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Parents would do well to carefully examine colleges that their children are considering attending. That is why I am beginning a series of blogs investigating schools of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. There are 26 ELCA colleges, so I will try to post a new college blog every 3-4 weeks.
Grand View University is an ELCA college located in Des Moines, Iowa. Some Bible-honoring leaders have looked to this school with optimism, thinking it may be a worthy place to send their students. I have not found this to be true. With that, let's take a look at what is being lifted up on campus. - Last summer Grand View University hosted the second annual summit for elderly LGBT people called "Gay & Gray in the Midwest." (see here) Not my idea of a Bible honoring summit. - Grand View also has a "Pride" Club. Here is what is said about the Pride Club on the Grand View website, "People Respecting Individual Differences Everywhere. Provides students with an engaging and safe learning atmosphere. We seek to educate students and faculty about what it means to be gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. We hold a nonjudgmental view of one’s sexual orientation. We want to serve the community at large as well as our school community. We celebrate and support each other individually. We seek to teach acceptance so that the future generations will not be afraid to speak out about or live their sexual orientation." Joshua Call, an English Professor is the group’s advisor. (Find the club in the “Campus Clubs and Organizations” here.) - Grand View’s website tells us the school is hosting "An Evening With Aunt Nona." It goes on to say that "The Grand View Theatre Department is excited to host Aunt Nona on Saturday, August 8. Share a dressing room with Aunt Nona before she makes her debut on the Great White Way…in Fargo, North Dakota. Nona fills her hour pre-show with stand-up, improv, and storytelling as she explores the idiosyncrasies of the life she leads. Trying to find her way in the world, she joyfully recounts her jaunts through a world of jingle writing, cookies and bars, gay nephews, boyfriends, drag queens, mothers, meat raffles, and lady locker rooms." (see here) - On Grand View’s “All for One - Diversity Alliance” page we find: “Grand View appreciates and values the diversity inherent in our campus community. Differences in race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, religion, and physical ability contribute to an enriching environment that celebrates our common values and augments the strength of our campus community. As members of an open and affirming institution, we are proud of the diversity and harmony of our students, faculty, and staff.” (see here) - The Grand View Student Handbook allows “Each student…to have a guest of either sex stay with them for up to three nights at a time.” (see here, page 82) - Kendall Dillon, the Vice President for Marketing and Communications formerly worked for the nation’s largest abortion provider. Grand View’s website says “Kendall worked for Planned Parenthood in marketing and communications roles.” (see here) Planned Parenthood aborted over 320,000 babies in 2014 alone. When you consider these things, also take into account that Grand View is a college of the very liberal Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, a denomination that is pro-abortion, pro-homosexuality, pro-gay marriage, anti-Israel and twists Scripture to fit their causes. What kind of education will your children receive? If you are a Bible-believing Christ follower, an ELCA school is the last place they should go.
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(The following article was written a few weeks ago by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and twitter - here.)
Today I visited the first church I served way back in 1981 in Florida. It was a Biblical, Lutheran church but through the years it sadly and slowly went astray. The last ELCA Lutheran pastor there promoted the homosexual agenda and because finances were poor he ending up closing the doors of the church and selling it to a non-Lutheran evangelical church. That was about ten years. Today I worshipped there and I experienced moving worship, heard a wonderful, Biblical sermon and I noticed the good attendance. I went up to the pastor and told him the story of the original church and I quoted this verse as a reminder of what Jesus can do: "Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent" (Revelation 2:5). Please stop and say a prayer right now for your local church, that God would keep it faithful so that He will not have to take it away and give it to someone else. In Jesus our Savior, Pastor Tom Brock pastorsstudy.org It doesn't take much effort to find heretical and controversial things happening in ELCA churches. So let me show you just a few things I've found. Would you like to be part of the “Feminine Sacred Circle” at St. Matthew's Lutheran Church in North Hollywood, CA? Here's what that's about:  (see here) Or you could be part of a Queer Virtue lecture taking place at ELCA pastor Clint Schnekloth's Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Fayetteville, Arkansas.  (see here) On the “Queer Virtue” book website it tells us “Authentic Christianity is and must be queer.” And one of the book reviews on the website is by Emily M.D. Scott, an ELCA pastor, who was a main speaker at the 2015 ELCA National Youth Gathering. She writes: “A breath of fresh, queer, air…With vivacious smarts and a wicked sense of humor, Edman compels her readers to fully embrace our gloriously multifaceted God-given identities. If you’ve wondered if you can be fully queer and fully Christian, the answer is a resounding “yes,” and Edman will show you the way.' —Emily M.D. Scott, Pastor, St. Lydia's -- A Dinner Church, Brooklyn, NY” (see here) Redeemer Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, MN devotes a page on their website to Black Lives Matter.  (see here) And of course you have ELCA churches trumpeting their encouragement of sin. Augustana Lutheran Church, Omaha, NE  St. Matthew's Lutheran Church in North Hollywood, CA, the church that has the “Feminine Sacred Circle,” also has a vast LGBTQ Ministry (see here) Almost all that is wrong in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America results from their rejection of God’s Word. We see an example of this today in an area that Exposing the ELCA has not highlighted before (but will again in the near future).
Stephanie Vos is an ELCA pastor. She along with Nathan Roberts, who is the Director of Community Engagement at an ELCA church, says he is a pastor (see here) and has a Masters of Divinity from the ELCA’s Luther Seminary (see here), wrote a blog titled “4 Reasons to Have Premarital Sex with Your Evangelical College Sweetheart.” Yes, they try to make a case for having sex before marriage. See the quotes below and notice some of the authors twisted logic regarding Scripture. - “The prohibition against Pre-Marital Sex is a hallmark of Christianity, but it’s been problematic from the start. First of all, it’s not exactly Biblical – Paul warns against ‘sexuality immorality’ but doesn’t give us the down and dirty on what he means by that. It’s also worth noting that Jesus doesn’t mention it. At all.” - “Sexuality is meant to be a healthy, beautiful, nourishing part of our relationships with our closest partners…” - “So…consider a few of our reasons to move Pre-Marital Sex with your college sweetheart from the ‘sexual immorality’ column to ‘healthy Christian sexuality’ (yes, that exists).” - “Whenever we read the writings of the Bible we have to ask if a biblical law or mandate fits into the category of ‘For the First Century’ or ‘For Forever.’” - “We would argue that the ban against Premarital Sex is NOT a forever command.” - “we are banishing the ban on premarital sex to the theological history books.” - “Because waiting to have sex messes with your mind. Love and Sexuality are connected and they have a way of speeding things along.” - “Trust me and millions of others when we say, ‘If you have sex, you may be able to think a little clearer about whether or not you actually want to get married as an unemployed 21 year old two months after you graduate.’” - “Just as sleeping with someone you just met can be unbalanced, so is marrying (and committing to a life-long sexually intimate relationship with) someone you’ve never been intimate with.” - “So go ahead. Have some amazing premarital sex with your Christian College sweetheart.” - “…there are Christian reasons for premarital sex. But ultimately YOU GET TO DECIDE – not your pastor, not your discipleship small group, and not a bunch of theologians peddling a 2000 year old interpretation of the Bible.” (see here) Writing in a different blog titled “When MTV Called Me about Christian Alternatives to Abstinence” Rev. Stephanie Vos says, “I know that I’m not the only one that thinks there are healthy and faithful expressions of Christian sexuality outside of abstinence. I know that I’m not the only one that thinks bodies are incredible and meant to be celebrated and enjoyed. I know that I’m not the only one that thinks diverse sexuality and attraction are important to lift up in the cultural conversation.” (see here) Jesus tells us when and with whom sex is appropriate. In Matthew 19:4-5 He says, "Have you not read," says Jesus, "that He who made them at the beginning 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh?'" But what God says in His Word is of little consequence to the ELCA. To them Scripture is arbitrary. They want to indulge their sinful desires. Is this the kind of denomination to which you want to belong? (The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and twitter - here.)
As in the past, the current February 2017 issue of "Living Lutheran" of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America continues to attempt to normalize homosexual behavior and transgenderism in the Church. One article "I'm a Lutheran" highlights a Lutheran choir director who talks about his "husband". Another article is entitled "Equal participants in the body of Christ: LGBTQ members find home in ELCA congregations". It talks about a homosexual man with a "husband", how they encountered homophobia, and how they found acceptance in an ELCA congregation. The article also highlights the ELCA's first officially ordained transgender pastor. She is a woman, who has "transitioned" and whom the article refers to as "he". Back in 2009 when the ELCA decided to ordain practicing homosexuals, it made no such decision to ordain transsexual pastors. But that has not stopped the ELCA leadership from doing so. Also, the 2009 decision acknowledged that there is a difference of opinion among ELCA Lutherans, some believe homosexual behavior is sinful, and some do not. Both views are to be allowed in the ELCA. But the view that homosexual behavior is sinful, to my knowledge, has never received print in "Living Lutheran". The conservatives who are left in the ELCA--which are fewer and fewer--need to request a balance. How about articles sharing how conservative congregations deal with loving people with same-sex attraction while still maintaining the Bible's teaching homosexual behavior is wrong? And the ELCA continues to decline. The current issue also talks about the state of ELCA's seminaries, which are facing declining enrollment, financial problems, layoffs and the need to merge to stay alive. The seminaries' problems have become more acute since the ELCA's 2009 homosexual decision. More and more people are leaving the ELCA, with their money. Sincerely in Christ, Pastor Tom Brock |
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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