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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.) Pastor Lura Groen is a pastor of the liberal Evangelical Lutheran Church in America at All Saints Lutheran Church in Bowie, Maryland. Below are two of her postings. In the first one, she claims God told her that being pro-choice on abortion is her “f—ing choice”. In her mind, not only is God in favor of the choice to abort babies but He also uses the “f” word. Her second post claims God and the angels celebrate transgenderism. This is the strange new world of the ELCA, as it abandons Scripture and follows the world. In Christ, Pastor Tom Brock From Pastor Lura Groen: “Theologically, God gave me this body, and gave me stewardship over it. GOD TOLD ME MY BODY MY FUCKING CHOICE God gave you your body to care for. God says you are the one who should make decisions about your own body. God said it’s your body, and your choice”. ”You are not alone, dear Non-binary siblings. We are surrounded by so great a cloud of Trans, GenderQueer, and non-binary witnesses, all beloved by God, with a chorus of genderless angels singing glory to our genderful God using all the non-binary pronouns that have ever existed. Can you hear them?” (here)  
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Below are a few Facebook posts from ELCA Pastor Lura Groen:    "Goodness and Mercy can be the names of God's righteous lesbian angels, mercilessly (and consensually) flirting with you your whole life. If you like that sort of thing. Ruthless and sacred pursuit from lesbian angels." A pastor in synod leadership in the ELCA, Lura Groen, wrote that on her Facebook page. (see below) Anything seems to go in the ELCA, from polyamory, to goddess worship, to sexual thoughts about angels and so much more. The ELCA, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, is a denomination that has twisted the Bible for years. Satan is the biggest perpetrator of twisting the words of God and it looks like Satan is active and in many ways controlling this denomination. 
Abortion is evil and barbaric. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America supports abortion.
The leaked draft from the United States Supreme Court indicates the law on abortion will likely change. States, the people, will get to decide. This change has upset many including ELCA pastors and leaders. Here is a small segment of what they are saying: From ELCA pastor Jennie Chrien: 
From ELCA pastor Lura Groen: ELCA pastor Emily Scott responded to the news with this Facebook post: From ELCA pastor Kwame Pitts:
ELCA pastor Clint Schnekloth writes: 
Here is what ELCA pastor Tuhina Verma Rasche is saying: 
Replying to Tuhina's tweet, Rick Barger says: 
From ELCA pastor Elle Dowd:
From Carmine A. Pernini, ELCA pastor:
— Tuhina Verma Rasche (@tvrasche) May 7, 2021
Bill Tesch is excited, as you can read in the below post about Kevin L. Strickland, an openly homosexual man (married to a man), becoming bishop of Southeastern Synod, ELCA. Calling the Holy Spirit "her." Below Rev. Bill Tesch writes about NOT being elected as bishop of the ELCA's South Dakota Synod saying "I had thought I might be called, but the Holy Spirit, in her typically messy way, has revealed that I am not." What about false religions? Politics? Check out the following by the ELCA bishop:
"Being Gay Is Not A Sin. Period", according to multiple social media posts by St. Paul's Church in Rye Brook, New York, an ELCA congregation (see below). This is a message that the ELCA churchwide continually sends in all they do to lift up LBGT lifestyles in their words, actions and publications. Of course, the ELCA's 2009 decisions communicated this too, when they approved of gay weddings and practicing homosexual clergy in the denomination.
The truth is, homosexual lust and sexual relations is a sin. God says this in His Word. Below are some St. Paul's Church social media posts, beginning with the post saying "Being Gay Is Not A Sin. Period.":
You can also see the above post here.
The second post is a tweeted video of ELCA pastor Jason Chesnut giving the middle figure (x2) to you. This is a pastor ordained by the ELCA who is paid by offering dollars, money intended for God and His Work.
And for good measure.
Those who are "of the world" have taken over the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. This happened decades ago, but "the world" is showing itself in the ELCA in increasing fashion each year since. Those "of the world" are changing and twisting God's Word, un-sinning and celebrating sin, pushing their evil, hate and reprobate mind (see Romans 1:28).
We see the "world" in the reaction of many ELCA leaders to Judge Brett Kavanaugh's nomination and confirmation to the United States Supreme Court. (See a previous blog on this topic here.) Below are disturbing comments and reactions from ELCA leaders about the Kavanaugh confirmation and nomination. -- ELCA pastor Clint Schnekloth shared ELCA seminary student Elle Dowd's social media post that encourages readers to be "radicalized," "rage-filled," "plug(ed) into leftist organization movements," and to "become ungovernable." 
Elle Doud also tweeted:
-- ELCA Pastor and ELCA Youth Gathering keynote speaker Tuhina Verma Rasche decided to pen "A Rewriting of Psalm 10." In it she says (language warning) "Wake the fuck up, God!" and speaks of "mediocre white men." Pastor Rasche's rewritten Psalm includes photographs of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Anita Hill. (See here and a segment of the rewrite below). 
And then there is this from Pastor Rasche,
-- ELCA Pastor Joelle Colville-Hanson is the Director for Evangelical Mission at the Northeastern Iowa Synod. (read more about her here) Seems she has hopped on the racist liberal mantra that white men are bad. See the tweet below.
-- ELCA pastor Lura Groen, (read all that I have written about her here), responded to the Kavanaugh confirmation by saying it is okay to scream, rage and throw rocks. She ends her tweet by calling God "she."
-- ELCA pastor Joy Gonnerman is another church leader attacking white males saying they need to be voted out of office.
-- ELCA pastor Michael Tassler attacks conservatives in his tweet saying conservatives "fully and completely affirm, support and encourage sexual assault as the given right of males."
-- ELCA pastor Emmy Kegler calls Judge Kavanaugh an "abuser" and says Republicans do not care whether the abuse really happened.
-- Then there is superstar ELCA pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber tweeting how she is terrified, furious and "rage-y."
(The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and Twitter - here.) Here is our recent show about heresies in the Church, including info about the upcoming ELCA Lutheran Teen Gathering and its radical speakers If you or someone you know is part of the United Church of Christ, Episcopal Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Presbyterian Church USA, United Methodist Church, Catholic Church, or Disciples of Christ, you may want to watch this. Especially if you know someone who is going to the ELCA Lutheran Teen Assembly coming up on June 27th, have them watch this dealing with the radical speakers they are bringing in to speak to 30,000 Lutheran teens. In Christ, Pastor Tom Brock ELCA Pastor/A Former Leader In Lutheran CORE Shares Her Support of Abortion and Gay Marriage6/4/2018  A few weeks ago, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania’s NPR news station posted an article entitled, “The Politics And Ethics Of Pennsylvania's Proposed Down Syndrome Abortion Ban.” The article’s reporters spoke to several people about the abortion ban. One of those interviewed was Evangelical Lutheran Church in America pastor Natalie (Gessert) Hall: “Hall said she doesn’t know if she would be capable of raising a child with Down syndrome, which she said is why she might have considered terminating such a pregnancy. ‘I’m not convinced that I would have the care and support I would need to embark on caring for a child with Down syndrome,’ she said. ‘Or a child with any other significant developmental or physical difficulties.’ ...Hall said she’s counseled women who have struggled over whether to have abortions. Ultimately, she said it’s a personal choice that’s made more difficult by a society that’s not very accepting or supportive of people with disabilities.” (see here) And thus we have another public statement by an ELCA clergy person who is supportive of a woman aborting the baby who is growing and developing in her womb. This is a common position for ELCA leadership and is reason alone for pro-life people to leave the denomination. But there is more to this blog than Pastor Hall's public statement about abortion. See, I am familiar with her. She “follows” me on Facebook. Rev. Natalie Hall, formally Natalie Gessert, was a part of Lutheran CORE for a time (I am assuming that is no longer the case). In fact, she held a leadership position with Lutheran CORE. Lutheran CORE is a "Network for confessing Lutherans...(and an) advocate for Biblical authority and confessional fidelity among churches of the Lutheran community..." (see here)  A Lutheran CORE publication said: “Pr. Chavez recognized and thanked the Lutheran CORE staff, all but two of whom are part-time…Facebook Moderator Natalie Gessert." (Page 2 of http://www.lutherancore.org/archive/pdf/Connection-Aug-Sep-11.pdf) She was also involved in this project: “The 2010 Sola/ReClaim Edition* is a faithful word-for-word translation from Luther’s German Catechism.” “By the cooperative effort of Sola Publishing and ReClaim Resources this edition of the Small Catechism was produced in 2010 translators/authors representing Lutheran Core, WordAlone, LCMC, and NALC. The primary translator of the 2010 edition is Rev. Scott Grorud, with Rev. Thomas Jacobson, Rev. Natalie Gessert, and Dr. Gracia Grindal as translational consultants.” (see here)  So what happened to Pastor Natalie (Gessert) Hall? Why is this former leader in Lutheran CORE speaking out for abortion rights. Why is she posting on Facebook her support for homosexual marriage and rights? (see screenshots from her page posted on this blog). I do not know the answer, but I do know it is dangerous to place yourself in toxic cultures and environments. That is what you are doing by staying in the ELCA. It is dangerous and can bring about the compromising of your faith and Scripture. Sometimes when you are around someone long enough you succumb to their beliefs. This is one reason I encourage people to leave the ELCA, pastors and members alike. Below are additional interesting Facebook posts by Rev. Hall.    A recent article titled, “Can I Get An Abortion If I'm Religious?” features a number of religious figures in the United States who share their thoughts with the author, and two are pastors in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).  ELCA Pastor Paul Eldred, who is "married" to a man, answered, "In my reading, the Gospel of Luke tells us that Mary consented to becoming the mother of Jesus (Luke 1:38)…If God Gave Mary that option, why wouldn't we think that all women should have the choice to become a mother or not?" Following that mind-blowingly ludicrous response  from the ELCA pastor, the author of the article continued, “For Eldred, the creation story in Genesis 1 reveals another biblical argument for access to comprehensive reproductive health care, abortion included. ‘We are told that God created humanity in God's own image,’ he says. ‘We believe this makes every human body holy and that every body bears divine image — this certainly includes the full expression of women's bodies, including trans, non-binary, etc. No one should be able to make choices about someone else's holy and divine body without their consent. God wants our bodies to be healthy, and that means that our choices on healthcare should be our own and are between us, our doctor, and our God.’" Does everyone see the absurdity of that statement? What about the unborn baby’s body, Rev. Eldred? It is okay to destroy their “holy” body? I thought you said “No one should be able to make choices about someone else's holy and divine body…”  The second ELCA leader interviewed was Pastor Anna Ernst from Elmhurst, Illinois. She is quoted saying, "I am concerned for the rights of all women. We cannot go back to clothes hangers and knitting needles. That is not life-giving, and I believe that is not what God wants," (see article here). God does not want babies to be killed. This article gives us an example of the depravity of ELCA leadership and how far the denomination has gone since its founding. To learn more about the ELCA and its leadership's position on abortion see here and here (scroll down). A year and a half ago ELCA pastors Matthew Pensinger and Brian Beissel took part in a conversation that was hosted by the Lehigh Valley Humanists (PA). It was called "Humanist/Lutheran Dialogue," and they posted the video on YouTube.  What follows is an intriguing view into the mind-set, thoughts, understandings and beliefs of two ELCA pastors. Their words are quite disturbing in what they believe but also in what they reveal about the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America itself. Discussing the interpretation of Scripture, Interviewer Jason Brocious asks, “What would it take to push things too far and get in trouble (with the ELCA)?” ELCA Rev. Brian Beissel said, “I think to say you don't believe in Jesus or the divinity of Jesus. I think that would probably be the breaking point I think.” ELCA Rev. Matthew Pensinger: “Maybe.” ELCA Rev. Brian Beissel: “Maybe. I don’t know.” ELCA Rev. Matthew Pensinger: “It depends on, you know, who complains about it and who they complain about it to.” (see video below, at around the 15 minute mark) The ELCA pastors continued, next sharing their thoughts on the authority of Scripture. ELCA Rev. Brian Beissel stated, “Let me say something about the authority of Scripture…in the Lutheran tradition, Martin Luther himself, well first of all when he put together his own Bible, the Luther Bible, he put the books of Revelation and Hebrews at the end of Bible and didn't number them, which tells you what he thought of those specific books, you know. Also he said, I believe this is a Luther quote, that Scripture is like the cradle or where the baby Jesus is placed. Meaning, does scripture reveal to us something about the essence of Christ? Yes. But does that mean everything in Scripture is, you know, is all of it inspired? Well yes, but I'm inspired by God too but and when I'm inspired by God I don't always do great things, you know, I mess up…” ELCA Rev. Matthew Pensinger: “Some of it (Scripture) is a box covered with animal dung, is what is the point of that quote.” ELCA Rev. Brian Beissel: “Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes” So the ELCA teaches that God's Word is just a dirty, disgusting, smelly vessel that talks about Jesus? It is no wonder the ELCA rejects, twists and ignores many Biblical accounts and instruction. Later in the video the interviewer mentioned a tragic situation and asked the pastors, “how do you look at prayer and how that fits into, can it help these situations and in what way can it?” ELCA Rev. Brian Beissel replied, “I'm going to say something that if my congregants watch this on YouTube, sorry. Prayer without action is meaningless. I'm sorry, I'm sorry but it is. When you pray for something and ‘oh I’m a good person because I prayed for this’ and you don't put it in action it's just words.” ELCA Rev. Matthew Pensinger: “…to me prayer is about centering oneself. It's about clearing, you know, the clutter from the mind and from the spirit. It's about prioritizing or re-prioritizing you know the things and so.” What a warped view of prayer. One says prayer is meaningless without human action? The other says it is for one's self. They both went on and said their god is not a wish-granting fairy or genie. It sounded as if they do not believe in a God who answers prayers, performs miracles or takes part in believers' lives. This is the kind of pastor the ELCA has trained and ordained. They are in a place of authority. They are influencing the faith of their congregations. If you are sitting under the teaching of an ELCA pastor, I highly recommend leaving. It is great to see at least one ELCA pastor publicly criticizing ELCA leadership.
“The Revd Paul Messner, a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, who serves at the Otsego County Lutheran parish, in rural Upstate New York, voted for Mr Trump as 'the lesser of two evils'. He says that opposition to the administration by his own denomination and other mainline Protestant ones is 'frankly irrelevant: they are "bleeding" members. Many in the Church on the Left relish their self-indulgent "prophetic’ role,"' he argues, 'and forget their pastoral role toward all in their congregations and communities.'” (see here) Rev. Messner is correct that the ELCA is "bleeding" members. “The ELCA saw its membership decline to 3.5 million members in 2016, down from 5.2 million in 1988 when the denomination was formed as a merger of three other smaller Lutheran groups. Today, 40 percent of its churches have between 50 and 100 worshippers each Sunday.” (see here) The ELCA is a dying denomination. Any conservative, Bible-believing members still in the ELCA need to stop funding this liberal, radical, Bible-twisting and faith-destroying denomination and leave it for a God-honoring, truth preaching, Bibilical church. (The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and Twitter - here.)
April/May 2018 The Pastor’s Study Newsletter Dear Friends of The Pastor’s Study, Does God ever give up on a person? I think, since He saved the thief on the cross, we can say that God is willing to save people right up to their last moment. But the Bible also teaches that God does “give people over”. Romans 1:24, 26, and 28 says three times that God gives people over to “impurity, degrading passions, and a depraved mind”. This God does only after they have rejected Him for themselves. Perhaps you know people who have so rejected God that they have become lost in bizarre thinking and behavior. Does God ever “give over” a denomination? I have a sad example to share. The liberal branch of Lutheranism is called the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (other Lutheran denominations like the Missouri Synod are much more Biblical). Back in 2009 the ELCA decided to violate Scripture and ordain practicing homosexual pastors. Things have gotten stranger and stranger ever since. Recently a Chicago newspaper asked head ELCA bishop Elizabeth Eaton if Hell exists. Her reply “It may exist, but I think it is empty.” In its most recent edition, the ELCA’s national magazine has a whole article promoting the acceptance of transgenderism and the ELCA now has transgender pastors. The ELCA continues to pay for abortion for any reason in its healthcare plan, which is funded by offering dollars. The ELCA is a tragic example of God giving a denomination which has rejected Him over to a depraved mind (Romans 1:28). And sadly, the same is true for the United Church of Christ, Episcopal Church in America, and the Presbyterian Church USA. Many years ago these were good, Christian denominations, but step by step they have rejected the authority of Scripture and have entered the world of the bizarre. The main purpose of The Pastor’s Study is to preach salvation from sin, death and Hell through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (and, yes, Jesus did teach repeatedly that Hell exists). But a second purpose of The Pastor’s Study is to alert people to the false teachings in today’s denominations so that people will take their money, time and talents and join a more Biblical church. Just yesterday a more conservative ELCA pastor called me needing support for his Biblical views and in a gentle way I tried to encourage him to consider leading his congregation out of the ELCA into a more Biblical branch of Lutheranism. You have helped The Pastor’s Study spread the Gospel of salvation through Christ. And you have helped us alert people to false teachings in today’s Church. Because of your prayers and giving, we are reaching a wider and wider TV audience. Again I want to say a big “Thank you” for your prayers and giving! We will be honest stewards of your contributions. Have a great Spring, In Jesus our Savior, Pastor Tom Brock PS You can give online at pastorsstudy.org or by mail to: The Pastor’s Study PO 41294 Minneapolis, Mn 55441 |
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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