|
ELCA bishop, Guy Erwin, who is himself gay, recently filmed a video in honor of Pride Month 2019. In the video, Bishop Erwin shares his twisted view of Scripture and the Christian view of homosexuality saying: "...the main purpose of the bible (is) bringing us the message of God's love for all humankind, shown in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And we resist efforts to use it as a prop for prejudice and hate." "We oppose all efforts to use our ancient scriptures as a tool to condemn others or separate them from us. We believe God calls us to resist such prejudice, even when it comes from 'religious people' or claims the name of Christianity. And so we support the LGBT+ community as it observes Pride month this month and every month and every June." "My husband and I give thanks to God for the changes that have led us finally to be able to marry." "My church, both nationally and here in Southern California, celebrates its LGBT+ members." "The election of a second gay bishop in the ELCA this summer...is cause for joy for me and the whole church." "I invite you, whoever you are, to join me in thanksgiving to God for the open minds and open hearts that have helped our churches let go of ancient prejudices. To see the grace of God unfolding in new places." "Happy Pride." It seems that the ELCA bishop is saying: - If you hold to the Biblical teaching that homosexuality is wrong/a sin, you hold to "ancient prejudices" and to "hate." - And the national church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, celebrates LGBT+ members. That is similar to saying one celebrates its lying members, drunk members, adulterous members. It is good that all are members, but the church should not be celebrating members' sins and their gatherings aimed at celebrating sin. 
2 Comments
Radicals are in charge of the ELCA. A few days ago, the ELCA came out on social media stating, "As ELCA Ammparo and ELCA Advocacy we encourage you to stand in solidarity with our immigrant neighbors. Therefore, we urge you to contact local leaders in your jurisdiction and urge sheriff and police not to participate in raids or cooperate with ICE in sharing information about immigrants at risk. (... and do urge police non-cooperation with ICE in the anticipated terrifying raids upon our neighbors)."
The ELCA, by way of their departments named here, tell people to contact various Local Governments and Law Enforcement, urging them to not cooperate with other law enforcement agencies that are working to enforce the laws of our land. They are equipping people with scripts to aid in communication and dissemination of their agenda. The various scripts say similar things. Here is a quote from an ELCA-provided script, "...in light of the Trump Administration’s recent threats of mass arrests of immigrants next week, I want to make sure the XXX government does everything in its power to protect our residents. That means: 1) absolutely no coordination between XXX law enforcement and ICE;...3) the XXX jail must end its policy of notifying ICE when an inmate with an immigration detainer is released; and 4) no detention beds may be made available to ICE, even temporarily. Thank you." (See here) 
Below is ELCA pastor Jayne Thompson who tweets to a U.S. Senator "...Please go to Clint, TX or Homestead, FL or any ICE detention center/prison and visit the children incarcerated and abused the hands of the/our/your/my government. Sincerely, your new constituent, ELCA Pastor Jayne M Thompson"
(The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and Twitter - here.) The following excerpts describe a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America on his (? I'm not sure if this person is biologically male or female) church's website: "The Rev. Mark David Johnson (they/them) grew up in Cranston RI. They were drawn to the church by their love of music... They were graduated from Cranston High School East in 2001...They applied to the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia... Their thesis presented a theological approach to food... Mark is passionate about gun violence prevention, interfaith and ecumenical relationships, urban theory and ministry, and queer theology. Mark currently lives in Bordentown NJ with their spouse, the Rev Ian Hill, who serves as pastor of St Mark Lutheran Church in Hamilton NJ....Pastor Mark uses gender neutral pronouns. This is an important part of their identity, and is also a commitment to creating a more gender-friendly world.." This is the strange teaching that results when one rejects the words of Jesus who taught the world indeed is binary, made up of only two sexes ("He who created them in the beginning made them male and female" Matthew 19:4). The further the ELCA gets from Scripture, the stranger and stranger it becomes. In Jesus our Savior, Pastor Tom Brock  The North Carolina Synod of the ELCA sent out their newsletter March 5, 2019. It reveals a lot about the synod and where it stands on LGBTQ issues. One section of the synod newsletter announced Reconciling Sexuality Week, which will be held at the ELCA's Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary (LTSS). See below.  Additionally, the North Carolina synod shared an article titled, "In this to the end," which speaks to the recent vote by the Methodist Church on gay marriage. The synod email reprinted part of the article which states, "'We're in this to the end,' sang LGBTQ United Methodists and their allies. They prayed. They hugged. They pulled out more chairs as people packed a worship service hosted by the LGBTQ-affirming Love Your Neighbor Coalition on Wednesday morning (Feb. 27) in a meeting room at the Holiday Inn, a day after a three-year-long push to make their church more inclusive had been blocked. Many at the worship service committed to staying in a denomination that voted Tuesday (Feb. 26) to reiterate language in the Book of Discipline, its rulebook, saying LGBTQ people could not marry or be ordained in its churches." See here The synod also gave this invitation, "Join us for Theology on Tap weekend" for a "weekend of craft brews."
"I think what we need are Christians who are serious Christians. I think we had a cultural Christianity in America...but to have people who go to church but don't really know why or don't really believe those things, we've got a lot of those. I call them Mainline Protestants... but most people who go to Mainline Protestant churches, why have they ceased going? Because at some point it became culturally acceptable to stay home on Sunday because 'nobody believes that stuff anyway.'" - Eric Metaxas  (The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and Twitter - here.) In the February 2019 issue of Living Lutheran, the national magazine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, a glowing article is devoted to Reconciled in Christ (RIC). RIC promotes the acceptance of homosexuality, bisexuality and transgenderism in the Lutheran Church. But Living Lutheran will not allow a conservative ministry group (of which I am a part) to advertise. OneByOne is a Christian ministry which follows the Biblical view that homosexual behavior is contrary to God's will. OneByOne inquired about buying an advertisement in Living Lutheran about our ministry but was told that our viewpoint is not consistent with more recent ELCA teaching. Back in 2009, the ELCA voted to ordain practicing homosexuals and now allows for homosexual “weddings” and transgendered pastors. In 2009 conservatives were assured that their “bound conscience” on the homosexual issue would be respected. But since 2009 Living Lutheran magazine has promoted many articles showing homosexuality and transgenderism in a positive light, but has not printed one article representing the traditional viewpoint on homosexuality. What we see happening today shows the intolerance of the religious left, a group which pretends to be tolerant. Today if you want to present the traditional viewpoint on homosexuality in the ELCA's venues, your voice will most likely be banned. Sincerely in Christ, Pastor Tom Brock -- (Below is Living Lutheran's Facebook post sharing the article Pastor Brock wrote about.) 
Previously, Rev. Kevin L. Strickland was the Assistant to the Presiding Bishop of the ELCA and Executive for Worship. He is married to another man.
Bishop-elect Strickland was recently featured in an article by ReconcilingWorks, a LGBT organization where he recounts: "For many years, I felt like I was 'broken' as I fought the internal struggle to come out and say that I was gay and to not only do that but then to continue being able to serve as a pastor in this church. I felt shame, brokenness, sense of not being right. Then a dear friend and pastor, reminded me, I was exactly what God created and even in what may feel broken to me, God calls it beautiful. I now can claim that I am a beautifully and wonderfully created child of God who is gay. Being broken-open means I now live free as the person that God created me to be. In that broken-openness, there is such beauty." (See here) In the ELCA, and world, it is common for people to say that "God made me gay." This is a lie. It diminishes who God is. God does not call sin beautiful. What is beautiful is God's grace and forgiveness in view of our sin. The ELCA is in rapid descent into darkness, and this becomes more and more evident every week. They brazenly place their own view over that of God and His Word. God is calling His people out of this depraved denomination; if you are remaining, will you heed His call? 
Before Rev. Strickland was elected Bishop of the Southeastern Synod, the ELCA's first homosexual bishop, Guy Erwin, tweeted:
ELCA Synod Bishop Kevin Kanouse came out as a homosexual while he was bishop. Below is Rev. Tom Brock's response to the ELCA election of Kevin Strickland:
"As most of you are well aware, many states have passed or are considering legislation to restrict access to legal abortion."
This letter from the ELCA was written in response to pro-life legislation, like the ones passed in Georgia and Louisiana, the Alabama Human Life Protection Act and the Missouri bill banning abortions at eight weeks of pregnancy (see here), among others. Presiding Bishop Eaton and the ELCA wrote the letter to show their opposition to these laws and legislation. Note the ELCA and its leader did NOT write a letter in opposition to the New York abortion law which passed in January 2019, allowing abortion up to birth. (See here). Nor did the ELCA write a letter about the Virginia legislation, that would loosen the laws on third trimester abortions. (See here) In the letter that was written ELCA Presiding Bishop reveals the truth about the denomination's stance on abortion: "Amid the legislative challenges to access to abortion, we must remember that this church supports ongoing access to legal abortion as well as access to abortion services and reproductive health care that is not restricted by economic factors." (See here) As you can read, the ELCA supports abortion. You should not be fooled when the ELCA claims otherwise, as the presiding bishop tried to do in her letter by saying, "this church seeks to travel a moderating path by supporting abortion as a last resort." Hear the presiding bishop's words again where she says, "this church supports ongoing access to legal abortion as well as access to abortion services..." Combine that with the fact that the ELCA pays for employee abortions and then notice how you never see the ELCA supporting pro-life causes. At the end of the Presiding Bishop's letter she implores the denomination: "I urge each of us to read, to study, to listen, to discern, and to discuss as church together. See the full statement here." There was no direction to pray for the Lord's guidance or look to God's Word. Every pro-life ELCA member should walk out of his or her ELCA church, never to return.
|
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.
Give online by clicking the "donate" button below: Categories
All
Archives
January 2023
 Exposing the ELCA is on Facebook 
Follow Exposing the ELCA on Twitter
Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. - Ephesians 5:11
|
RSS Feed