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Dennis M. Roser, ELCA pastor of St. John's Lutheran Church and Trinity Lutheran Church in Connellsville, Pennsylvania, told the following story.
"When I was studying at Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg (1998-2002), we were not permitted in most classes or in chapel services to speak of God as 'Father' or refer to Him with the pronoun 'Him.' Additionally, one of our professors always led the Lord’s Prayer with the introduction, 'Our Father and Mother . . . .' Rev. Roser also stated "there were professors who spoke frequently of God as 'her.'” (read here) So an ELCA seminary prohibits students from calling God "Father?" Jesus called God "Father." Jesus told us to use the term "Father" for God. (Matt 6:9) But it's not OK for seminarians to use that term for God at this ELCA seminary?
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Is all of scripture God's Word or not? ELCA pastor Gary Eichhorn of the Lutheran Church of Our Savior in Oakwood, OH made an interesting statement in a recent news article. The article says this, "Gay Christians refer to the four to seven passages most often cited to attack homosexuality as 'the clobber passages.' (Rev.) Eichhorn of Oakwood said none of them are from the gospels and none are quotations attributed to Jesus.
'I’d rather talk about the things Jesus talked about rather than the things he never talked about,' Eichhorn said." (read here) So only the things Jesus said are important enough to warrant our thoughts, comments and preaching Rev. Eichhorn? Didn't God inspire all of scripture? If God inspired the writings of Peter (and all the writings of scripture), that means Peter wrote what God wanted him to write. What Peter (and all the Biblical authors) wrote is just as important as what Jesus said, because they all come from God. Pastor Eichhorn may be interested in talking about this quote from Jesus, Matt. 5:17,18 - (Jesus said) "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished." So Pastor Eichhorn, if you are only interested in talking about in the things Jesus cared about maybe you should do an in-depth study on Jesus' view of scripture. This article is a good place to start - Jesus and the Inspiration of Scripture. Exposing the ELCA readers were asked "Do you approve of the ELCA policy to pay for abortions for any reason, in their medical healthcare coverage?"
The results were - Yes 15% (53 votes) No 85% (299 votes) Total Votes: 352 The ELCA's official website makes this statement about the Virgin Birth, "(w)hile it remains official and normative for the Evangelical Lutheran Church today, it has not closed the doctrinal debate over Jesus’ conception for many Lutherans, and by inference that includes ELCA members." (read here - The ELCA took down the article but this link goes to a website that archived the article and page as it was, on the ELCA website)
After that ringing endorsement the ELCA goes on the attack and provides a litany of reasons and arguments against the clear scriptural account of Christ's birth. Here are the arguments put forth by the ELCA -
Why are they arguing so hard against the truth of scripture regarding the Virgin Birth? Do they think God is not capable of performing this miracle? This is another example of the ELCA's disregard for what is written in Scripture. The ELCA's view of the Bible allows humanity to be the authority on what is true, what is right, what is good and what is not. The ELCA is a denomination that believes they know better about God than the book God claims He had a hand in writing. Are you going to follow God's Word or the ways and beliefs of man? Rev. Jen Nagel is the pastor of Salem English Lutheran Church (ELCA) in Minneapolis, MN and is an out, gay-partnered person. When speaking about the ELCA's new policies on homosexuality she said that it is "important to be aware that this was one step for the church, but these policies didn't address issues specific to folks who identify bisexual or transgender. There is still more for all of us to learn about this crazy, wonderful gift of sexuality." (see here)
Two points for you to think about:
ELCA's plan is to continue implementing their policies and beliefs that are contrary to Scripture. This is where we are heading. Do you still want to be part of it? The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America recently held an event called "Sharing the Gospel in a 2.0 World." On day three of the conference Muslim and Buddhist prayers were giving at the invitation of the ELCA.
Two students who were with a group called Interfaith Youth Core, and whose Muslim founder and executive director Eboo Patel (read here) was a keynote speaker for the "Sharing the Gospel" event, gave the Muslim and Buddhist prayers. Sue Rothmeyer, ELCA Associate Executive Director for Youth and Young Adult Ministries said, "out of hospitality we offered these students the opportunity to pray." Rothmeyer went on to say, "we carefully stated to (the assembly) it was out of the student's tradition and we invited everyone to listen and participate as they felt comfortable." A conference attendee said of the prayers, "I think everyone in the room thought they were quite beautiful and appreciated people sharing something out of their faith traditions." I have problems with the inclusiveness gospel the ELCA is preaching and conducting. They sacrifice the Good News for the sake of trying to be accepting, tolerant and understanding. The fact of the matter is, sharing the Good News is the most loving, kind and caring thing they could do. But bringing people to the saving grace of Jesus doesn't matter to these ELCA leaders. Now they have prayers, to false gods, given at their "Sharing the Gospel" ELCA event. Jesus would NEVER allow that. He would have been filled with holy anger if the prophets of Baal were in the temple leading people in prayers to their god. Sadly the real Jesus doesn't matter in today's ELCA. Satan has them rejecting the Bible and following his rules. Then the ELCA cloaks everything they do in quasi-christian language and hope you don't notice. Three ELCA churches in Illinois, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Chicago, Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church in Arlington Heights, and St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Wheaton, will be showing three homosexual based films for the Lutherans Concerned/Chicago’s (LC/C) Second Annual Film Festival.
To read about the films see here. It seems witches like the ELCA's practice of praying to a goddess. Check out this Wiccan's blog and the following comments. Note: you will be taken to a Wiccan website (read blog here).
Our denomination as moved so far away from true Christianity that neopagans who practice witchcraft find us appealing. Is this a denomination that God wants you to stay in and support? New Horizons Lutheran Church in Falcon, CO is "a congregation being developed by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)." (read here)
After reading the universalist type language on New Horizons website, I wrote and asked the the ELCA church's pastor if he could explain his church's view on universal salvation, and more specifically if everyone was "saved." Rev. Timothy P. Singleton responded saying, "Everyone will eventually be saved. Everyone is not saved right now, but eventually all that is -- seen, unseen, past, present, and future -- will be redeemed by the grace and love of God. I am what you would call a Trinitarian Universalist." It is one of the goals of this website and blog to continue to present evidence that the ELCA promotes and teaches universal salvation. (read here for more information) A self described universalist and Christian gnostic (listen here) is freely preaching to and teaching youth in the ELCA. Neil Christopher is an ELCA youth pastor at Rejoice Lutheran Church (ELCA) of Frisco, TX. (see here)
While speaking on a podcast Pastor Christopher said, " . . . We believe in the fact that salvation is grace and grace alone and that it's freely given, and that it's given to all . . . whether they accept that grace or not, or like whether they have even heard the message or not, or full on reject it. So we don't do altar calls and we don't tell people that they are going to go to hell, and we don't have any kind of teaching that is based on guilt or shame or any of that." "Right now I am a ELCA youth minister and I am very very happy with the Evangelical Lutherans," says Pastor Christopher. When speaking of his future, Pastor Christopher said, ". . . I could actually, at one point be very responsible for what a whole generation of new Lutherans are going to be learning. . . so maybe the next 20 to 50 years of Lutherans are going to be basically being brought up in the kind of way we carve it up to be at this moment. And that's amazing." (listen here - 31 min. mark to 34 - note: foul language used) Pastor Christopher, on his own website, tells us a story of that happened during one of his junior high mission trips. He says, "(t)here were also some references over the week to a born-again salvation experience and I had to take time to explain to my kids, who have only been exposed to Universalism, what the heck was going on. This also led to one of my favorite moments on the mission trip… Part of the reason why we chose a missions trip where we give back to a community and work was because of our theology. Like I said before: 'We are not here to convert anybody; we are simply here to include them into our lives.' However, others from different denominations saw things differently, and especially after one certain event my kids asked me what was going on with this whole salvation, hell, born-again thing. I took a moment to think my response over and then simply asked them two questions: 1. Who are God’s children? 2. When Christ died, who did He save? To the first question my kids said 'everyone'. To the second question my kids said 'everyone.' I smiled, and was so proud of them at that moment, and so proud that they had been brought up in a church that was so entirely different than the ones I was exposed to as a youth. I then explained to them that not all churches or Christians feel the same way they do about this matter. My kids looked confused at this 'new theology' and said it was crazy. 'Do they not read the Bible?' 'Where do they even get this kind of stuff?' 'Wait a minute! Do they actually think our God is going to send His children to hell?!' Like I said — one of the proudest moments of my life." (read here) This teaching is wrong and it puts people's eternal destination at risk of going to hell. It also stops people from sharing the "good news" of Jesus with others, because in the universalist's mind, "everyone is going to heaven anyway." Not sharing the truth of Christ with people condemns them to eternity in a place no one would want to be. 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10 - God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the LORD Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our LORD Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the LORD and from the majesty of his power on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America not only allows universal salvation to be taught, but they teach this heresy. The belief of universal salvation is being preached from the official ELCA website, ELCA publications, in many of its churches and by many ELCA pastors. (see here) The ELCA's own words and allowances implicate them. Pastor Neil Christopher is teaching a belief of which the ELCA is very comfortable. Many in the ELCA like to claim Luther didn't believe in the inerrancy of Scripture. Saying this works well with their desire to pick and choose or deny parts of the Bible. It allows the denomination to preach universal salvation, that homosexuality is good, to pay for abortions, to dismiss God's promises to the Jews. It allows some to question Jesus' need to die for our sins, to reject Biblical prophecy, to pray to "Mother," to doubt a place called Hell and the Virgin birth. (check this website to find the details)
Here is the facts of what Luther believed about the Bible. Lessons from Luther on the Inerrancy of Holy Writ To date we know of three gay youth camps that have direct ELCA involvement. Lutherhill is one of them, which we have already discussed. (read here)
The second one is The Naming Project camp held at Bay Lake Camp in Deerwood, MN. Bay Lake Camp is owned and operated by First Lutheran Church which is a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, ELCA. This camp is being promoted by the Minneapolis Area Synod of the ELCA. (see here) The third camp is called Wonderfully Made and it is held at Bear Creek Camp, Wilkes Barre, PA. Bear Creek Camp and Conference Center is a ministry of the Northeastern and Southeastern Pennsylvania Synods of the Evangelical Lutheran Church In America. Lutherans Concerned/North America has this to say about the camps, ". . .there are now three organizations that offer camps and retreats for youth who want to explore the connections between faith, sexual orientation, and gender identity. These camps are designed not only for LGBT youth, but youth of all sexual orientations and gender identities. And…amazingly enough, they are all sponsored by Lutherans! The three camps have the stamp of approval of the Youth, Young Adult, and Family Committee of Lutherans Concerned/North America." (read here) Lutherans Concerned/North America describes itself this way, "working at the intersection of oppressions, Lutherans Concerned/North America (LC/NA) embodies, inspires, advocates and organizes for the acceptance and full participation of people of all sexual orientations and gender identities within the Lutheran communion and its ecumenical and global partners." (read here) If Lutherans Concerned is giving the camps their "stamp of approval," I highly doubt the youth attending these camps are being told that homosexuality is a sin and God has a better way for them that does not involve homosexuality. God's Word says this about homosexuality - Romans 1:26-27 - Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion. Teaching and encouraging kids to be involved in sin instead of turning away from it, can cause years of harm, separation from God, and bondage to evil. God's Word says this about youth and sin - Mark 9:42 - "And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck." The ELCA is doing this and I don't want to be part of it. What say you? Many of you know the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America recently added seven pastors who are gay, bisexual or transgender, to its clergy roster. This occurred at a Rite of Reception service.
Here are a few things you may not have heard concerning this. 1) During the "festival Eucharist celebrating the reception and reinstatement of pastors," (p 4) the congregation recited the “Our Mother who is within us” prayer taken from the Goddess Rosary (read more about the Goddess Rosary here). The prayer goes like this - "Our Mother who is within us we celebrate your many names. Your wisdom come, your will be done, unfolding from the depths within us. Each day you give us all that we need. You remind us of our limits and we let go. You support us in our power and we act in courage. For you are the dwelling place within us, the empowerment around us, and the celebration among us, now and forever. Amen" (p 16) "The paraphrase of the Lord’s Prayer, 'Our Mother who is within us . . .' is a part of the Goddess Rosary offered at University Lutheran Chapel of Berkeley (ELCA)." (p 24) 2) The sermon for this "celebration" was delivered by Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber, who is a "Featured Speaker" at the publicized ELCA "Sharing the Gospel in a 2.0 World" event on August 11-14, 2010. (read here) 3) Much like item 1), they included a number of other prayers (listed below) to a god they call "Mother." (note that the Bible never calls God this name) "O Sophia, Wisdom and Mother of us all, you are One with many names and images. May we see in all who are gathered here today your multiplicity of blessings. Today we honor your unlocking systems and practices that devalued and demeaned us for so many years and by putting your way of honoring people in its place. Most Holy One." (p 11) "Life-giving Mother, you make a home for us in the midst of our fear… …that we may share your gifts with a hungry world:" (p 15) View and read the Rite of Reception service here. One should also take note that there were a number of ELCA bishops involved in this Rite of Reception, as well as many ELCA pastors. This kind of thing would not be happening if the ELCA did not support it. |
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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