ELCA pastor Lura Groen is seeking to start a new worship community named “St. Jezebel's Church.” A webpage speaking of this church says that part of the pastor’s vision for St. Jezebel's is for it to be a place “…where sex, drugs, and rock and roll aren't sins, but being a d**k kinda is.” (see below) One has to ask why pastor Groen picked the name "Jezebel" for her church. The most high profile Jezebel in history is from Scripture and she was an extremely wicked person.
Here is a recent tweet by ELCA Rev. Groen (and see here for additional information about this ELCA pastor):
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Speaking to members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Lenny Duncan wrote an article called "Dear Church: You Would Rather Hang Me from a Tree. A Reflection on the Execution of #PhilandoCastile" and it was hosted on a Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago website. In the article Mr. Duncan reiterated that same message saying, “Many of you would rather see me hung from a tree…” Lenny Duncan is a Vicar who is in his second year of internship at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, an ELCA church in Conshohoken, PA. (see here and see more about Mr. Duncan here) -- Finally, Restating a false claim that is often used by ELCA leaders, ELCA pastor Scott Kramer writes, “Now, over the centuries Sodom and Gomorrah have been associated by Christian with immoral behavior, or as an excuse to condemn homosexuality. But many of us have learned over the years to take a closer look at the story and to see that it’s not really about sex or sexuality. The sin of Sodom and Gomorrah fundamentally was the failure of God’s people to provide hospitality, to treat strangers with contempt. This is why Jesus uses this story in his teaching on hospitality. It turns out that Christians have felt more comfortable talking about sex than looking in the mirror to discern the ways in which we have committed the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah: the sin of failing to provide God’s welcome to the stranger when we have opportunity.” – (see here) Wrong! Check God’s Word, Scott, specifically Jude 1:6-7 which says, “And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.” Also see Genesis 19:1-13 and 2 Peter 2:6-9 After reading the above quote, you will not be surprised to see ELCA pastor Scott Kramer and his Facebook posts below:
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(The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and twitter - here.) Grace Lutheran Church of Apple Valley, Minnesota, is a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. In the below sermon, Pastor Roske-Metcalfe preaches about a woman in her congregation who is now a "man" named Reggie. The pastor says this woman's "authentic self" is now as a male. The pastor goes on--and on and on--about how to refer to this person. Reggie does not want to be referred to as "she" or "he". Reggie wants to be referred to as "they" and "them." The ELCA voted in 2009 to ordain practicing homosexuals. They did not vote to ordain transgender pastors, but the ELCA leadership is doing it anyway. Prior to this sermon, the strangest--and saddest--sermon I had ever read was sent to me by a woman at an ELCA congregation in northern Minnesota. It was her pastor's "coming out" sermon in which he told the church how God had led him to his homosexual partner. But the below is even worse. Prepare for 12 minutes of the strangest sermon you will ever hear. Let us lovingly deal with people who experience gender confusion, life can really mess people up. But let us not add to their confusion by lying to them and telling them they are whatever they think they are. If God made you a male, you are a male, even if you think God made a mistake. Jesus said "Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female?" (Matthew 19:4). Jesus does not add "or transgender, or bisexual, or lesbian or homosexual." Sincerely in Christ, Pastor Tom Brock pastorsstudy.org (My apologies for the vulgar quotes, references, that I have to report this and that the ELCA allows this kind of thing from their leaders.)
The following article is so startling that I need to share it with you, to write about it here and not just post the article itself on the homepage. The article is about a woman who is “getting ordained with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America.” The article is in ELLE magazine and is titled, “How The ‘Pussy Pastor’ Is Bringing Sex and Christianity Together.” You can read the whole article here. Some “noteworthy” parts of the article include: - "'Jesus had a penis. And wet dreams.’ This was the philosophy that inspired Heidi Johnson to found the Pussy Club, a sex-positive group at Duke Divinity School where Christian female students would discuss, among other things, masturbation as a spiritual practice, in 2014. They also gathered to buy sex toys to explore this newfound sexuality. And so, Johnson earned herself the nickname the ‘Pussy Pastor.’" - Heidi Johnson described “the Pussy Club gatherings…as ‘loud, drunken, emotional mess[es] with tons of laughs, stories shared, and tears shed for the ways the religious community abuses and suppresses women's sexuality by labeling it as evil and sinful and temptation.’" - This September she will begin as an intern pastor in Oregon. - She discusses her “masturbation routine” a couple of places in the article. - She talks about “hooking up with classmates and enjoying her sexuality…” - The article speaks of a fellow student of Heidi’s saying, “After leaving his church because he thought it was incompatible with his queerness, Heidi taught him "’a faith that uses the word of God to help with identity exploration, as opposed to identity suppression.’" - Heidi Johnson “continues to host Pussy Club meetups and online discussions…” If you are thinking “this is just one anomaly” in the church, you have not been paying attention to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. See the following blog about similar thinking persons, leaders and pastors in the ELCA here. Also consider how the ELCA continues to push the boundaries, God set, in regard to sex by marrying those in same-sex relationships, ordaining pastors in same-sex relationships, pushing LGBT ideology, supporting LGBT causes/lifestyle in their publications and social media, paying for sex-change operations and hormone therapy in the ELCA health insurance, as well as ordaining transgender individuals. The ELCA is obsessed with sex, pushing sinful sexual practices and trying to influence the minds of its members to view it all as “good.” (The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and twitter - here.)
"Living Lutheran" is the national magazine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. They have run a number of articles highlighting, in glowing terms, homosexual and transgender Lutheran pastors. Living Lutheran has never run an article giving the conservative viewpoint on homosexuality. They do this even though the ELCA's 2009 decision to ordain practicing homosexuals stated that the "bound conscience" of everyone, conservative and liberal, would be respected in the ELCA. Reverend Jeff Winter is on the board of One by One, a ministry which helps people with unwanted same sex attractions lead chaste lives. He asked if he could run an ad in Living Lutheran. Here is the response he received: Thanks for your email. Unfortunately what you're proposing isn't in harmony with recent ELCA church decisions, so our editors are declining your offer to advertise with us. I'm sorry that I can't be of help to you with this. Thanks, Mark Brewer, Advertising Director, Living Lutheran I am not sure to which recent decisions the editors of Living Lutheran are referring. To my knowledge there has been no decision to rescind respecting the right of conservatives in the ELCA to have at least some representation in the ELCA's national magazine on this issue. Some have wondered how long the "bound conscience" of conservatives would truly be respected in the ELCA. It appears that, in its national magazine at least, there is no room for the conservative viewpoint on homosexuality at all. Sincerely in Christ, Pastor Tom Brock pastorsstudy.org
The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) recently held its 54th annual convention, and of course, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America was well-represented.
We will begin with the ELCA's Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton. She was given the ISNA Excellence In Interfaith Award (see here) and spoke to the assembly -
Then we have Kathryn Lohre. According to her Twitter account, she is the "ELCA Executive for Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Relations, and Immediate Past President of the National Council of Churches." (see here) Below she tweets about Dr. Sayyid M. Syeed, the National Director for the Office for Interfaith & Community Alliances for the Islamic Society of North America. The ELCA's Northern Illinois Synod posted this on their Facebook page: Additionally, Shoulder-to-Shoulder, an interfaith organization which says it is dedicated to ending anti-Muslim sentiment by strengthening the voice of freedom and peace, of which the ELCA is a part, tweeted this:
Here is some information about the ISNA, with whom the ELCA works:
(For more information about the ISNA, including their close association with the ELCA, see http://www.exposingtheelca.com/exposed-blog/the-elca-muslim-brotherhood and http://www.exposingtheelca.com/exposed-blog/elca-helping-brotherhood-change-constitution)
If you have been watching or reading honest and fair news outlets, you probably heard of this recent ISNA convention. It made waves when popular Muslim activist, Linda Sarsour, the keynote speaker at the gathering, "told her Muslim audience at the July 1-3 ISNA convention that they should remain constantly in a state of 'rage' against Trump. She encouraged them not to assimilate into American society…”
Then she said, “I hope, that when we stand up to those who oppress our communities, that Allah accepts from us that as a form of jihad.” And “That we are struggling against tyrants and rulers, not only abroad in the Middle East or on the other side of the world, but here in these United States of America." And, “You have fascists and white supremacists and Islamophobes reigning in the White House." (see here. This article also includes more disturbing information about Linda Sarsour) Did you hear that? She encouraged listeners to not assimilate into America society, talked about "jihad" and called our leaders "fascists and white supremacists and Islamophobes." Why are you part of the ELCA, a denomination that attended this event of the ISNA and boasted on social media about it? A recently passed resolution by the New England Synod Assembly says the following:
"Be it resolved that the New England Synod memorialize the ELCA Churchwide Assembly to initiate a process to amend the phrase 'bring all people to faith in Christ' in C4.02b and its constitutional parallels in order to achieve greater consonance with both our understanding of Christian witness and sensitivity to our interfaith contexts." (see here) They want "to amend the phase 'bring all people to faith in Christ...'" What kind of true Christian denomination and Christ-following church leadership would want that? None. A resolution like this is the result of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's radical rejection of the truth of Scripture. When leaders in the ELCA teach universalism, that there is no hell, and their missionaries do not seek to convert the lost, why not remove the phrase “bring all people to faith in Christ” and all similar words from ELCA official documents? Watch to see if this comes up in upcoming ELCA churchwide assemblies and other synod assemblies and if the resolution passes. Additionally, at this year's Oregon Synod Assembly, there was the “Adoption of a bylaw allowing congregations to send additional Voting Members to Assemblies who can speak to us about concerns of the LGBTQIA community.” (see here) Is this like stacking the deck? They are allowing churches to bringing additional voting members specifically because of their supportive view on LGBTQIA issues. I wonder what pro-homosexual, pro-transgender initiatives will result from future Oregon Synod assemblies? As if they were not liberal enough. The same people who passed this resolution would throw a fit if someone presented a resolution saying the synod should also allow congregations to send additional voting members to assemblies who hold traditional views of marriage and can speak to heterosexual concerns. (The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and twitter - here.)
On the cover of its June issue, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's "Living Lutheran" magazine highlights the below 15-year-old Lutheran who won a Google contest by drawing a picture of people of all religions, LGBT pride people, and gender non-conforming people with their arms around each other. "Diversity is a beautiful thing", she said. Not too long ago the Lutheran Church encouraged teenagers to follow the Bible's teaching on sexuality. Today, the ELCA highlights those who endorse a lifestyle that the Bible says will exclude people from the Kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9-11). Back in 2009, when the ELCA decided to ordain practicing homosexuals, they also agreed to allow everyone--liberals and conservatives--to follow their "bound conscience" on the issue. But since 2009, I have not seen one "Living Lutheran" article giving the conservative viewpoint on this issue. But there have been numerous articles promoting the liberal viewpoint. It is most tragic, however, when teenagers are enlisted to support the cause. Pastor Tom Brock Pastorsstudy.org |
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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