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Nativity Lutheran Church in Reading, Pennsylvania hosts or rents space to the LGBT Center of Greater Reading. A recent article reports that the LGBT Center's new programming and services include: - "Partnership with Planned Parenthood to provide broadband access for Telehealth services." - "Free Professional Counseling for the LGBTQIA+ community." - "Support Group for Parents/Guardians of LGBTQIA+ Youth." Nativity Lutheran Church is a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). (See article 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.) I turned on the TV this afternoon to see a worship service from an Evangelical Lutheran Church in America congregation, Saint Andrew’s Lutheran Church of Mahtomedi, Minnesota. Years ago, this congregation was known for being more biblical and evangelical and even helped start a reform movement within Lutheranism. I don’t know much about the church today except for the sermon I just watched by Stephanie Anderson-Telschow, a deacon at St Andrew’s. She preached about Jesus’ encounter with the Syrophoenician woman (Matthew 15:21-28) in which He tells her that He was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel and “it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs”. It is a bit of a difficult text but many scholars believe Jesus was testing the woman’s faith, she passed the test, and her daughter was healed. But today’s preacher said “Jesus’ response is so ugly that we barely recognize him...Was Jesus wrong? Did he make a mistake? I don’t know about that...”. I do. Jesus did not make a mistake. He is fully God and fully man and his teaching is 100% accurate. He never sinned against this woman or anyone else. He sometimes said things that are difficult for us to understand, but, as the Bible teaches, Jesus was sinless (Hebrews 4:15, 2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 Peter 2:22). I hope you are a member of a good, biblical congregation which joyfully acknowledges the rightness of Jesus’ teaching. In Him, Pastor Tom Brock  The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is a dying, pro-abortion, pro-gay, pro-transgender, anti-Israel, sanctuary denomination, that teaches universalism (all people go to heaven), that often refers to God as "she" and refrains from using male words for Him, dismisses many Biblical accounts, does not evangelize but advocates for the most liberal social causes. Mike Housholder is an ELCA pastor at the ELCA's largest church, Lutheran Church of Hope (West Des Moines, Iowa). Rev. Housholder and Lutheran Church of Hope embrace their affiliation with the ELCA. They even hosted their ELCA synod's assembly 2 months ago. I have not come across one public statement by Pastor Housholder or his mega church, in the last 10 years where he speaks a word of correction, pleads with or calls for repentance of the ELCA for its wickedness. That should tell you a lot. Earlier this year, in a sermon, Pastor Mike Housholder lifted up an ELCA leader, who was instrumental in bringing approval of same-sex marriage to the ELCA, yet spoke condemnation of people Housholder labeled as "self-righteous fundamentalist(s)." Cambridge Dictionary defines "fundamentalist" as "someone who believes in traditional forms of a religion, or believes that what is written in a holy book, such as the Christian Bible, is completely true."  Just before addressing the "fundamentalist(s)", Housholder shared a very peculiar story in his sermon, where he relayed an account of his observing an atheist's warmhearted comments in reaction to seeing the musical "Jesus Christ Superstar." Then bizarrely, Rev. Housholder puts on a grotesque face and mockingly shares how a Christian may "badly" witness to the said atheist (see video below at the 13:30 minute mark). I believe this is an interesting precursor to what followed next, with Pastor Mike Housholder's comments about fundamentalists. As the sermon continues, the mega church pastor references the death of former Presiding Bishop Herbert Chilstrom of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and how Pastor Housholder did not like some people's reaction to the news to Chilstrom's death, whom Rev. Housholder disdainfully labels fundamentalists. He says: "This last week a bishop in the Lutheran Church died. He was the Presiding Bishop of the ELCA, back in the day. I was directed to a Facebook page, and on that Facebook page, which is operated by some real strong self-righteous fundamentalist-type Christians, they posted that this bishop died, and they didn't like him because he didn't share their theology, he wasn't a fundamentalist. He didn't fit in with the very narrow, precise self-righteous boundaries they have. And they said he died, and then I looked at all the comments underneath it; there were about 15 comments, and they were like, 'Good, I hope he likes hell,' 'I hope he likes burning there,' 'That will suit him right.' I thought, no wonder, no wonder Christians are so bad at sharing the light and the love and the good news, the good news of Jesus Christ. Because we approach it with the wrong heart and the wrong passion. And we look at people who maybe disagree with us, this is not an atheist, this is a believing Christian bishop who just didn't agree theologically with these folks. But they took some solace in self-righteously proclaiming that they believe he is in hell now. Because he didn't believe exactly the way they believed with their narrow definition of theology" (See here or below at the 14:30 minute mark). Rev. Housholder then says "Jesus had problems with people like that too. They were the Pharisees and the Scribes in his day." There are many problems with Rev. Housholder's statements. Chief among them is that he did not disclose, but minimized the Presiding Bishop Chilstrom's "theology." The Minneapolis Star Tribune describes some of Chilstrom's theology this way, “From early in his tenure as presiding bishop, Chilstrom worked to bridge gaps and build relationships with other denominations and faiths. He became a powerful advocate for the full participation of gay and lesbian members and pastors in the church, and fought against a proposed ban on same-sex marriage in Minnesota.” ("With gentle wisdom, he led the ELCA into the modern era," Feb. 7 print edition of the Minneapolis Star Tribune.) So Presiding Bishop Chilstrom encouraged same-gender relations. Something God lovingly warns us to not do nor encourage. Think of all the harm Bishop Chilstrom caused to people who have same-sex attraction, and to those who have had to compromise their belief in God's Word by trusting this ELCA leader. But Rev. Mike Housholder describes it as "he didn't believe exactly the way they believed with their narrow definition of theology." The ELCA is making its own rules, like the Pharisees did. Rules that are not Biblical but in fact are in opposition to God's directives. Lutheran Church of Hope is an ELCA church. Rev. Housholder is an ELCA pastor. Saying that others are Pharisees in the light of his own denomination is projection. People who sit in Lutheran Church of Hope should be gravely concerned over this and the church's support of the ELCA, whose theology is so often in complete opposition to God's Word. Why would people who believe Scripture attend and support any ELCA church? A “fundamentalist friend" responded to Rev. Housholder's comments/sermon saying, There are two issues Housholder brings up: one about which he is rightly indignant and the other one he glosses over, never fully explaining what the issue is except to condemn “fundamentalists” who take issue with Chilstrom. First issue: Housholder's right to condemn those who confidently declare that Chilstrom is in hell (none of us knows that) and gloat over it if he is. No right-minded Christian would hope for or rejoice over eternal damnation, especially for someone who professes to be a Christian. Second issue: Here’s where Housholder glosses over the real problem: “They (fundamentalists) didn't like him [Chilstrom]. He didn’t fit in with their really narrow self-righteous boundaries. Chilstrom wasn't an atheist. He was a believing Christian bishop who just didn’t agree theologically with these [“fundamentalist”] folks.” Here are Housholder's implications: Chilstrom was a “believing Christian bishop" and a presiding bishop, no less, so we’re given to understand that there’s nothing fundamentally — or dangerously -- unbiblical about his beliefs. And if he did make theological pronouncements that others disagreed with, it’s their fault for being “narrow and self-righteous” and not extending a “live and let live” genial tolerance toward any and all of Chilstrom's beliefs, which Housholder never identifies. Chilstrom could well have been saved, and I’ve heard nothing about his rejecting, e.g., Jesus’ divinity or other foundational Christian tenets. Here’s what Chilstrom did, though, that Housholder never identifies: [The author of this letter then quotes a letter of David Barnhart] “You, Bishop Chilstrom, and the ELCA leadership were responsible for relentlessly driving this [homosexuality-endorsing] agenda in the ELCA over the past 22 years. It was you and liberal ELCA leaders who initiated studies, costing millions of benevolence dollars, in order to reeducate ELCA members that homosexuality should be fully accepted by the church, in total contradiction to the teachings of Scripture. Because the Bible clearly identifies homosexuality as sin and an abomination before God (Leviticus 18:22, Romans 1:26-28, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8, Jude 1:7), ELCA leaders gathered theologians and teachers to write books, papers, and articles that would ‘prove’ numerous biblical passages that identify homosexual acts as sin do not really mean what the text declares.” [https://davidbarnhart.blogspot.com/2011/03/bishop-herbert-chilstroms-letter-to.html ] So even assuming Chilstrom was a believing Christian bishop, did he in fact spearhead a movement in the ELCA to recategorize and denominationally endorse (at the Convention of ’09) Bible-proscribed sexual sin that the Apostle Paul unequivocally states will eternally damn the unrepentant participant in that sin? If Chilstrom did, then he’s pointing ELCA parishioners toward damnation, not salvation. And the Apostle Paul, who denounced homosexual acts as death-dealing sin, is also a “narrow-minded fundamentalist” for disagreeing with Chilstrom. Here’s what confessional Christian “fundamentalists” say to homosexuals: [again quoting Barnhart’s letter] “To all homosexuals, we say — We love you enough to tell you there is a Savior who is able to redeem, forgive and totally transform your life, if you turn to Him in faith and repentance. Don’t listen to those who tell you that you can’t change or be changed. Come to the Savior and be made whole." And here’s the hope that the Apostle Paul extends to repentant homosexuals: “And such *were* some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” Is anyone in the post-Chilstrom ELCA preaching Jesus’ lifesaving power to transform ALL sinners who obey His command to “Repent and believe the gospel"? Is anyone in the ELCA fearlessly standing against “..a ‘cheap love’ [that] allows us to let others slide deeper into sin, self-confident that we’ve loved them by never pushing-back for their good”? https://breakpoint.org/what-is-love/  Sermon from January 26, 2020
Lenny Duncan is a highly controversial pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. It should surprise no one that he and his radical message have been embrace by the denomination's leadership and pastors, who are paid by conservative, Bible-believing membership.
A recent article talks about Rev. Duncan and his former church, Jehu's Table, saying, "At Jehu’s Table church in Brooklyn, New York, Duncan proclaims his gratitude during Communion for African American role models ranging from transgender activist Marsha P. Johnson to Nation of Islam leader Malcolm X to civil rights minister Martin Luther King Jr." (See here)
Below you can read what Pastor Duncan is about and what he is saying. You will also see that the ELCA has embraced Rev. Lenny Duncan all the way up to the highest of ELCA leaders.
- The official ELCA magazine published an article written by Rev. Duncan where he says,
"I believe that the call of the church in the 21st century is to dismantle white supremacy; that the way of the cross for the entire church is to lay down our lives, resources, buildings and endowments to this cause. That our entire future as a church and as a credible, viable Lutheran witness in the 21st century and beyond is balanced on this alone." And, "Our church is the place to have hard and loving conversations that call us to repentance and reparations..." (See Living Lutheran article here) Rev. Duncan then says implementing his vision for the ELCA will bring about church vitality, that sanctuaries will swell.
- “You can't have reconciliation without repentance. Until the ELCA recognizes the way that it's treated persons of color, specifically black folks, and until they realize their style of church is inherently racist and repent from that, until they talk about reparations to the children of pastors who were never paid full salaries, then I don't think there can be reconciliation.” - Lenny Duncan (See here)
- As a form of reparations, Rev. Duncan also advocates for, "..all straight white males in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America to remove their names from ballots for bishop." (See here) 
- Fortress Press, Rev. Lenny Duncan's publisher, describes Rev. Duncan's book saying, "It is time for the church to rise up, dust itself off, and take on forces of this world that act against God: whiteness, misogyny, nationalism, homophobia, and economic injustice. Duncan gives a blueprint for the way forward and urges us to follow in the revolutionary path of Jesus." (See here)
(See above article http://www.outsmartmagazine.com/2019/07/queer-lutheran-preacher-calls-on-church-to-end-white-supremacy/
- At this time Lenny Duncan was the pastor at Jehu's Table:
- From ELCA Bishop Patricia Davenport, of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod.
- Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton appeared in a film made by Lenny Duncan. 
- Kristen Kuempel, ELCA bishop of the Eastern Washington-Idaho Synod is promoting Rev. Lenny Duncan and says about his book "I know several of our church leaders are reading" it.
- Rev. Duncan now has a new job as the Mission Developer Pastor an ELCA church, Messiah Lutheran Church and Preschool in Vancouver, Washington. Currently, Rev. Duncan is writing blogs calling for the ELCA to pay reparations. (See the first of four, so far, here) Pastor Duncan is throwing ELCA higher ups under the bus and making things difficult for the ELCA with his anger, race baiting and demands. This should be no surprise to those who know history.
A few Evangelical Lutheran Church in America leaders are on or were on the board of advisors of World Population Balance, an organization focused on overpopulation and pedaling the idea that families should chose to only have one child.
Lowell Erdahl, retired Bishop of St. Paul Area Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, is currently on the board of advisors, while ELCA college professor Greg Krueger, Augsburg College, formally was on the organization's board of advisors. (See here) World Population Balance's Mission statement is: "We alert and educate that overpopulation is the root cause of resource depletion, species extinction, poverty, and climate change. Our mission is to chart a path for human civilization that – rather than causing greater misery – enables good lives on a healthy planet. We advocate and support a smaller, truly sustainable human population – through dramatic and voluntary reduction in birth rates." (See here) See Ken Ham's Facebook post below about World Population Balance's "One Planet One Child" promotional campaign. In a related note, ELCA has a long history and record of supporting abortion. See here. 
This is what the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has become. It does not resemble Christianity. It does not resemble Christ. The people and churches that continue to support this denomination and continue to be in the ELCA have some answering to do. The ELCA is leading people into sin. They stand for their own beliefs, not for God's instructions.
Choose this day whom you will serve. You can not serve God and the ELCA. https://www.womenoftheelca.org/blog/post/can-i-ever-share-the-truth-about-myself 
(The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and Twitter - here.) Nicole Garcia was born a man, married a woman, and then divorced. After that time he went to a transgender conference and discovered “I’d always been a woman. The weight lifted from my shoulders and, for the first time in my life, I felt at peace. I claimed myself as Nicole.” “She” then joined a congregation of the liberal Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and “fell in love with Lutheran theology...Now, as an ELCA pastor, I proclaim the gospel of love and inclusion of my savior, Jesus Christ. The ELCA has embraced me.” This article appeared in the official magazine of the ELCA in its September 2020 edition. Today one can be a practicing homosexual pastor and also a practicing transgender pastor and lead a congregation of the ELCA. And the ELCA continues to shrink in members and donations. As I have said before, ELCA really stands for “Extremely Liberal Church in America” or “Everything Luther Cautioned Against” or “Every Lutheran Confession Abandoned.” In Jesus our Savior, Pastor Tom Brock -- (See Living Lutheran article here) 
ELCA Bishop Michael Rinehart is a social justice warrior and loves the internet. He is the bishop of the ELCA's Gulf Coast Synod.
Let's learn more about Bishop Rinehart by checking out some of his social media posts. As you can see, he loves marching for his favorite liberal social justice causes. 
And here is Bishop Rinehart with controversial ELCA pastor Lenny Duncan: 10 days ago I attempted to post an article on Facebook from my website ExposingtheELCA.com. It is something I've been doing for over 10 years. But this time I received the following message:  Now, any link from ExposingtheELCA.com can not be posted or shared on Facebook. The statement Facebook displayed says that "other people on Facebook" have reported the content of my website as "abusive." This, of course, is not true. One can disagree on issues, behavior, actions, etc. and not hate someone. Nothing on my website is "abusive." This is an attack by those that do not like the ministry of Exposing the ELCA. So as of now, and likely forever, Facebook is preventing anyone from sharing any story or any link that comes from ExposingtheELCA.com. It is sad to see Biblical principals being censored and banned by American companies. (The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and Twitter - here.) Perhaps you heard the story of the 2009 Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America at which a tornado struck the Assembly as they voted to ordain practicing homosexuals (by 66.6 percent). Many saw it as a sign of God's displeasure on the ELCA. Across the street from the Minneapolis Convention Center is the historic Central Lutheran Church which hosted the gay lobby back in 2009. Beer tents were set up on the lawn of Central Lutheran to serve convention-goers and the tornado not only tore up the beer tents but also tore down the large iron cross from the steeple of Central Lutheran. The cross hung upside down for months while it was being repaired. Fast forward to today. Below at minute 8:38 and again at minute 21:16 you will hear one of Central Lutheran's pastors teach that Jesus made mistakes and had to "come to His senses". The pastor even says that Jesus "repents and apologizes" (minute 22:52). She repeats (minute 24:38) that "Jesus sees what He has done is wrong, says He is sorry". She says Jesus "screwed up" (minute 28:51). None of that, of course, is in Matthew 15:21-28. Commentators believe Jesus was challenging the syrophoenician woman to press on in her faith, not sinning against her. The rest of the sermon mentions eunuchs and sexual minorities (Central is very pro-LGBT). The tragedy of Central Lutheran's teaching is that it gets rid of the atonement. Christ was sinless, therefore He could pay for the sins of others. But if Jesus sinned, He would have had to pay for His own sins and could not pay for ours. But, sadly, some liberal Protestants no longer believe in Christ's substitutionary atonement. They believe for God the Father to punish His Son for our sins would amount to "divine child abuse." In their view, substitutionary atonement never needed to take place to begin with because God is a God of love, not of wrath. So Jesus didn't need to be sinless. But the Bible teaches Jesus was sinless (Hebrews 4:15, 2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 Peter 2:22). The Bible teaches that Jesus saves us from the wrath of God (Romans 5:9, I Thessalonians 1:10) and that He made atonement for our sins. In fact, the Apostle Paul teaches that one must believe that Christ died for our sins in order to be saved, since it is a matter of "first importance" (I Corinthians 15:1-4). What a tragic day in which we live when clergy deny Christ's sinlessness and His atoning sacrifice. May the Lord save His Church from such "pastors." In Jesus our Savior, Pastor Tom Brock PS I can't help but think of the hymn Luther wrote in 1542: "Lord, keep us steadfast in your Word; curb those who by deceit or sword would wrest the kingdom from your Son and bring to naught all he has done.  (The following article was written last year by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and Twitter - here.) In 2009, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America voted to ordain practicing homosexuals, thus violating Scripture and causing the largest church split in American history. Countless people have left this denomination, along with their offerings, and the denomination continues to decline.
God Himself and His Word are opposed to what the ELCA is doing. The ELCA churchwide assembly even voted down a delegate-by 97%- who tried to affirm that Jesus is the only way of salvation (John 14:6).
“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked, for whatever a man shows that also he shall reap” (Galatians 6:7). In Jesus our Savior, Pastor Tom Brock https://www.livinglutheran.org/2019/08/perspective-scraped-floors-open-doors/ 
Kristen Kuempel is the Bishop of the Northwest Intermountain Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. In a Twitter exposition Bishop Kuempel explains what the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is about, saying, "There is a church in America working to address poverty, racism, systemic racism, reproductive health, full-inclusion of LGBTQIA+, hunger, & more."
In subsequent tweets Bishop Kuempel uses the F word and mentions Franklin Graham saying "I rebuke him." It is truly scary to see what kind of people the ELCA is elevating into highest echelon of leadership. (read more about ELCA Bishop Kristen Kuempel here) 
(The following article is from Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and Twitter - here.)
Watch the video below to see where offering dollars go in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The video claims that ELCA advocacy does not push a political agenda, while pushing the LGBTQAI+ agenda to the hilt. You may go to ELCA.org and view their press releases of liberal causes. As I said in an earlier post, the ELCA does not lean to the left, it falls over to the left. But, they say, they don't have a political agenda. In Jesus our Savior, Pastor Tom Brock (See video here or below) 
Gay Pride month happens every June. It is a time when you see people, businesses and organizations make statements and social media posts showing their support. Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service was one organization which was fully invested in "celebrating" Gay Pride this June. One Facebook post by the organization has a picture of a man dressed like a woman and an article honoring this "Transgender Activist & Immigrant." Another post by LIRS celebrates a "queer" undocumented artist. (See both below)
Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS) is a partner of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the ELCA financially support LIRS. It is time for Bible-believing ELCA Lutherans to stop putting up with the denomination's rebellion against God. Stop being content and silent in your comfortable, "isolated" ELCA church. The ELCA's heretical, faith-destroying beliefs are harming everyone who comes in contact with it. Leading your church and/or your family out of ELCA is the God-honoring action Bible-believing Christians should take. 
(The following article is from Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and Twitter - here.) He is risen! (Yes, I said “He”). Pilgrim Lutheran Church in Saint Paul, Minnesota is a congregation of the liberal Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. This past summer the ELCA in convention voted to use more expansive language for God. This means, among other things, the ELCA desires to include more female imagery for God (God as “Mother”, etc). But back in 2015, Pilgrim Lutheran was already doing this. See the below from their website on how strange things get when a congregation wants to abandon using exclusively “Father, Son, Holy Spirit“ language for God. In Jesus our Savior, Pastor Tom From Pilgrim Lutheran’s website: “Use language that is expansive in communicating the nature and activity of God. Consider using one or more of the following strategies: Choose non-anthropomorphic language for God (examples: Eagle, baker, hen,bread), being careful not to limit these by following them with male or female pronouns. Choose titles that suggest the activity of God but do not imply gender. (Examples: Advocate, Healer, Refuge, Sustainer, Creator) Use second person language to speak to, instead of about, God. Use similes Replace pronouns with articles (for example, “God sent His Son” could be changed to “God sent The Son”) Keep in mind that although Jesus was male, his humanity is more significant to our faith than his gender. Consider using terms like Christ, Teacher, Emmanuel, Savior, Redeemer, Word in addition to or as substitute for Lord or other exclusively male descriptors." (See 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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