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The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's downward spiral of apostasy took a huge leap when the Southwest California Synod ELCA elected the first ever homosexual bishop of the denomination. “The Rev. Dr. Guy Erwin has been elected as bishop of the Southwest California Synod ELCA” announced a facebook post by the synod. (See synod facebook page here)
Rev. Dr. Guy Erwin's faculty profile at California Lutheran University where he teaches says this, "Dr. Erwin is an ordained minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; he and his partner Rob Flynn are members of St. Matthew's Lutheran Church in North Hollywood, CA...” (see here) Rev. Dr. Guy Erwin was ordained as a pastor in the ELCA two years ago. A press release by Lutherans Concerned/North America at the time stated “R. Guy Erwin, a teaching theologian at California Lutheran University (CLU), was ordained in the Samuelson Chapel of that institution at 10:00 a.m. on May 11, 2011. He is both gay and in a committed same-gender relationship. His ordination, the fulfillment of a lifetime desire, is made possible by the change in policy in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) that followed the decision of the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly to allow ministers in committed, same-gender relationships to serve in the church.” (see here) This is a game changer friends. The approval of homosexuality has always been open defiance of God by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America but now this action announces it to the world and defines what the denomination is about and what they believe.
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(This update is from Dean Kallenbach. See here for a review of what has happened to Grace Lutheran Church in Eau Claire, WI)
The email below and the attachments included were sent this week to the entire Northwest Wisconsin Synod directory (Pastors, Youth Leaders, Office Staff) on the eve of the Synod's annual assembly this weekend in Eau Claire by Anne Carter, the former president of Grace Lutheran Church. To all this concerns: It is important that every member of the Northwest Synod of Wisconsin of the ELCA understand the recent decisions made by the Synod Council against Grace Lutheran Church, Eau Claire, WI. To that end, attached to this email are three letters. The first, from Grace Lutheran leadership, outlines compliance with a decision made by the Synod Council in January 2012. (see here) The second, from the Council to Grace, contradicts that compliance and dictates a new set of directives. (See here) The last letter questions those directives and details the consequences of those directives on Grace members and the community of Eau Claire. (See here) Please read through the letters carefully. They are sent to you so that you will understand that if this happened to Grace Lutheran Church, it will happen to you. Thank you. Anne Carter, Former President, Grace Lutheran Church I thought the ELCA was supposed to respect it's members who have taken the Biblical position that homosexuality is a sin and practicing homosexual pastors should not be ordained. They have not. (please look around this website for proof that the high church continually promotes the homosexual agenda) Now read this, in the May 2013 issue of the ELCA magazine Gather, under an article with a section titled “The Spirit Guides New Visions” the author, speaking about a specific ELCA congregation, wrote “That same congregation...trusting in the work of the Holy Spirit...became known for supporting people in same-sex commitments and even agreeing that it would consider calling a pastor in a committed same-sex relationship before it was officially sanctioned by the churchwide assembly of the ELCA in 2009. Some congregations have Spirit-led mission baked into their DNA!” (Winds of Change, by The Rev. Dennis Bushkofsky, page 15)
If the mentioned ELCA congregation was being led by the Holy Spirit in their homosexual stance, as the ELCA magazine states, doesn't that mean that those who disagree with them are not being lead by the Holy Spirit? How do you like that orthodox ELCA members? Your denomination is saying you are acting in opposition to God if you do not believe like they do. It must also be noted that the ELCA magazine is taking the position that homosexuality is good. This message is sent right into the living-rooms of ELCA members across the nation. That is not respecting the “bound conscious” of many ELCA members and congregations who disagree. Remember how the ELCA said that the 2009 decision who not effect you? The ELCA is using all its resources to promote their belief that homosexuality is God given and good. ----- Please pray for Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Berlin, PA. On June 2 the congregation will be voting on their church affiliation. AND Pray for Bethel Lutheran Church in Holdrege, Nebraska. On June 4th at 1:30 pm Bethel will go to court to defend itself from a lawsuit brought by supporters of the ELCA. (see here for background information) ----- An ELCA church is bringing in notorious heretics to speak in November and the ELCA Rocky Mountain Synod is promoting it - "Dr. Marcus Borg & Dr. John Dominic Crossan at Messiah Community Church, ELCA, Denver (see here)" Read about Dr. Borg here and Dr. Crossan here. The state of Minnesota recently made same-sex marriage legal. In response to this, Minnesota ELCA bishop, The Rev. Peter Rogness of the Saint Paul Area Synod, has published a statement regarding the new law. (see here) In a nut shell, Bishop Rogness said that each ELCA church in Minnesota should decided for themselves if they will perform same-sex marriages. This statement by the bishop is confirmation that the ELCA officially allows gay marriage ceremonies to be preformed in any ELCA church that desires to hold them if it is legal in their state.
The ELCA has allowed their churches in other states to perform gay marriages where it is legal (see here and here for instance), so this is not new news. But it is another proof for those ELCA members who hide their heads in the sand, saying they believe God's Word, that marriage is intended to be between one man and one woman, (see Mark 10:6-9 and 1 Timothy 3:2) yet they continue to attend and support the ELCA. People, wake up! The ELCA leadership is wrong. The Bible is God's Word, but the ELCA leadership constantly denies its truth while claiming they have a high view of it. They are leading people down the path to destruction. Millions of ELCA members who, not long ago, formally stood by the teachings of Scripture on this matter, are now acquiescing to what their leadership is telling them, despite it being against Scripture. You are sitting under this leadership. Your view and belief of God's Word has already been weakened because of the ELCA, no doubt. You need to attend and be connected to a congregation that actually believes the Bible is God's authoritative Word! Attend and be connected to a congregation that wants to help people out of sin rather than encourage people to embrace and celebrate sin. Attend and be connected to a congregation that leads people to faith in Christ and salvation in Him for those that believe (John 3:16) and receive the amazing gift of God's grace through Jesus' work on the cross (Revelation 3:20) and His victory over the grave, not a denomination that thinks every one is saved no matter what they believe. Many will end up in hell thinking they would go to heaven because of the universalistic false-teaching which is so very prevalent within the ELCA. “(P)ostmodern readers should strive to envision Christ as gender queer. . .” so says ordained Evangelical Lutheran Church in America pastor Megan Rohrer. Rev. Rohrer is “The first openly transgender Lutheran pastor ordained in the United States” (see here). The pastor says this in an essay “she” authored titled “Male Brides of the Mother Christ.” Here are some of the “her” more egregious comments: “When queer readers name Christ as a gender queer mother/father it is not done out of fear of linking Christ to a queer sexual orientation. If Christ is both male and female, then it is impossible for a Christ to have an opposite-sex relationship. And if it is true as Paul writes in Galatians 3:28 that in Christ we too are no longer male or female, then it is also impossible for any Christians to have an opposite-sex relationship.” For the past three years Rev. Rohrer has been a contributing blogger for the ELCA website Living Lutheran (see here). Also, Rev. Rohrer “has been the Executive Director of The Welcome since June of 2002 and has been called to this ministry by a joint call from herchurch (Ebenezer Lutheran), Christ Church Lutheran, St. Fracis Lutheran and Sts. Mary and Martha Lutheran. Megan is rostered and overseen by both the local Lutheran and Episcopal bishops. Megan is also called to serve as an Associate Pastor at St. Aidan's Episcopal Church.” All churches are in the San Francisco Bay area. (see here) Any God-fearing denomination should find these comments heretical and incompatible with their teaching and take action against the pastor who made them. But the ELCA will take no action. They have proven to be accepting of these kind of teachings in the past (just look around this website) and Rev. Rohrer's teachings are well known by her superiors. 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%) Local ELCA pastors and churches, one of them reportedly armed with information from the NW Synod of Wisconsin, are going public with their attacks against the Synod-ordered removed members of Grace Lutheran, who are now members of Saving Grace, an LCMC congregation. (see here if you do not know about this situation)
For clarity this congregation will be referred to as “Saving Grace” from now on. The ELCA affiliated St. John's Lutheran Church in Eau Claire, WI posted a document on their church website about Saving Grace. St. John's Pastors Nate Aaseng and Christine Emerson signed the document which they claim was “based on information from our synod office.” The St. John's document claims “those from (Saving Grace), etc.” are “attacking the ELCA.” And then refers to concerns Saving Grace has about the ELCA as “conspiracy theories.” (see here) Then there are two blogs attacking Saving Grace authored by ELCA pastor Michael Rehak, which are posted on his church's website (First Lutheran in Eau Claire, WI). In one of Pastor Rehak's blogs he claims “the constitutions of Grace Lutheran Church, the NW Synod of WI, and the ELCA were deliberately violated and dismissed.” Pastor Rehak then accuses the members of Saving Grace of threatening and abusing ELCA supporters from their former church. He said, “No one dare minimize the depth of the abuse, threats – including personal, physical, and to the building, public humiliation, ridicule, and public demeaning that was directed toward individual members in fellowship, council meetings, in worship – from the pulpit, at funerals of friends, and out in public at stores or on the street. These hostile behaviors not only drove them into exile but have continued.” (read here) In another blog by Pastor Rehak, called “The Presence of Christ,” he expounds on these accusations, reporting that ELCA supporters said they were “'Called names,' 'screamed at,' 'told to leave,' 'mocked,' 'yelled at,' 'told I wasn’t a member anymore,' 'declared worthless,' 'told I was the problem,' 'spit on,' 'threatened…' With such remarks, others would echo, 'So was I,' or, 'I heard that too…'” (see here) ELCA Pastor Rehak wrote that these ELCA supporters from Grace Lutheran “were the presence of Christ in our midst,” but he conveniently fails to mention that suing their church and taking them to court is a violation of God's Word (1 Corinthians 6:1-7.) The ELCA leadership in Wisconsin has shown their true colors with the lawsuit and currently with these attacks on Saving Grace. It shouldn't surprise us though, the ELCA has always been about rewriting God's Truth so it conforms to “their truth.” That is what is most important to them. -- But God has been blessing Saving Grace. Here is an update from Dean Kallenbach: “Just a little update from Saving Grace Lutheran Church in Eau Claire. Just two weeks after forming (and less than three weeks after being expelled as members of Grace Lutheran Church by the ELCA), Saving Grace Lutheran Church has been forced to add a second Sunday morning service in order to accommodate the sheer numbers of people turning up at the funeral home chapel in which they are meeting Sundays. They also are holding a Saturday afternoon service at Faith Lutheran Mission Church, and are sharing a Wednesday night service with Faith. “In addition, the TV ministry of the congregation lives on. Though not it the old timeslot of 10:30 Sundays (being used now by the small faction that was placed in power at Grace Lutheran Church by the ELCA), the Saving Grace broadcasts featuring the sermons of Pastor Rolf Nestingen and Pastor David Irgens now airs Sundays at 11:30 a.m. on WQOW-TV, Channel 18. “I encourage you to check out their Facebook page 'Saving Grace LCMC.'” --- Lastly, would you or your church be willing to support Exposing the ELCA in its ministry? It would be greatly appreciated. You can find information on how to do that on the right hand side of this page. Thank you for your prayerful consideration. Its spring, which means ELCA synod assemblies are beginning. These annual, boring, waste-of-money gatherings usually include a wide variety of attacks on God's Word and the ever popular anti-Semitic based attacks on Israel. The ELCA's Rocky Mountain Synod has already gone on record at their assembly last weekend passing a resolution called “Accompaniment, Awareness-Raising, & Advocacy For The People Of The Holy Land.” (see here)
In the Resolution the Assembly resolved to “affirm our support for sisters and brothers in the ELCJHL as they remain faithful to the Gospel amid the oppression of Israeli military occupation”. Saying Israel is oppressing people and occupying land is a fallacy which is often repeated by those who are anti-Semitic. The Assembly then encouraged people to use the ELCA Peace Not Walls resources claiming that it has “reliable information about the situation” (in Israel). In no way is the ELCA a reliable source for what is happening in Israel. The passed resolution also seeks a congressional investigation into Israel's use of U.S. aid. The ELCA's aim in that request is to cut or end aid to Israel so as to hurt the Jewish nation. Remember, the ELCA views Israel as oppressors and occupiers of land that they think the Arabs should have. Stopping U.S. aid to Israel would increase the chances of that happening. And finally, the Assembly resolved, “that this assembly urges members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America to consider investing their retirement and other funds in a manner consistent with the Peace Not Walls campaign.” This is another attempt to hurt Israel financially by cutting personally financial investments going to Israeli companies. The ELCA would rather have those investments go to entities within the terrorist controlled Gaza strip. The Rocky Mountain Synod also had a workshop during the assembly called, “Peace Not Walls: Why are we involved in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict? Faces of the Occupation” (see here). Satan's desire, shown throughout history, has always been to destroy God's chosen people, the Jews. Today he is using the ELCA, who claims to follow Christ, to try to accomplish that purpose. The ELCA is responsible for the professors they hire. Today we are going to look at an ELCA professor who teaches at The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. Her name is Rev. Dr. Wil Gafney, and she is an Associate Professor of Hebrew and Old Testament. Dr. Gafney, in her blog about a young actress, posted a picture of Jesus as a woman and said this, “And the world that lynched a Jewish single mother's child simply can't handle God in black female body. (See Janet McKenzie's iconic image of Jesus using a black woman as Christ/a.)” (see image and quote here)
How many ways can an ELCA Seminary Professor be wrong in just one sentence? And, how is it okay to post a purposely false representation of God the Son? What kind of teacher would do that? Jesus was male and presenting Him as female is blaspheming Jesus and dishonoring God and the Truth. Not surprisingly the ELCA seems to be perfectly fine with this. It has been reported that Dr. Mary Streufert, the ELCA Director for Justice for Women, from the Office of the Presiding Bishop did the same thing. (see here) Let's now go back and analyze what else Dr. Gafney said in the sentence quoted above. She said that Jesus was “lynched.” That is not true. She said Mary was “single.” That is false, Mary in all likelihood was a widow, not single at the time of Jesus crucifixion. Do I even need to address the Professor calling Jesus “Christa?” Someone wrote this comment to Dr. Gafney upon reading her article, “Thank you for an image of Jesus that will help me to continue in my studies to be a pastor in a church that still believes Jesus was white and God is a Father. Highly respected theologian Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr. had this to say about seminaries, “Theological education is a deadly serious business. The stakes are so high. A theological seminary that serves faithfully will be a source of health and life for the church, but an unfaithful seminary will set loose a torrent of trouble, untruth, and sickness upon Christ’s people. Inevitably, the seminaries are the incubators of the church’s future. The teaching imparted to seminarians will shortly be inflicted upon congregations, where the result will be either fruitfulness or barrenness, vitality or lethargy, advance or decline, spiritual life, or spiritual death.” (read here) Read these articles to see what other sickness and untruth the unfaithful ELCA seminaries are setting loose upon God's people. (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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