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The ELCA's Journal of Lutheran Ethics October 2015 issue was devoted to the topic of "#BlackLivesMatter."
An article by Rozella Haydée White, the Program Director for Young Adult Ministry for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, perpetuates the falsehood that Michael Brown was murdered. She writes, “For many young people of color, the murder of Michael Brown[1] on the streets of Ferguson, Missouri tore the veil that covered the ugliest reality – lives of people of color, particularly young black people of color, are not seen as lives at all." (see here) The definition of murder is "The unlawful killing of another human being without justification or excuse." (see here) Michael Brown was killed in self-defense by Officer Wilson. The justice system of the United States confirms this. Saying that lives of people of color are "not seen as lives at all" is another outright lie. Then the ELCA Program Director for Young Adult Ministry writes, “The church has also been complicit in the ongoing separation and oppression of people of color. From global mission that was undergirded by the concept of conversion…” So helping people know the One True God is called "oppression?" Leading people to faith in Christ is what we are all called to do. The ELCA is turning this "calling" into an evil act. Another article in the October issue of Journal of Lutheran Ethics was written by Rev. Wolfgang D. Herz-Lane, bishop of the Maryland-Delaware Synod of the ELCA. He seems to be making a similar claim to the first article, that Ferguson, Missouri Police Officer Wilson committed a crime in the shooting of Michael Brown when he writes, "Unlike other cities such as Ferguson, New York, and Cleveland where law enforcement officers were not held accountable in the deaths of unarmed civilians, the family of Freddie Gray will get its day in court as six police officers have been charged in the case." (read here)
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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.)
Today is Reformation Sunday, the day Protestants praise God for Martin Luther's rediscovery of the Bible's teaching that we are saved by grace alone through faith in Christ alone. Sadly, many in liberal, mainline Protestant denominations no longer believe we are saved by faith in Christ alone. Many pastors and seminary professors have embraced the heresy of universalism which teaches that all people, whether they believe in Jesus or not, will go to heaven. The problem with universalism is that Jesus taught the opposite. Jesus frequently preached about Hell, more than anyone else in the Bible. Jesus insisted He is the only way to the Father (John 14:6), and those who reject Him are condemned (John 3:18). This was also the preaching of the Apostles (Acts 4:12). But universalism has zapped the missionary zeal of the Church. The number of missionaries sent out by liberal denominations has fallen dramatically in recent decades. Back to the prayers from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Augsburg/Fortress Press. Today in church we prayed: Reinvigorate those places that have become desolate through human intervention or natural disaster. Breathe new life into plants, animals and watersheds, Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer. Nothing is wrong with praying for the environment, but when we pray regularly for the salvation of the planet and rarely or never for the salvation of unbelievers, something is wrong. I am waiting for one prayer from the ELCA that goes something like this: Lord, we pray for the missionaries to bring the Good News to the lost, that Jesus is the only Savior who can bring salvation from Hell, forgiveness of sins and eternal life for all who believe. I have yet to hear the words "only Savior", "lost", or "Hell" in ELCA prayers. In Jesus, the only Savior, Pastor Tom Brock pastorsstudy.org (The following article was written by Rev. Tom
Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and twitter - here.) I attend a Missouri Synod Lutheran church. The Missouri Synod is much more Biblical than the liberal Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, but for some reason my Missouri Synod church is using the Augsburg/Fortress "Prayers of the Church" of the ELCA on Sunday mornings. Here is what I have noticed in the past two years. The Augsburg/Fortress prayers regularly pray for the environment, the planet, etc., but I don't remember one prayer for the salvation of the lost. Recently we prayed that God would help our churches practice "radical hospitality". I don't think most people know what that means, but in ELCA circles it can mean the affirmation of homosexual and transgender behavior. This past Sunday the Augsburg/Fortress prayers asked the Lord to "Strengthen the bonds between humans and the animals...Teach his to value all animals." I thought to myself "I have never heard an Augsburg/Fortress prayer asking us to value all human life, born and unborn." Most of the Augsburg/Fortress prayers sound very nice, but don't hold your breath for the ELCA prayers to ask God to save people from eternal Hell through Jesus Christ or to save unborn children from the horror of abortion. In Jesus our Savior, Pastor Tom Brock pastorsstudy.org (The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and twitter - here.)
The Rev. R. Guy Erwin, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Southwest California Synod, has been elected to the executive committee of the Bishop's Conference, which is made up of the ELCA's 65 bishops. He is "married" to his "husband" Rob. Not too many years ago, engaging in homosexual behavior was considered a sin and precluded one from being a pastor in the ELCA. Today, one can engage in this unbiblical behavior and rise to one of the highest positions of the Church. This is one more example why people should take their time, talents and money, leave the ELCA, and join a more biblical denomination. Sincerely in Christ, Pastor Tom Brock pastorsstudy.org
It's classic ELCA false teaching coming from the halls of the ELCA’s Wartburg Theological Seminary. Longtime professor Duane Priebe’s basic message to the seminary students at the October 1, 2015, chapel service? The law no longer applies, sins are okay because Jesus loves. (listen here)
Dr. Priebe begins his sermon by saying “This is one of those passages, when I first looked at this text, the only thing I could think of was, 'Sh*t!'” (The passage was Luke 16:14-18.) Wartburg Theological Seminary posted the link to this sermon on their Facebook page. (see here) --
And here is what is happening at Luther Seminary, the ELCA's largest seminary:
-- A bit of good news. ELCA membership numbers from an October 2015, ELCA news story: “Membership of the ELCA is 3,765,403 million, a decline of 2.53 percent from the previous year.” (see here) by Reverend Nicole A.M. Collins
This article is written for my pastoral peers as well as for continuing support for Lutheran CORE. This has been a phrase I have meditated on for quite some time. From the beginning of my seminary journey to now coming from my initial steps into pastoral ministry. Why would this phrase have such a profound impact on my conscience? What was it that drove its conception in the first place? A couple of years back was the last time I shared on here as an anonymous, frightened seminarian compelled to share what I felt was profoundly in error with the direction and intentions of liberal, intellectually-progressive Lutheran education… In short it became a definitive article on what I saw developing as Lutheran “Unitarianism” that has systemically gone out of its way to polarize & to a lesser extent, persecute people of true faith essentially over the concept of: whom do you serve? Chaplaincy is a noble career, and is truly a significant aspect of the large skill set the post-modern Lutheran church pastor must incorporate to an extent in order to fully serve. The pastor is to be the nurturing guide, the discipleship coach, the catechist instructor, the counselor, the comforter, the steward, the administrator, the gardener, the house cleaner…. Ad infinitum! Things they never taught you in seminary & much more~ Speaking for myself, I have been tremendously blessed with having the experience of assisting to plant two unaffiliated Lutheran churches as well as recently have planted a small house church ministry which will shift to being a continuing online ministry once my husband & I move out west. Being bi-vocational is what is needed these days since the church is changing… BUT returning to the need to compose this article, to whom do you truly serve? Are you a pastor for Christ or are you a chaplain to culture? As a former artist and poet, I love culture! Culture however holds a Pandora’s box of meanings, purpose and agenda. How you perceive and receive culture is the defining context here. Just this past weekend, I was privileged to attend an extended Lutheran CORE sponsored conference on Hispanic ministry. Topics ranged from Radical Hospitality (genuine pastoral care and implementation) to a Cursillo-like retreat to implement teaching discipleship principles through the Apostles Creed & Small Catechism known as Kogudus. There were many other wonderful talks as well at the conference which what all talks had in common was addressing contexts. This address included the cultural context, ethnographic, economic and sociological scope of who you serve as a pastor for Christ, not as a chaplain to culture. Catering from Christ to serve others includes the concept and practice of altruism and accountability grounded in Grace through faith. Catering to the self includes consumerism and political idealism. Both of these concepts cannot truthfully include Christ Jesus as the center and motivation to be guiding principles of discipleship yet alone genuinely reflect a call to accountability to both God and neighbor through TRUE Grace. Cheap Grace or works righteousness under the label of social justice seems to be a convenient label to make their efforts sound much more noble than they actually are. Compassion has been made a political two-way street painted by designer self-oriented cherry-picked hermeneutics of Biblical truth! Showmanship and the ugliness of politicized doctrinal battle have tried to replace and divide the Gospel imperative of Christ, plain and simple. This Gospel imperative is the foundation to our gracious response: “29 Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; 30 you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” In essence, if you operate from a Grace-given, genuinely spiritually-transformed heart: you will be doing ministry in, with and through Christ—It’s NOT about you! & frankly it was never to be about “you.” Again, let this haunt you: To whom do YOU serve? This is the question I wish would haunt those who refuse to come to the table yet alone allow voice to Orthodox Lutherans. What this behavior of exclusion represents for me is graceless behavior. This ironically is what they condemn the Orthodox for is being exclusive… This goes way beyond synod assemblies, politically driven seminaries and forums to be where and when we gracelessly label people as anti-gay, misogynists to Republicans or democrats, etcetera. It’s when we are profoundly and intentionally indifferent to whom we ARE to truly serve! Championing the world of the self and all its needs, wants, decadence is only completing Satan’s goal for the church. Satan’s goal for the church is to serve the unholy trinity of I, Me, Mine—NOT the Holy Trinity of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. If we have to control God and His Spirit through consumerist ideologies and politics, we glorify the empty promises of a world devoid of genuine being and purpose. The ruler of this world would love to see us further divide over BAD theology… It’s a rather sad and humorous fact according to wikipedia that there are something like 440 different Lutheran bodies in the world today. Can’t we all just get along? Becomes a lovely note of sarcasm to a sad truth. Underneath all the layers of it’s about this or that doctrinally, socio-politically, BAD theologies and whatnot… the profound truth we’re avoiding here boils down to that haunting statement: To whom do you serve? Being and becoming a Pastor for Christ is a lifetime’s spiritual formation journey. The first church is the heart—it’s is here we develop heart knowledge that is to be obediently and intentionally—prayerfully shaped by Grace through faith—Holy Spirit’s work. It is one grounded firmly in Biblical Truth incorporating a living “hermeneutic of faith” over a doctrinal, politically motivated agenda of the self over and above God AND neighbor! Maybe being in supportive communities such as Lutheran CORE, (if you’re still in the ELCA that is), is like trying to hold the Vietnamese borderline… OR maybe there is still genuine hope, enough grace and initiative to come to the table and ask, pray with one another: WHOM DO YOU SERVE? Like many who have traversed the Lutheran alphabet soup groups just to get their toe into the door of pastoral ministry… I am done with crying my bitter tears and other Old Natured temptations to vent against the ELCA for I am serving my Lord and my neighbor…. My Lord Jesus and my neighbor go over and above denominations, socio-political BS and serving the world of the self! There’s a lot of work to be done people… I have no regrets that I am no longer ELCA, that’s for sure. What I do regret is that we’re still engaged in these graceless battles. The only person we’re serving with great success beyond the self is Satan. Again in closing may this NOT bind your conscience but free it: Whom Do you truly, faithfully and graciously serve? Bio: Reverend Nicole A.M. Collins was ordained January 17th, 2015 in Chicago & currently serves as the Spiritual Formation Pastor at an unaffiliated Lutheran church plant—The Gathering North in suburban Chicagoland, Glenview, Illinois. She and her husband Phil live in Mundelein Illinois. She is currently awaiting a call for her first solo pastorate in the state of Oregon. Her then anonymous article here was: http://www.exposingtheelca.com/exposed-blog/a-seminarians-journey-exposing-the-teaching-of-an-elca-seminary Exposing the ELCA conducted a poll of its readers asking them this question, "Should the ELCA ordain transgender persons?" Here are the results:
26.49% (102 votes) answered "Yes" 73.51% (283 votes) answered "No" There were a total of 385 votes. (The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and twitter - here.)
Pastor Jerry O'Neal of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has written a blog expressing his joy over homosexual marriage. Here are some excerpts: I believe the Supreme Court got it right on same-sex marriage...I am rejoicing with my LGBT friends today. First, about a so-called “Biblical definition of marriage” (or similarly, saying that marriage is “ordained by God to be one man and one woman”): the Bible doesn’t have one definition of marriage. If you look at the entire Biblical narrative, you will see that the standards of marriage change over time.... To those who say, “But you don’t believe in the Bible?” No, I don’t. As our former presiding bishop, Mark Hanson, once said, “I don’t believe in the Bible – I believe in the God revealed in the Bible.” The Bible is NOT inerrant. It contains clear contradictions in places (e.g. 2 creation stories in Gen. 1—3 that do not agree), and it has been open to interpretation from the beginning... Similarly, I do not believe the few Scripture texts that speak about same-sex relationships apply today. Marriage is a different institution than it was then (see above)...Divorce is now permissible for reasons besides infidelity, and remarriage is common, despite Jesus’ comments in Matthew 19:3-9 that such divorce and remarriage constitutes adultery.... Does this mean I will be performing same-sex marriages right now? No it doesn’t. Our congregation had conversations about this a month ago, and we were not all in the same place on this issue. My response: Whew! Rarely is a pastor so blatant in his heresy. "Despite Jesus' comments", he says, divorce and remarriage are now okay. How easily he puts aside the teaching of the Savior. And what is keeping him from performing homosexual "weddings"? His love for Christ? His trust in the Bible? No, his laypeople. This is another example of laypeople who are much more Biblical than a pastor who has lost his way. Please say a prayer for him and his church. If you would like to see how to respond to pro-homosexual arguments, go to pastorsstudy.org and view my article "What does the Bible say about homosexuality?" In Christ, Pastor Tom Brock pastorsstudy.org (See Pastor O'Neil's post here or 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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