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An Interview With ELCA Pastors: “Some of (Scripture) is a Box Covered With Animal Dung"

4/10/2018

8 Comments

 
​A year and a half ago ELCA pastors Matthew Pensinger and Brian Beissel took part in a conversation that was hosted by the Lehigh Valley Humanists (PA). It was called "Humanist/Lutheran Dialogue," and they posted the video on YouTube.
​​

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What follows is an intriguing view into the mind-set, thoughts, understandings and beliefs of two ELCA pastors. Their words are quite disturbing in what they believe but also in what they reveal about the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America itself.

Discussing the interpretation of Scripture, Interviewer Jason Brocious asks, “What would it take to push things too far and get in trouble (with the ELCA)?”

ELCA Rev. Brian Beissel said, “I think to say you don't believe in Jesus or the divinity of Jesus. I think that would probably be the breaking point I think.”
 
ELCA Rev. Matthew Pensinger: “Maybe.”
 
ELCA Rev. Brian Beissel: “Maybe. I don’t know.”
 
ELCA Rev. Matthew Pensinger: “It depends on, you know, who complains about it and who they complain about it to.” (see video below, at around the 15 minute mark)
 
The ELCA pastors continued, next sharing their thoughts on the authority of Scripture.

ELCA Rev. Brian Beissel stated, “Let me say something about the authority of Scripture…in the Lutheran tradition, Martin Luther himself, well first of all when he put together his own Bible, the Luther Bible, he put the books of Revelation and Hebrews at the end of Bible and didn't number them, which tells you what he thought of those specific books, you know.  Also he said, I believe this is a Luther quote, that Scripture is like the cradle or where the baby Jesus is placed. Meaning, does scripture reveal to us something about the essence of Christ? Yes. But does that mean everything in Scripture is, you know, is all of it inspired? Well yes, but I'm inspired by God too but and when I'm inspired by God I don't always do great things, you know, I mess up…”
 
ELCA Rev. Matthew Pensinger: “Some of it (Scripture) is a box covered with animal dung, is what is the point of that quote.”
 
ELCA Rev. Brian Beissel: “Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes”

So the ELCA teaches that God's Word is just a dirty, disgusting, smelly vessel that talks about Jesus?  It is no wonder the ELCA rejects, twists and ignores many Biblical accounts and instruction.  
 
Later in the video the interviewer mentioned a tragic situation and asked the pastors, “how do you look at prayer and how that fits into, can it help these situations and in what way can it?”
 
ELCA Rev. Brian Beissel replied, “I'm going to say something that if my congregants watch this on YouTube, sorry.  Prayer without action is meaningless. I'm sorry, I'm sorry but it is. When you pray for something and ‘oh I’m a good person because I prayed for this’ and you don't put it in action it's just words.”
 
ELCA Rev. Matthew Pensinger: “…to me prayer is about centering oneself. It's about clearing, you know, the clutter from the mind and from the spirit. It's about prioritizing or re-prioritizing you know the things and so.”

What a warped view of prayer. One says prayer is meaningless without human action? The other says it is for one's self. They both went on and said their god is not a wish-granting fairy or genie. It sounded as if they do not believe in a God who answers prayers, performs miracles or takes part in believers' lives.  This is the kind of pastor the ELCA has trained and ordained. They are in a place of authority.  They are influencing the faith of their congregations.  
 
If you are sitting under the teaching of an ELCA pastor, I highly recommend leaving.
​
8 Comments
John
4/11/2018 12:00:02 am

Under the sweep of a sinbow flag, dropping the "progressive," "privilege," and "justice" passwords repeatedly, no mention of Jesus except in the context of denying Him; the highlight of one pastor's testimony being a salute to evolution, the other's being a salute to the Jesus Seminar; no mention of the Bible except with disclaimers and "but"s ...

Hey, it could have been an ELCA Sunday service!

Remember, when these clowns say "someone might" they really mean "I do," so these two are politely admitting they are as tepid as Mark Hanson.

Interesting that the interviewer saw through their sheep's clothing by the 30 min mark, so why haven't their congregations already? Remember the Emperor's New Clothes?

Reply
Didaskalos
4/12/2018 04:01:22 am

Psalm 18:26 [AKJV] -- "With the pure you will show yourself pure; and with the fraudulent you will show yourself devious."

Reply
T.S.
4/11/2018 02:32:16 pm

Intelligent and informed Christians don't imagine that God is a genie who grants us whatever we wish for.

"This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything ACCORDING TO HIS WILL, he HEARS us." (1 John 5:14)

"Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father IN MY NAME, he will give it to you." (John 16:23)

When we pray, we should perhaps think of ourselves as co-workers with God.

Reply
T.S.
4/11/2018 04:04:21 pm

"You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with the wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures." (James 4:2-3)

Reply
Didaskalos link
4/11/2018 03:47:37 pm

When your church is indistinguishable from the world, why bother to attend?

The ELCA's (and all of Mainline Protestantism's) self-created "god" has one function: to smile approvingly on every God-disobeying behavior, belief, & lifestyle this sellout church & the world embrace.

‘My God Is a God of Love’ …Sure, But Your god Isn’t Real -- http://www.patheos.com/blogs/chorusinthechaos/god-love/

"When one uses the phrase 'my God is a God of love and wouldn’t do ,' what they almost always invariably mean is that their conception of God is as altogether loving as they conceive love to be. Statements such as these have a profound way of revealing one’s beliefs. While the statement is true, it seldom finds usage within a conversation unless one is seeking to define God differently than the Scriptures do. It is often a retort to dismiss any claims to Biblical fidelity on the sexual ethic, or more appropriately, claims to fidelity on the whole of Scripture’s ethical commands, save those the person subjectively chooses..."

Reply
GEORGE
4/14/2018 02:35:03 pm

Nice quotes about people giving their opinions about the god whom they have created out of their own feelings and reflections, about who they believe God is. If there are no appeals to the scriptures you can be sure it is a god of their own making. The authority of the scriptures is based on Jesus alone.

Reply
James Horton
4/17/2018 11:24:12 am

Matt Pensinger and Brian Beissel get all bent out of shape over Paul's instruction in 1 Cor. 14:33-35 and 1 Tim 2:11-12 to not allow women to speak in church. What they fail to consider is that in Paul's day, girls and women were not taught to read. So what Paul is saying is, "Don't allow illiterates to teach in the church."

That seems reasonable enough to me.

Reply
James Horton
4/17/2018 04:50:22 pm

I don't know what Brian Beissel means when he says Martin Luther didn't "number" the books of Revelation and Hebrews. Bible books were divided into chapters by Stephen Langton in the 12th century, and chapters divided into verses by Robert Stephanus in 1551. The first New Testament to use Stephanus' versification was published in 1557. (Martin Luther died in 1546.)

https://bible.org/question/how-and-when-was-bible-divided-chapters-and-verses

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    Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.  
    ​1 Thessalonians 5:21

    Dan Skogen

    Former ELCA seminary student and former ELCA member who is fed up with the ELCA's consistent mockery of God's Word.


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