women of the ELCA for the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) lifestyle included a link to the offensive LGBT Stations of the Cross artwork. (see artwork here) Next to the piece, “Station 9: Jesus falls the third time” the artist writes: “1978: Former Supervisor Dan White assassinates openly gay San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk, along with Mayor George Moscone. Milk was the first openly gay politician to be elected to public office in California.” Associating Christ sacrifice and redemptive work with any human being, not to mention Harvey Milk, is disgraceful. Harvey Milk at age 33 had a sexual relationship with a 16 year old boy, yet Women of the ELCA is promoting this. (see here) For “Station 11: Crucifixion,” the artist compares the Romans crucifying Christ to psychologists helping those with same-sex attraction to change their desires. On “Station 12: Jesus dies on the cross,” the artist places these words on her painting, "How many transgenders have (to) die before you get involv(ed)." Under “Station 13: Jesus is taken down from the cross” the artist associates it with what she calls “homophobic legislative.” For “Station 14: Jesus is laid in the tomb” the artist writes “Dan Savage and his husband Terry Miller found the It Gets Better Project.” (read about Dan Savage here) Really!?!? The ELCA has stooped to this? Christ is no advocate for gay rights. Christ is an advocate for all people, including gay people, seeking repentance for their sin and to follow him. The ELCA leadership has been very vocal over the last three years, telling every member who disagreed with the ELCA endorsement of homosexuality that they would not be affected by it. That is a lie that served their own cause. ELCA synods, ELCA churchwide, ELCA leadership, ELCA publications, ELCA seminaries, ELCA colleges, ELCA Youth Gatherings and Women of the ELCA proclaim and publicize their support of homosexuality. Looking at ELCA churches, some of them perform gay weddings and support civil unions, some do not talk about the issue (their silence equates to acceptance), but relatively few ELCA churches continue to uphold God's Word on the issue; that it is a sin for which people need to repent. Homosexual approval and support rules the denomination. ELCA members are bombarded with it and those members are placing themselves and their children in a position of compromise by staying in ELCA. ELCA churches love to post on their church websites how “welcoming” they are. It's especially directed to people in the homosexual community. One ELCA church said it this way, “As a Christian community, we invite all people to join us as we work to better understand the meaning of grace for our lives. We welcome people of all sexual orientations and gender identities into the life and mission of our congregation.” (see here) Another ELCA church says, “We are all a part of God’s family and all are welcomed here: Welcoming, rightly defined, is a good thing, but the ELCA errors in its definition. They've turned “welcoming” into “embracing” people's sinful homosexual ways. They invite people to live out their homosexual lifestyle with full approval of the church. God's Word tells us homosexuality is sin, yet the ELCA says it is not. The ELCA will not proclaim God's power to free people from sin, and they will not talk about repentance or turning from sexual sins. People struggling with same-sex attraction are in bondage to their sin, and the ELCA “ministers of Christ” tell them to stop struggling and to embrace and indulge in it. The ELCA declares that what they are doing is “loving,” but the truth of the matter is that it is harmful and evil. Not only does the ELCA harm those trapped in this sin, it also harms the faith of others in their congregations. The ELCA invites homosexual relationships to be on display in the church for all to see (including the children of the church). Paul would have given these churches a stern and heavy warning for permitting this, because it is clearly declared to be wrong in Scripture. Would a church allow an alcoholic to drink a 12 pack of beer during the sermon? Would they allow the sex addict to view pornographic magazines while worshiping? No. And yet the ELCA allows and encourages the homosexual lifestyle to be celebrated. Sinners are welcome in worship, if not, no one should be there, but blatant sinful behavior should not be. It's wrong, and subjecting children and all those in the congregation to a sinful lifestyle is in opposition to God. “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea.” - Mark 9:42 Almost every other month we get another group of Evangelical Lutheran Church in America bishops and pastors publically advocating for same-sex marriage and calling on voters to do that same. This time it is comes from the state of Illinois. Twenty-seven ELCA pastors and ELCA bishop Wayne Miller, ELCA Metropolitan Chicago Synod, signed a letter, along with 230 other clergy saying, "As people of faith and as citizens of Illinois, we ask you to . . . support the freedom to marry." (read here) A newspaper article in The New York Times, "Illinois Clergy Members Support Same-Sex Marriage in Letter Signed by 260" reported that the Illinois legislature is likely to take up legislation on same-sex marriage in January. Speaking to The New York Times, "The Rev. Kim L. Beckmann of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, who lives in the Chicago area, said she was drawn into the movement 'as my gay and lesbian parishioners were welcomed into our congregation.' 'I have participated in blessings of these unions for longer than we’ve even been talking about marriage,' she said. 'I’m thrilled to take this step.'” Laurie Higgins, cultural analyst for the Illinois Family Institute, who supports traditional marriage, commented that the clergy letter "is signed quite obviously by faith leaders who have adopted radical, ahistorical, heretical theological views . . . Their views are informed not by careful exegesis, but by personal desire and political convictions.” (read here) Here is a list of the ELCA leadership who signed the letter - Bishop Wayne Miller, ELCA Metropolitan Chicago Synod Rev. Dan Hoeger, Our Saviors Lutheran Church, ELCA Pastor Paul Carlson, New Life Lutheran Church, ELCA Dr. Esther Portnoy, St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church, ELCA Rev. Dr. Kim L. Beckmann, ELCA Pastor Liala Beukema, Lake View Lutheran Church, ELCA Rev. Erik C. Christensen, St. Luke's Lutheran Church of Logan Square, ELCA Rev. Michael Fick, Ebenezer Lutheran Church, ELCA Rev. Fred Kinsey, Unity Evangelical Lutheran Church, ELCA Pastor Craig Mueller, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, ELCA Rev. John Roberts, Unity Lutheran Church, ELCA Pastor Julie Ryan, Christ the Mediator Lutheran Church, ELCA Rev. Seminarian Kyle Severson, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, ELCA Pastor Michelle Sevig, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, ELCA Rev. Carrie Smith, Bethany Lutheran Church, ELCA Rev. Dr. Robert Smith, Bethany Lutheran Church, ELCA Pastor Keith Fry, Christ the Lord Lutheran Church, ELCA Pastor Lloyd Kittlaus, University Lutheran Church, ELCA Rev. Betty Landis, St. Paul's Lutheran Church, ELCA Pastor Jim Honig, Faith Lutheran Church, ELCA Rev. Patrick McGuire, St. John’s Lutheran Church Rev. William Veith, Our Lord's Lutheran Church, ELCA Rev. Dennis Kelly, Lutheran Church of the Ascension, ELCA Pastor Kathy Nolte, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, ELCA Rev. Dan Schwick, Lutheran Advocacy of Illinois, St. Luke's Lutheran Church, ELCA Rev. Kenneth Storck, Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, ELCA Pastor Stacie Fiedlar, St. John's Lutheran Church, ELCA Rev. Suzanne Anderson-Hurdle, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, ELCA What do you know . . . An ELCA leader doesn’t believe what the Bible says; this time its about Jesus’ birth. Surprise and Merry Christmas! (Do they celebrate Christmas in the ELCA any longer?) Here is what was said by Rev. Dr. Don Carlson, Assistant to the Bishop of the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod, concerning the two accounts of Jesus’ birth in the gospel of Matthew and the gospel of Luke: “They are very different stories which are quite incompatible with one another. . .I certainly do not believe they are ‘historical’ in any modern understanding of historicity. . .I think that the stories are made up. (I’m retiring at the end of May anyway so don’t waste time with the heresy accusations.) They are myth” (read here). Here is what Rev. Carlson had to say about Christ being born of a virgin: “Focusing on the virgin birth issue, we need to remember that accounts of virgin or miraculous births were not uncommon antiquity. However, we also need to remember that such accounts were intended to express something about the character of the person born. They were a ‘character reference’ or ‘credentials.’ They were not intended to explain where the individual got 23 of his or her chromosomes. An understanding of fertilization and pregnancy in antiquity was, let’s say, ‘agrarian’ at best.” (read in the same article linked above) Toward the end of his blog/article Rev. Carlson gives this advice to pastors: “tell the old mythic story in a way that. . . it is heard anew”. In order to prove his points in the blog, the Assistant to the Bishop recommends a discussion of the birth narratives by the controversial Marcus Borg. (find out more about him here) Pastor Steve Shipman, director of LutheranCORE addresses those who teach like Rev. Carlson. Rev. Shipman wrote: “If a person chooses not to believe the Virgin Birth, they are free to do so. But they have no right then to claim to be a teacher or believer in Christianity. The faith once delivered to the saints is not a cafeteria from which we can pick and choose what pleases us. If Jesus were born in the usual way, then what does it mean that He is 'the Word made flesh'? How can God be his Father in the way the Church has always proclaimed, if he is biologically the child of both Mary and Joseph (or even, as certain blasphemous legends suggest, of Mary and some other man)? Some early Christians made arguments for what is called ‘adoptionism,’ which taught that Jesus wasn’t born Son of God but was adopted into that role at his baptism by John. This was quickly rejected as heresy, because then the good news of the Incarnation simply can’t stand. And it does matter for our salvation that ‘God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.’ It does matter that ‘the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.’ If Jesus is just a good human being, even a perfect human being, He cannot save us but would only have saved Himself. But because He is God among us, taking our humanity into the life of the Holy Trinity, we have a marvelous hope for this life and the next.” (read here) What I am reporting isn’t just one ELCA leader preaching heresy. No. Rev. Carlson’s article was posted on the website and blog of Michael Rinehart, bishop of the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Bishop Rinehart is responsible for the article’s posting on his blog and he is culpable for what it says. ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson, the ELCA’s Church Council and all high-ranking ELCA leaders are also responsible and culpable for what he (and others) say and/or for allowing theologically false-teaching to be preached. Allowing this heresy is the same as promoting it yourself. They are accomplices and are leading people away from God’s Truth and way from Christ. People who don’t believe basic Christian truths and historic stories in the Bible are running the ELCA, teaching in the seminaries, preaching in the pulpits and “teaching” you about Christianity. Honestly, I believe Satan has infiltrated the ELCA and placed his people in leadership positions. Here’s some more information on Assistant to the Bishop Rev. Dr. Don Carlson:
The ELCA’s Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson was interviewed by Minnesota Public Radio concerning the recent news of Luther Seminary, the denomination’s largest seminary, having extreme financial difficulties. Here is one section from the interview - Interviewer: “You are the head of the nation’s largest Lutheran denomination, the ELCA. And as you know, you’ve lost about 600 or so congregations after that controversial decision allowing openly gay and lesbian pastors to service. Is a drop in seminary enrollment a refection of that decision at all?” Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson: “I don’t, I don’t see that. In fact, many young adults that I encounter, that I am on Twitter with and that I’m constantly in conversation with, in fact see that as a source of hope for this church and something that is drawing them into the life of this church.” (listen here) Under Mark Hanson’s leadership, perversion was promenaded into the church with joyous celebration. Sinful acts against God have been declared good. When a church turns its back on God, godly men and women will leave and take their tithes with them. But as we read above, the leader of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is living in denial by not seeing that the disregard for God and His Word is the main reason for it being a dying, financially-challenged denomination. Over 500 Pastors signed a document from “Minnesota Pastors for Marriage.” (see here) “These 500+ Christian faith leaders joined together to state that their love for God, His Word, and their neighbor lead them to vote YES on Amendment 1.” (read here) The Minnesota Marriage Amendment (Amendment 1), which will be voted upon next week, seeks “to place the traditional definition of marriage – one man and one woman – into (the Minnesota) state constitution.” (read here) Of the over 500+ pastors who signed this letter, I did not find one ELCA pastor on the list. There were many pastors from the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, but NONE from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. What does that tell you about today’s ELCA leaders? Since its infancy, Exposing the ELCA has been covering the story of Rebecca Julius, a Concordia College (Moorhead, MN) student who is standing up for Biblical truth in the confines of the liberal pro-homosexual, pro-gay marriage ELCA college. With Rebecca’s permission, I posted a letter/blog that she wrote explaining her concerns and her idea of how to be, much needed, “salt and light” at Concordia. Here is a link to that blog - Be a Witness for Truth Since that blog was posted on August 23, 2012, there has been a great deal of media attention given to this situation, allowing Rebecca to be a witness for God’s Truth in the many new reports which have resulted. Here are links to a number of them.
I googled, - rebecca julius sin is sin - and came up with hundreds of articles. (see here) Looking through the first six pages of links you can see that a bunch of them are critical reports from the gay community. Please continue to hold Rebecca up on prayer. Minnesota’s Saint Paul Area Synod Bishop Peter Rogness (ELCA) continues to push for gay marriage and make attempts to thwart voter ID laws in his state. Minnesota has two state amendments up for vote, one that declares marriage is between one man and one woman, the other amendment says people have to present photo identification in order to vote in elections. This week, Bishop Rogness sent out an email saying, “It's time to be reminded that our synod assembly encouraged the people of this synod to recognize the reasons to oppose both of the proposed constitutional amendments.” (see here) He then writes a paragraph on each amendment touching on why his readers should not support the amendments. Additionally, Bishop Rogness’ synod sent out a Facebook message saying, "The Minnesota Council of Churches (MCC), of which the Saint Paul Area Synod is a member, announced its opposition to the voter identification amendment at a press conference on Oct. 16. Bishop Peter Rogness, as president of the organization, delivered a statement outlining the decisions why the MCC took this step.” (see here) All six Minnesota ELCA synods are members of the MCC, of which Bishop Rogness is the president. (see here) The ELCA synods in Minnesota are making every effort to stop these amendments. I wish they would put this kind of effort into bringing the message of salvation to the lost, but to most ELCA leaders that isn’t necessary. This is typical ELCA leadership. They proudly stand against God when it comes to marriage and many leaders have no desire to protect the voting process by stopping voter fraud. (strange how everyone must show your ID to fly, to take the ACT and SAT and even to attend Michelle Obama’s book signings) (see here), yet the ELCA doesn’t want voters to prove they are eligible voters. Exposing the ELCA readers, let me show you what real and faithful Christian leadership looks like. “On November 6, the day before my 94th birthday, our nation will hold one of the most critical elections in my lifetime. We are at a crossroads and there are profound moral issues at stake. I strongly urge you to vote for candidates who support the biblical definition of marriage between a man and a woman, protect the sanctity of life, and defend our religious freedoms. The Bible speaks clearly on these crucial issues. Please join me in praying for America, that we will turn our hearts back toward God.” - Reverend Billy Graham | Dan Skogen
Former ELCA seminary student and ELCA member who is fed up with the ELCA's consistent mockery of God's Word. If you have been helped and blessed by Exposing the ELCA's ministry, please help us continue to proclaim the truth of God's Word to ELCA members who need to hear it.
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