ELCA Exposed on Homosexuality
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Gay is O.K. According to Lutheran Vote
Today is the end of the Line for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s “Journey Together Faithfully.” They vote on the second of two big issues in human sexuality and the one that the media deems so important, gay clergy. You can expect headlines and pictures of people in tears. I don’t want to belittle anyone involved, but you need two things straight. This is not about sex, but about the Bible, and second, this process has eviscerated the ELCA. It is a sad morality play about religion and politics full of ironies. It is a tale of what happens to a body of Christians when they want to be nice to everyone. In the end they forget what they were formed for . . . Apostasy in the Evangelical Church in America? (Video) Mark Driscoll asks R.C. Sproul another theological question in this video: "Has the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America committed apostasy?" The ELCA, homosexuality, and apostasy . . .Therefore, many in the leadership of the ELCA have sinned against God by compromising His word and offered an evolving, contemporary theology. In other words, they’ve sold out to the enemy, compromised the faith, and violated scripture. Such moral degradation, no matter how well intentioned, is a sign of profound apostasy. Should Christians stay in such a church? No. “Come out of her, my people, that you may not participate in her sins,” (Rev. 18:4). The ELCA needs to repent of its sin and stand firm on God’s word. . . |
Would you prayerfully consider blessing Exposing the ELCA as you have been blessed?
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_What the Evidence Really Says about Scripture and Homosexual Practice: Five Issues by Prof. Robert A. J. Gagnon, Ph.D.
. . .There are many other arguments that one can cite as evidence of Jesus’ rejection of homosexual practice, including the fact that the Old Testament that Jesus accepted as Scripture was strongly opposed. . . (For those interested in Dr. Gagnon's book "The Bible and Homosexual Practice: Texts and Hermeneutics," you can find it here)
Response to Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust (pdf file)
. . .We must frankly conclude that each of these aspects of the lie finds its way into HSGT. Most pertinent for our response is the fact that what Sasse called the dogmatic lie—the notion that our age has greater understanding than our ancestors and so we have reached a “doctrinal maturity” that enables us to modify dogma—has now been made concrete in the ELCA by means of “the institutional lie” as that church bodyhas officially adopted a heretical position on human sexuality. This is not merely a case of misapplied ethics but a dogmatic decision that is, in fact, schismatic. The evaluation of Wolfhart Pannenberg rings true: “If a church were to let itself be pushed to the point where it ceased to treat homosexual activity as a departure from the biblical norm, and recognized homosexual unions as a personal partnership of love equivalent to marriage, such a church would stand no longer on biblical ground but against the unequivocal witness of Scripture. A church that took this step would cease to be the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church.” The ELCA has now taken this step, embodying apostasy from the faith once delivered to the saints. . .It is with profound grief that the LCMS can do nothing other than conclude that HSGT represents a “different gospel” (Gal. 1:6). . .
Open Letter from Carl Braaten to Herbert Chilstrom
Your Open Letter response (dated July 21, 2009) to the Lutheran CORE Open Letter on the ELCA Social Statement and Ministry Recommendations was forwarded to me. You invite a response to it, stating that you are “open to seeing things from a perspective that may not have occurred to me.” I feel I must accept your invitation, because it is I who was asked by LutheranCORE to assemble a small group of the ELCA’s brightest and best theologians to write a critique of the documents that will be debated and voted on at the ELCA Churchwide Assembly in August, 2009, in Minneapolis. Moreover, all of your criticisms of the CORE Letter are at the same time objections to doctrinal positions I have taught as a Lutheran theologian for over half a century. Your perspective and my perspective are so far apart that I am not sure it will be possible to reach any degree of mutual understanding. An outside critic reading what you wrote and what I am writing in this Open Letter might have a hard time believing that we belong to same church and affirm the same teachings of the Christian faith. . .
Martin Luther on Homosexuality
Martin Luther correctly identifies homosexuality with the sin of Sodom. Commenting on Genesis 19:4-5 he writes:. . .
Lakewood Address - by Pr. Gary Jepsen
. . .We have a nonsensical situation in which we say that the Bible is the norm for the faith, life, and proclamation of the church but we pass policies that are in violation of the clear and consistent witness of Scripture on this issue.
Not only that, but we let each person be “conscience-bound” with regard to how s/he interprets a passage which in effect means that biblical passage means nothing at all. . .
The E.L.C.A. Dilemma (video)
by Pastor Troy Dobbs, Grace Church, Eden Prairie, MN
. . . It is appalling and evil when an official denominational pronouncement condones and celebrates the very sins that keep people out of the kingdom of God. How is that good? How is that justice? How is the loving? How does that liberate anyone? This decision slanders God. It just misses God's word and promotes damnation in the place of salvation. . . it is better to be divided by the truth than united in error. . . Biblical heresy is not the rallying point for church unity, Biblical truth is. We rally around the word of God and the Son of God, that is where we find our unity. .
A Critique by Carl E. Braaten (this is a pdf file)
My critique of the first “Draft Social Statement on Human Sexuality” prepared by the
Task Force for ELCA Studies on Sexuality, written and disseminated in April, 2008, offered this conclusion: “This ‘Draft’ fails to take seriously distinctive Lutheran principles of theology and ethics regarding human sexuality. Either the Task Force is woefully ignorant of the Lutheran confessional tradition regarding theological ethics, or it willfully ignores it to reach some pre-conceived conclusions for ideological reasons.” My criticisms included the following assertions:. . .
Exodus Troubled by ELCA Vote to Affirm Same-Sex Relationships in Clergy
Exodus International, the world’s largest interdenominational ministry helping those conflicted by same-sex attraction to live a life that reflects the Christian faith, is troubled by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s vote today to allow congregations to hire clergy involved in same-sex relationships. Exodus says this is a clear move away from biblical teaching on sexuality and a disconcerting approach to this issue. . .
"Conscience-bound Beliefs" Rule and the "Conscience-bound-belief" Rule
(by John R. Stumme) . . .Because the ELCA has elevated the concept of "conscience-bound beliefs" to such prominence for its life and teaching, the concept deserves careful scrutiny. The social statement Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust made it the "pivotal" concept in how the ELCA "resolved" the most controversial, exhausting and expensive issue in its history, and therefore I look carefully at what is said there. . .
Tornado Hits Lutheran Convention Voting on Homosexuality -
In an ironic twist of fate, a tornado touched the convention center on Wednesday where delegates from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) gathered to debate and then vote on a statement that acknowledges there are "differing views on homosexuality."
Wednesday's debate was interrupted briefly in the afternoon when severe storms and a tornado passed through downtown Minneapolis, damaging the steeple of an ELCA church across the street from the convention center.
The weather event is being "spun" in both directions by liberal and conservative delegate. . .
'Ears to hear'? - by Mark C. Chavez
An ELCA pastor informed the churchwide assembly in a discussion of the ELCA’s HIV and AIDS strategy that his congregation hands out condoms “to anyone who asks for them, young or old.” He had emailed his bishop and asked if he could pass out condoms, and the bishop responded, “Jesus would be passing out condoms.” Churches that pass out condoms are all but saying to their members, “When you have sex outside marriage, make sure you use a condom.” Do ELCA leaders really hear Jesus saying that he would pass out condoms in a church or anywhere to people who are having sex outside marriage? . . .
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Succumbs to Heresy
. . .The contemporary re-emergence of ancient paganism, even within some Christian communities, is not the path to freedom and flourishing but to misery. It must be exposed, opposed and rejected. . .
The Tornado, the Lutherans, and Homosexuality
I saw the fast-moving, misshapen, unusually-wide funnel over downtown Minneapolis from Seven Corners. I said to Kevin Dau, “That looks serious.”
It was. Serious in more ways than one. A friend who drove down to see the damage wrote, On a day when no severe weather was predicted or expected...a tornado forms, baffling the weather experts—most saying they’ve never seen anything like it. It happens right in the city. The city: Minneapolis.
The tornado happens on a Wednesday...during the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America's national convention in the Minneapolis Convention Center. The convention is using Central Lutheran across the street as its church. The church has set up tents around it’s building for this purpose. . .
Pastor Matt Harrison reacts to ELCA’s decisions.
A radio/MP3 interview with Rev. Matthew Harrison, Executive Director of LCMS World Relief and Human Care.
Dissident Lutherans: Bullying over gays But the splits within the ELCA, which is more than twice the Episcopal Church's size, are getting ugly in their own way. Pastors taking their churches out of the ELCA are making charges of "unethical, immoral and in some cases, illegal" acts by bishops and other officials, Mr. Kallestad said. "I'm talking to some pastors and leaders from many states around the nation, whose [ELCA] bishops are becoming very hostile," Mr. Kallestad said. . .
Lutheranism & homosexuality
. . .The ELCA’s public written confessions state that the Bible contains the Word of God. There is a big difference between saying the Bible is the Word of God verses saying it contains the Word of God. If the Bible only contains the Word of God, that means portions of the Bible are God’s Word, but other portions are not. Thus, if there is a portion of the Bible you don’t like, you toss it out claiming “That’s not really what God would say, but only what Paul (or Moses or Peter or Matthew) said.” Theology becomes nebulous. It can shift with any opinion poll or the morals of the day. But if the Bible is the Word of God, and if God is serious when he says, “I the LORD do not change” (Malachi 3:6), then there is something odd about a theology that changes from generation to generation. . .(link to all 5 articles in this series)
The Dissenters Speak
. . .We contend that the recommendations proposed in Report and Recommendations, which advocate same-gender unions and the ordination of non-celibate homosexual persons, have little biblical, historical, or traditional support. The proposed recommendations advocate a radical departure from long-held moral tradition and biblical interpretation, thus distancing us further from the Roman Catholic Church, Orthodox Churches, evangelical churches and most of the churches in the Protestant mainstream. . .
No Law, No Gospel: Some Thoughts on the ELCA’s Decision
(by Shawn Smith) . . .So in essence, because the ELCA lessens the sting of the law for those who practice same-gender relationships, they are in affect pushing them away from the saving Gospel of Christ. The “grace” they are wishing to offer in these resolutions is in fact opposite of grace because it pushes one away from the only true Grace that the world has ever known. . .
Homosexuality - from Dr. Merton Strommen
(learn more about homosexuality, a practice the ELCA encourages) All people are loved by God. All struggle with moral failure and fall short of God’s standards; and therefore need the forgiveness that God provides through Christ alone. Homosexuality* is but one of these struggles. While recognizing the need to reach out in love to those struggling with same sex attraction, CMDA opposes the practice of homosexual acts on biblical, medical, and social grounds. . .
Was God In the Whirlwind?
My home state of Minnesota has lots of lakes, bitter cold, and Lutherans. Over 150 years ago, Scandinavians targeted this state and its climate, perhaps because it resembled their homeland. Ironically, the fathers and grandfathers of today's Lutherans left Sweden back then because they saw corruption and bad doctrine within Lutheranism in Scandinavia. But these Lutheran immagrants built Bible-believing churches for future generations. No doubt they would be crushed at such a culmination of apostasy in recent years. . .
Robert Gagnon, Associate Professor of New Testament at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary presents Biblical grounds against the practice of homosexuality. (mp3)
. . .There are many other arguments that one can cite as evidence of Jesus’ rejection of homosexual practice, including the fact that the Old Testament that Jesus accepted as Scripture was strongly opposed. . . (For those interested in Dr. Gagnon's book "The Bible and Homosexual Practice: Texts and Hermeneutics," you can find it here)
Response to Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust (pdf file)
. . .We must frankly conclude that each of these aspects of the lie finds its way into HSGT. Most pertinent for our response is the fact that what Sasse called the dogmatic lie—the notion that our age has greater understanding than our ancestors and so we have reached a “doctrinal maturity” that enables us to modify dogma—has now been made concrete in the ELCA by means of “the institutional lie” as that church bodyhas officially adopted a heretical position on human sexuality. This is not merely a case of misapplied ethics but a dogmatic decision that is, in fact, schismatic. The evaluation of Wolfhart Pannenberg rings true: “If a church were to let itself be pushed to the point where it ceased to treat homosexual activity as a departure from the biblical norm, and recognized homosexual unions as a personal partnership of love equivalent to marriage, such a church would stand no longer on biblical ground but against the unequivocal witness of Scripture. A church that took this step would cease to be the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church.” The ELCA has now taken this step, embodying apostasy from the faith once delivered to the saints. . .It is with profound grief that the LCMS can do nothing other than conclude that HSGT represents a “different gospel” (Gal. 1:6). . .
Open Letter from Carl Braaten to Herbert Chilstrom
Your Open Letter response (dated July 21, 2009) to the Lutheran CORE Open Letter on the ELCA Social Statement and Ministry Recommendations was forwarded to me. You invite a response to it, stating that you are “open to seeing things from a perspective that may not have occurred to me.” I feel I must accept your invitation, because it is I who was asked by LutheranCORE to assemble a small group of the ELCA’s brightest and best theologians to write a critique of the documents that will be debated and voted on at the ELCA Churchwide Assembly in August, 2009, in Minneapolis. Moreover, all of your criticisms of the CORE Letter are at the same time objections to doctrinal positions I have taught as a Lutheran theologian for over half a century. Your perspective and my perspective are so far apart that I am not sure it will be possible to reach any degree of mutual understanding. An outside critic reading what you wrote and what I am writing in this Open Letter might have a hard time believing that we belong to same church and affirm the same teachings of the Christian faith. . .
Martin Luther on Homosexuality
Martin Luther correctly identifies homosexuality with the sin of Sodom. Commenting on Genesis 19:4-5 he writes:. . .
Lakewood Address - by Pr. Gary Jepsen
. . .We have a nonsensical situation in which we say that the Bible is the norm for the faith, life, and proclamation of the church but we pass policies that are in violation of the clear and consistent witness of Scripture on this issue.
Not only that, but we let each person be “conscience-bound” with regard to how s/he interprets a passage which in effect means that biblical passage means nothing at all. . .
The E.L.C.A. Dilemma (video)
by Pastor Troy Dobbs, Grace Church, Eden Prairie, MN
. . . It is appalling and evil when an official denominational pronouncement condones and celebrates the very sins that keep people out of the kingdom of God. How is that good? How is that justice? How is the loving? How does that liberate anyone? This decision slanders God. It just misses God's word and promotes damnation in the place of salvation. . . it is better to be divided by the truth than united in error. . . Biblical heresy is not the rallying point for church unity, Biblical truth is. We rally around the word of God and the Son of God, that is where we find our unity. .
A Critique by Carl E. Braaten (this is a pdf file)
My critique of the first “Draft Social Statement on Human Sexuality” prepared by the
Task Force for ELCA Studies on Sexuality, written and disseminated in April, 2008, offered this conclusion: “This ‘Draft’ fails to take seriously distinctive Lutheran principles of theology and ethics regarding human sexuality. Either the Task Force is woefully ignorant of the Lutheran confessional tradition regarding theological ethics, or it willfully ignores it to reach some pre-conceived conclusions for ideological reasons.” My criticisms included the following assertions:. . .
Exodus Troubled by ELCA Vote to Affirm Same-Sex Relationships in Clergy
Exodus International, the world’s largest interdenominational ministry helping those conflicted by same-sex attraction to live a life that reflects the Christian faith, is troubled by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s vote today to allow congregations to hire clergy involved in same-sex relationships. Exodus says this is a clear move away from biblical teaching on sexuality and a disconcerting approach to this issue. . .
"Conscience-bound Beliefs" Rule and the "Conscience-bound-belief" Rule
(by John R. Stumme) . . .Because the ELCA has elevated the concept of "conscience-bound beliefs" to such prominence for its life and teaching, the concept deserves careful scrutiny. The social statement Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust made it the "pivotal" concept in how the ELCA "resolved" the most controversial, exhausting and expensive issue in its history, and therefore I look carefully at what is said there. . .
Tornado Hits Lutheran Convention Voting on Homosexuality -
In an ironic twist of fate, a tornado touched the convention center on Wednesday where delegates from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) gathered to debate and then vote on a statement that acknowledges there are "differing views on homosexuality."
Wednesday's debate was interrupted briefly in the afternoon when severe storms and a tornado passed through downtown Minneapolis, damaging the steeple of an ELCA church across the street from the convention center.
The weather event is being "spun" in both directions by liberal and conservative delegate. . .
'Ears to hear'? - by Mark C. Chavez
An ELCA pastor informed the churchwide assembly in a discussion of the ELCA’s HIV and AIDS strategy that his congregation hands out condoms “to anyone who asks for them, young or old.” He had emailed his bishop and asked if he could pass out condoms, and the bishop responded, “Jesus would be passing out condoms.” Churches that pass out condoms are all but saying to their members, “When you have sex outside marriage, make sure you use a condom.” Do ELCA leaders really hear Jesus saying that he would pass out condoms in a church or anywhere to people who are having sex outside marriage? . . .
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Succumbs to Heresy
. . .The contemporary re-emergence of ancient paganism, even within some Christian communities, is not the path to freedom and flourishing but to misery. It must be exposed, opposed and rejected. . .
The Tornado, the Lutherans, and Homosexuality
I saw the fast-moving, misshapen, unusually-wide funnel over downtown Minneapolis from Seven Corners. I said to Kevin Dau, “That looks serious.”
It was. Serious in more ways than one. A friend who drove down to see the damage wrote, On a day when no severe weather was predicted or expected...a tornado forms, baffling the weather experts—most saying they’ve never seen anything like it. It happens right in the city. The city: Minneapolis.
The tornado happens on a Wednesday...during the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America's national convention in the Minneapolis Convention Center. The convention is using Central Lutheran across the street as its church. The church has set up tents around it’s building for this purpose. . .
Pastor Matt Harrison reacts to ELCA’s decisions.
A radio/MP3 interview with Rev. Matthew Harrison, Executive Director of LCMS World Relief and Human Care.
Dissident Lutherans: Bullying over gays But the splits within the ELCA, which is more than twice the Episcopal Church's size, are getting ugly in their own way. Pastors taking their churches out of the ELCA are making charges of "unethical, immoral and in some cases, illegal" acts by bishops and other officials, Mr. Kallestad said. "I'm talking to some pastors and leaders from many states around the nation, whose [ELCA] bishops are becoming very hostile," Mr. Kallestad said. . .
Lutheranism & homosexuality
. . .The ELCA’s public written confessions state that the Bible contains the Word of God. There is a big difference between saying the Bible is the Word of God verses saying it contains the Word of God. If the Bible only contains the Word of God, that means portions of the Bible are God’s Word, but other portions are not. Thus, if there is a portion of the Bible you don’t like, you toss it out claiming “That’s not really what God would say, but only what Paul (or Moses or Peter or Matthew) said.” Theology becomes nebulous. It can shift with any opinion poll or the morals of the day. But if the Bible is the Word of God, and if God is serious when he says, “I the LORD do not change” (Malachi 3:6), then there is something odd about a theology that changes from generation to generation. . .(link to all 5 articles in this series)
The Dissenters Speak
. . .We contend that the recommendations proposed in Report and Recommendations, which advocate same-gender unions and the ordination of non-celibate homosexual persons, have little biblical, historical, or traditional support. The proposed recommendations advocate a radical departure from long-held moral tradition and biblical interpretation, thus distancing us further from the Roman Catholic Church, Orthodox Churches, evangelical churches and most of the churches in the Protestant mainstream. . .
No Law, No Gospel: Some Thoughts on the ELCA’s Decision
(by Shawn Smith) . . .So in essence, because the ELCA lessens the sting of the law for those who practice same-gender relationships, they are in affect pushing them away from the saving Gospel of Christ. The “grace” they are wishing to offer in these resolutions is in fact opposite of grace because it pushes one away from the only true Grace that the world has ever known. . .
Homosexuality - from Dr. Merton Strommen
(learn more about homosexuality, a practice the ELCA encourages) All people are loved by God. All struggle with moral failure and fall short of God’s standards; and therefore need the forgiveness that God provides through Christ alone. Homosexuality* is but one of these struggles. While recognizing the need to reach out in love to those struggling with same sex attraction, CMDA opposes the practice of homosexual acts on biblical, medical, and social grounds. . .
Was God In the Whirlwind?
My home state of Minnesota has lots of lakes, bitter cold, and Lutherans. Over 150 years ago, Scandinavians targeted this state and its climate, perhaps because it resembled their homeland. Ironically, the fathers and grandfathers of today's Lutherans left Sweden back then because they saw corruption and bad doctrine within Lutheranism in Scandinavia. But these Lutheran immagrants built Bible-believing churches for future generations. No doubt they would be crushed at such a culmination of apostasy in recent years. . .
Robert Gagnon, Associate Professor of New Testament at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary presents Biblical grounds against the practice of homosexuality. (mp3)
The ELCA Homosexual Deception
. . .The ELCA had an well planned out agenda. To come up with a "passable" defense against the Bible's clear teaching on homosexuality. To declare homosexuality is not a sin. To allow homosexuals to teach, lead, and preach. To encourage homosexuals to live out their (God declared sinful) behavior. And to get their membership to believe
it! . .
it! . .
ELCA will not allow synods to maintain traditional standards
ELCA synods will not have the option of upholding traditional Christian teaching on marriage and homosexuality in their standards for pastors and other rostered leaders according to a draft of candidacy rules released Oct. 10 by the ELCA churchwide organization. . .
John Piper - Repentance Everyday, All Day Long: Tornadoes, Lutherans and Homosexuality
Tales from the Darkside
. . .Only the naive believe that the assurances that nobody will be forced to act contrary to their "bound consciences" with regard to gay pastors or gay "marriage" are worth the paper they're printed on. The entire logic of the homosexualist position is that rejection of active homosexuality on moral grounds constitutes "discrimination" against gays. . .
_Everlasting Extras: Gay Marriage
Should We Support Gay Marriage? NO by Wolfhart Pannenberg
. . .If
a church were to let itself be pushed to the point where it ceased to
treat homosexual activity as a departure from the biblical norm, and
recognized homosexual unions as a personal partnership of love
equivalent to marriage, such a church would stand no longer on biblical
ground but against the unequivocal witness of Scripture. A church that
took this step would cease to be the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic
church.
20 Frequently Asked Questions about Homosexuality
. . .These are written in the hope that Episcopalians (and ELCA members) will begin arresting the
rhetorical steamroller that has contributed to the current crisis. . .
Against the 130 "Teaching Theologians"
. . .The claims of these teaching theologians are misleading and self-contradictory. . . If these teachers affirmed the authority of Scripture, they would take their orientation on the question in dispute from the weighty and ecumenically recognized texts of Genesis 1:26-28 and Mark 10:2-14, as the Lutheran christocentric hermeneutic of Scripture requires. . .
Augustana to allow civil union ceremonies
. . ."The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, to which the college is related, permits same-gender weddings so long as the local congregation consents," he said in the email. . .The college already provides health insurance coverage to same-gender couples and openly accepts the participation of gay people in its campus ministries. . ."Several of our most faithful faculty and staff, who serve our students exceptionally well, are gay or lesbian," president Bahls said. . .
Sermon For September 27, 2009
. . .Many of you have heard church leaders say that “God is doing a new thing here,” as they speak in support of gay marriage and homosexual relationships. But Scripture tells us that God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. . .
Lutherans Endorse Homosexuality God Sends Tornado!
. . . The ELCA voted to separate itself from biblical Christianity by accommodating and endorsing unrepentant homosexual relations on Wednesday August 19, 2009. At precisely 2 PM - the deadline for the "Social Statement on Human Sexuality" - the Lord sent a tornado, defying conventional wisdom, directly to the Minneapolis convention center and Central Lutheran Church area. So intentional and directed was this action that it sheered the cross clean off of the historic steeple while leaving the roof and building intact. In his mercy no one was harmed. A true historic miracle in the old testament vein, God in His infinite mercy has sent a clear warning. Lutherans are your hearts so hard that you cannot see God reaching out? Repent and return to sound doctrine - uphold the word of God.
