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(from Dean Kallenbach)
Folks, Following and attached is a report made by Grace Lutheran Church-Eau Claire president Anne Carter to the congregation there regarding the latest course happenings in their lawsuit. Good Afternoon/Morning, This past Wednesday morning a hearing was held at the Polk County Courthouse in Balsam Lake with Judge Molly GaleWyrick. In attendance were Jay Heit, attorney for Grace Lutheran Church; Drew Ryberg, attorney for Amazing Grace; Tom Guelzow, attorney for the NW Synod of Wisconsin, who is also representing Bishop Duane Pederson in his divorce proceedings; Dan Herber of the Twin Cities, attorney for the ELCA. Ryan Steffes, attorney for Grace Lutheran Foundation, also attended. Forty-two members of Grace drove up for the hearing. One member of Amazing Grace was present. The hearing began at 10:00 and ran for about an hour. The hearing was called to render a decision on a motion filed by Tom Guelzow against Jay Heit. He asked for sanctions against Mr. Heit for what he claimed was a frivolous lawsuit against the NW Synod. Mr. Guelzow spoke of his concern for the ethics and morality of the legal system as the reason for his filing for sanctions. Mr. Heit defended our lawsuit based upon our need to get answers on the procedures that were followed. The motion for sanction was denied. Judge GaleWyrick took the opportunity to answer other motions that were pending with the court. Both the ELCA and the NW Synod had filed Judgments on the Pleadings. These were motions asking the court to dismiss our countersuit. They claimed ecclesiastical immunity. Their motions were granted. Reading from a prepared statement, Judge GaleWyrick expressed her opinion that our countersuit was a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. She was determined that we had no right to involve those other two parties and bring a discussion of theology into the courtroom. She refused to accept the argument that our constitution is intertwined with theology and that procedure and theology cannot be separated. She refused to accept the argument that we are either all in this lawsuit or we are all out. Even though Amazing Grace has asked the court to impose a decision of the NW Synod onto this church, she has insisted that we do not have the right to examine that decision making process. We had sent an interrogatory to the NW Synod. We wanted to know in particular:
With her decision, Judge GaleWyrick claims that we do not have the right to those answers. She expressed offense that we would have brought the constitutional contract into discussion. In January she told us that the court had jurisdiction because this matter was one of contractual procedure. Our defense was then based upon our constitutional contract. Wednesday she claimed that we had misunderstood her. She will only discuss article 15.11 of our constitution. In an editorial aside, she called upon the name of God and declared that we were, in effect, self-righteous zealots. In the end, she announced that this was only about who has control of the property and the assets of Grace Lutheran Church. That claim is certainly proven by the nature of this lawsuit and the interrogatory that was sent to us. Amazing Grace wants the building and the trust funds and the security access codes. That’s all it’s about to them. If that is all that is to us, if it’s just about money, then we are just like them- shallow, self-absorbed and simple minded. But I know that it is about much more than that for all of us here. Almost two years ago, nearly 60 percent of Grace members voted to leave the ELCA for bigger, more profound reasons. We all know that if you toss a frog into a pot of boiling water, he will jump out quickly to save his life. But if you put a frog into a pot of cold water and then turn the burner on to low, the frog will become acclimated to the rising temperature and not be aware of the growing danger. He will be boiled alive. The ELCA has been slowly changing, and it is becoming dangerous.
We have chosen to reject those teachings. We have chosen to keep Jesus at the center of our faith and our worship. I daresay, we have chosen to remain a Christian church. But in making such a choice, the powers of evil have risen against us. They want us to doubt and despair and forget where true power lies. This lawsuit is outrageous. But we are not the only ones experiencing a lawsuit. There are currently 5 legal battles across the country where the ELCA is trying to take church property. We know that the Lord works in mysterious ways and He has chosen us to accomplish His will. I believe He wants us to raise the alarm that the water is getting hot! He did not choose us because we are better than anybody else or have more integrity or honor. The Lord knows that we are a sinful people. The difference is that we also know that we are sinners, that we are in need of forgiveness and that we have found it in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We don’t want to refresh God’s Word; we want God’s Word to refresh us! On this celebration of Christ the King Sunday, we boldly and joyfully proclaim that Jesus is our King. He is our Lord. He is our Savior. He is our Hope. And He will not fail us. To Him alone be all glory. Thank you. Anne Carter 25 November 2012
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David Lose, an ELCA professor at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN recently wrote an article/blog called “Cross Dressing for the Gospel.” Yes, you read that correctly.
Mr. Lose, in his article, writes an oh-so touching story of a cross dressing man named Stu, and how many of his neighbors decided to show their support for him by cross dressing. Mr. Lose writes that the people “stood in solidarity with Jesus by standing in solidarity with Stu, and unexpectedly gave witness to the love of God by cross-dressing for the gospel.” (see here) This is what the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has come to. They have succumbed to the evils of the world so much so that they have teachers of their pastors promoting “cross dressing.” How anyone can justify staying in the ELCA is beyond me. Mr. Lose isn’t a reclusive hobbit, living in his dark dungy office writing for publications no one reads. No, Mr. Lose writes and “speaks widely in the United States and abroad on preaching, Christian faith in a postmodern world, and biblical interpretation” (see here) sharing his stunning intellect with all who will listen. It’s hard to believe that a seminary professor can claim that cross dressing is a godly thing to do. Maybe Mr. Lose’s next article will be “Doing Heroin for the Gospel” or “Aborting Babies for the Gospel.” Read more blogs on Exposing the ELCA about Mr. Lose here and here. “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Romans 12:2 For Halloween, Concordia College (ELCA) in Moorhead, MN hosted a haunted house. The haunted house was put on by two resident hall councils. Part of the festivities for the night was offering students the chance to use an Ouija board.
An article by the school paper said, “A Ouija board (a board with letters, numbers, and ‘yes’ and ‘no’ that is often used in scary movies) was placed outside the entrance for students to try to get in touch with spirits if they chose to do so.” (see here) For those of you that may not know, Ouija boards are occultic, and a form of sorcery and divination. Those type of things are “forbidden by Scripture for Christians to participate in. . .” (See Can a Christian use an Ouija board?) An Ouija board “is a portal that leads straight into the dark side where Satan and his demons roam. . .this device will literally, and I mean literally, open up a door and invite in some of the nastiest, foulest, and meanest demons that are in Satan’s kingdom.” This is real and it is not something to “play around” with. You should read this article if you doubt the danger involved with Ouija boards - The Extreme Dangers of the Ouija Board. The article in the Concordia College paper included a picture which shows students using the Ouija board. The caption under the picture says, “Residents Matthew Burian and Alexander Hagen try out the Ouija board provided in Livedalen’s haunted maze.” (Another picture included in the article shows a male student holding a knife to a bloodied female’s neck.) This story is a prime piece of evidence that ELCA colleges, even though they love to advertise themselves as Christian colleges to financial contributing Lutheran church goers, often walk in opposition to Christian teaching, principles and practice. In this instance, Concordia College is placing the spiritual well being of their students at risk, opening their lives up to spiritual darkness, demons and the devil. This is pure evil. Yet, Joe Dlugos, hall director of Livedalen is quoted as saying in the haunted house article, “Hall council is happy to offer a variety of activities and events to our residents.” Exposing the ELCA has been in operation since December 2009, witnessing to people about the departure from God happening in the ELCA. Since the beginning, up until last week Exposing the ELCA’s website has been viewed over 529,000 times.
Each year, Exposing the ELCA has had an increase in viewed pages from the previous year, and 2012 has already surpassed the views from last year. This is happening while Christianity is declining in America and darkness grows as our society is dominated by secularism. In the midst of this environment, many who claim to be part of Christ’s church, including the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, passionately embrace ungodliness as exhibited by their words and deeds. God called me to begin this ministry almost three years ago, and it is plain to see that Exposing the ELCA and its calling is more important than ever. There are so many troubling things happening in this denomination and ELCA members, Lutherans and Christians everywhere need to know about them. I have an “ELCA” file that has over 65 pages of links, information, quotes and articles waiting to be shared and developed. The work of Exposing the ELCA goes on and will continue until God says otherwise. Will you help us? I know this is a difficult time for many people, but if you are able and led by God to help support this ministry with your prayers and finances, it is greatly appreciated. You can give online by going here - http://www.exposingtheelca.com/help.html Thank you for your prayerful consideration. From Dean Kallenbach -
Folks -- below is an update sent by Anne Carter, the president of Grace Lutheran Church of Eau Claire, regarding the lawsuit filed against the congregation by an ELCA-supported faction of former members and associate members to force the congregation to drop its affiliation to Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ (LCMC). The group also successfully sought an injunction preventing the congregation from passing a budget for 2012, and has frozen access to other assets until such time the suit is decided. Greetings, While I have not sent out many updates lately, I take this opportunity to let you all know a few things. Over the past few months, there have been several motions filed with the court. These motions, filed by Amazing Grace, NW Synod and ELCA, have all been in response to Grace's countersuit filed in June. Amazing Grace has filed a motion to dismiss our countersuit. NW Synod and ELCA have filed Motions for Judgment on the Pleadings. In very simple terms, argument has been made that the NW Synod and ELCA should not be enjoined because they claim "ecclesiastical immunity". We have submitted briefs opposing that view. Judge GaleWyrick will render a decision on these motions some time this fall. Along with those motions, Tom Guelzow, attorney for NW Synod, has filed sanctions against Grace's attorney, Jay Heit. He claims that Mr. Heit has filed a frivolous lawsuit against NW Synod. A hearing is scheduled for November 21 at 10:00 a.m. in Polk County when Judge GaleWyrick will rule whether sanctions should be imposed. At the request of Council, Mr. Heit has prepared a motion to the court asking for lifting of the temporary injunction against Grace so that, if necessary, Grace may use some of the monies in the Mission Endowment Fund to cover any cashflow shortage that may present itself during the remainder of 2012. There is a possibility that Judge GaleWyrick will take the opportunity to render a decision on all these motions at the November 21 hearing. This could be a very important hearing as the direction of the lawsuit could be decided that morning. Wednesday, November 21, is the day before Thanksgiving. I know that it will be difficult for some to attend the hearing, but I hope that there are many who will be able to make the trip and support our attorney and our cause. Hearing: Polk County Courthouse November 21, 2012 10:00 a.m. Thanks very much for your continued support. In His Service, Anne Today, I came across an eye opening video and news article concerning a person whom Exposing the ELCA has previously written about, Dan Savage. The article and video is about Mr. Savage’s vile hatred for Bible-believing Christians and it highlights President Obama's association with him. The ELCA has the same associations with Mr. Savage and every ELCA members should be asking "why?" Please read the article (here) and view the video below. (warning this video has extremely strong language even though obscenities are bleeped out) As mentioned above, Exposing the ELCA has told you about Dan Savage previously and his unholy alliance with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and specifically Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson. This spring we learned about a video Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson made for Mr. Savage’s "It Gets Better'" project. In my blog (read here), I wrote, “Mr. Savage must have liked Bishop Hanson’s video because he chose to include Bishop Hanson’s transcript from the video in a 'It Gets Better' book Mr. Savage was editing. Not only that, but Bishop Hanson must have been proud of this because the ELCA sent out a news release about him being in the book. (see here) And as of today the ELCA is promoting Dan Savage’s work on the ELCA website. (see here)” They continue to do this today. Mr. Savage is a public figure who has the ear of millions of people, and he continually uses his voice to spew hatred toward Christians: mocking them, Scripture and God. Why would the ELCA be allied with this person? I believe it is because the ELCA also does not like Bible-believing Christians. The ELCA and Dan Savage share the same thoughts, and the ELCA likes his message. Here are some additional ELCA ties to Dan Savage - - Promoting Mr. Savage’s project on the ELCA Youth Ministry page - here. - ELCA magazine, The Lutheran, promoting Mr. Savage’s project - here. - Videos made by ELCA leaders for Mr. Savage’s project - here, here and here. Over 500 Pastors signed a document from “Minnesota Pastors for Marriage.” (see here) “These 500+ Christian faith leaders joined together to state that their love for God, His Word, and their neighbor lead them to vote YES on Amendment 1.” (read here) The Minnesota Marriage Amendment (Amendment 1), which will be voted upon next week, seeks “to place the traditional definition of marriage – one man and one woman – into (the Minnesota) state constitution.” (read here)
Of the over 500+ pastors who signed this letter, I did not find one ELCA pastor on the list. There were many pastors from the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, but NONE from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. What does that tell you about today’s ELCA leaders? Exposing the ELCA polled it's readers saying this - You have wearied the Lord with your words...By saying, “All who do evil are good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them.” Mal 2:17- Is this the ELCA?
Here are the results - 80.19% said "Yes" (85 votes) 19.81% said "No" (21 votes) Total Votes: 106 |
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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