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By Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. Follow Pastor Brock on Facebook (here) and twitter (here.)
Today I took another nostalgic walk through Luther Theological Seminary from which I graduated in 1979. Back then it was a mixed bag of liberal, moderate, and some conservative professors. Back then it was well attended, parking spots could be hard to find, and chapel was fairly full. Things have changed. A person who worked there told me some years ago that now "much less than half" of the professors at Luther believe in the Virgin Birth of Christ. Then came the 2009 ELCA decision to affirm homosexual behavior for pastors and things really began to shrink in the ELCA and this seminary. Today, Luther Seminary brings in speakers like the popular ELCA Pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber, who uses the "f" word in her books and speaking. She also denies the substitutionary atonement of Christ, believing that for God the Father to punish Jesus for our sins would be divine child abuse. And not long ago, a practicing lesbian pastor spoke at Luther's chapel service. So what did I find today? First thing I noticed was how easy it was to find a parking space. I also noticed the "pro-gay" bumper stickers. I attended chapel and counted 40 people. I walked around the halls and it kind of felt like a ghost town, very few people walking around. I couldn't help but think of the Bible verse "You reap what you sow." Pastor Tom Brock
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It has been a long-drawn out battle for Bethel Lutheran Church in Holdrege, Nebraska. Almost two years ago, Bethel Lutheran passed their second vote to leave the ELCA. That was just the beginning. Since the vote the ELCA Nebraska Synod Council voted to deny the congregation's decision. Bethel was taken to court by some of their pro-ELCA church members over the church's vote. The presiding judge dismissed the lawsuit. The pro-ELCA members appealed. Here is an update:
"The Nebraska Supreme Court has overruled the district judge's decision to dismiss the pending lawsuit against Bethel. We are back to the beginning. Even though the district judge has dismissed the case twice the Supreme Court has asked her to rule on it a third time." (see the Neb. Supreme Court's decision here) "The people of Bethel need to know that this battle matters. Please send letters of encouragement and support to- Bethel Lutheran Church Attn. Pastor Jamie Strickler 704 West Ave Holdrege NE 68949" Read a news report about Nebraska Supreme Court decision here. Other articles concerning Bethel Lutheran from Exposing the ELCA here, here and here. A recent letter from the notoriously liberal ELCA bishop Michael Rinehart (Texas Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod) has made its rounds within ELCA circles. Bishop Rinehart declared to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community, “You are welcome in congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). We are a church that believes it is wrong to discriminate against anyone based on sexual orientation. All are welcome. We celebrate diversity.” (read here)
Lutheran CORE, a “community of Lutheran Christians seeking to mobilize confessing Lutherans for evangelical renewal,” responded with their own letter saying, “on behalf of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, we encourage you to reconsider same-sex orientations and behaviors and to be forgiven along with the rest of us. We also apologize, on behalf of the Church, for any false hope that Bishop Rinehart’s letter may have given you.” (read here) Boy did that ruffle some ELCA feathers. Here are some of the most interesting comments Lutheran CORE's letter received - “Thin-skinned, bitter, deliberately ignorant–a terrible way to go through life...As for the ignorant, hateful people that left the ELCA over this–good riddance. We need them like we need a bunch of racists, slaveholders, and misogynists.” (from the comment section of Lutheran CORE letter) Comments from an ELCA Clergy group -
Comments from the ELCA facebook group -
By Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. Follow Pastor Brock on Facebook (here) and twitter (here.)
This past Sunday I attended an historic congregation in Charleston, South Carolina of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (the most liberal branch of Lutheranism). Sadly, they are using the ELCA's red hymnal that has hymns like "Mothering God, you gave me birth". The hymnal has also de-sexed all the of the Psalms to get rid of masculine pronouns for God (feminist theology in the ELCA thinks it is sexist to continually refer to God as "He"). The new hymnal has also changed the Apostle's Creed to get rid of hell and leaves out the line that Jesus "descended into hell." There was a prayer during the confessional about how we have "wounded the earth by our excess". The service did include some references to God the Father, so it wasn't as bad as what I saw next. As I was sightseeing in Charleston a few hours later, I walked by an old Congregational Church (United Church of Christ). In front of the church was a big "gay friendly" rainbow banner with the words "God is still speaking". That is the United Church of Christ's motto which, I believe, means God is telling us new things today--things our Christian forefathers didn't know about (like inclusive God language, gay inclusion, etc). The forefathers of the UCC were the Pilgrims, Christians who definitely believed in the Trinity, the deity of Christ, and that Jesus is the only way of salvation. Today in the UCC one can deny all those things and be a pastor. I slipped into the church as the service was ending and grabbed a bulletin. The opening hymn was just strange: Why should we call these accidental furrows roads? Everyone who moves on , walks like Jesus, on the sea, You walking, your footprints are the road, and nothing else; There is no road, walker, you make the road by walking... Walker, there is no road, only wind-trails in the sea... Who knows what that meant. The bulletin reads regarding the Lord's Prayer: The leader will say "Our Mother, our Father..." Please feel free to address God in the way that is most true to your understanding. That is the tragedy of the United Church of Christ. You get to make up your own version of God and whittle Him down to your own convenient image. Does it not strike people as arrogant that they are correcting Jesus Christ by rewriting His Lord's Prayer? The bulletin then advertised a new Sunday morning class "Is There Another Way? Teaching an Alternative Orthodoxy Within the Christian Tradition", a course from the Living School at the Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque. But, I thought, if its an "alternate way", then it isn't orthodoxy. "Orthodox" means "correct belief" and my guess is that class will be anything but that. So, be careful where you go to church! And if your church that you have loved for 50 years has abandoned the faith, time to move on. Hard to do, yes, but it is time for Christians to use their time, talents, and money to support churches which honor God. In Christ, Pastor Tom Brock Another congregation recently held a vote to end their affiliation with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Bethany Evangelical Lutheran Church in Montoursville, PA has posted the following on their Facebook page:
"On motion to leave the ELCA and join the NALC: 78 yes 11 no. The motion to leave passed. Now the 90 day process to the second and final vote begins." (see here) One of the ELCA's favorite theologians, Marcus Borg, died a couple of weeks ago. Exposing the ELCA has written about the heretical teachings of Marcus Borg and his extensive connection with the ELCA in the past. (see here) Here is just one quote from Borg, an example of the heresy taught by this “teacher's teacher.” “I learned from my professors and the readings they assigned that Jesus almost certainly was not born of a virgin, did not think of himself as the Son of God, and did not see his purpose as dying for the sins of the world."
As you might imagine, many ELCA leaders were saddened to hear of Borg's death. A thread on an ELCA clergy facebook page contained the following comments -
Link to the closed group ELCA clergy page here. |
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. 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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Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. - Ephesians 5:11
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