Do you think God approves of a man, dressed in drag, "singing" a provocative song in a chapel, on the chancel, next to the altar? Well, that is exactly what happened recently at an ELCA seminary chapel, a school charged with raising up pastors who will be shepherds to ELCA members. The school is Luther Seminary, a seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) located in St. Paul, MN.
Luther Seminary is the largest pastor-producing seminary in the ELCA.
Below is Anders Nelson, the seminary student who was allowed to give this drag performance, who will soon be ordained in the ELCA, and his Facebook posts about the event.
Why is this allowed? It is because the ELCA has turned its back on God's Word. They walk in opposition to it. The liberal elites in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America have taken over the synods, churchwide offices in Chicago, colleges and seminaries. They are producing clones of themselves: people who think, act, speak, and believe as they do. This is a problem. And when it happens in seminaries, the problem is exacerbated. Students become pastors who disseminate throughout the United States to lead and preach to congregations, passing on to them what they were taught. This is a past, present and future problem, and it is getting worse every year.
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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.)
Heidi Neumark is pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church of Manhattan, a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. A few years ago she preached a sermon “The Queering of Christ the King” on Christ the King Sunday. Here are some excerpts from one of the most bizarre and unbiblical sermons I have read: …People who have no trouble viewing an image of Christ on the cross wearing a crown can become very upset at an image of Christ covered in the lesions of Kaposi’s sarcoma or Christ as a woman on a cross, sometimes called Christa. I would say that such images are faithful, visual representations of today’s gospel where Christ the king says, “what do you mean you didn’t see me? I was hungry, I was sick…” In picturing God, the church has, for the most part, taken the image of king and discarded the rest. Making God over in our worldly image of power, God as a white man in a crown on a throne.….when I said last year that…perhaps we should celebrate Christ the Queen Sunday instead of Christ the King Sunday, I got some pushback. One person suggested it was not Biblical. Where does the Bible suggest that Jesus was a Drag Queen? Point taken. But stay with me for a minute. I realize that the whole Drag Queen culture is offensive to many feminists because men dress up as an exaggeration of an oppressive idea of what a woman should be… a woman with big boobs, in a tight sparkly dress and 7 inch heels…Drag artists work hard to shake it up. To do gender-bending things. And so did Jesus. Jesus himself often said and did shocking things on purpose because people needed to be shaken out of stereotypes…King? Queen? What gender is the body of Christ? What gender is the church? None. And all. It doesn’t matter. Queer theology and our baptismal theology have a lot in common. Queer theology moves beyond the imposition of restrictive labels—gay, straight, intersex, androgynous, L G B T and so does Jesus. Jesus was about building a different community… (see here) Please say a prayer for Pastor Heidi and her church. To say that Jesus as the woman “Christa” on the cross is a faithful image and to compare what Jesus did to what drag queens do is unfaithful, unbiblical and tragic. Much of this started back in the 1993 when 2200 feminists from around the world held the “Reimagining God” Conference in Minneapolis. The Conference insisted that we need to move beyond traditional “God the Father” language and imagine new images for God, like the goddess Sophia. The above sermon is what happens when people refuse to submit to the Scriptural language for God and feel free to invent their own images. Christians, may we ever worship the one true God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In Christ our King, Pastor Tom Brock pastorsstudy.org By Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. Facebook users can follow Rev. Brock by going here or twitter users here.
Today (3/14/2014) I visited Wartburg College in Waverly Iowa, an official college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. A poster was up advertising the college’s Lenten services. On the poster was a picture of Jesus taking a “selfie” photo. Another picture showed Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a dinosaur. The caption read “Hey, my name is Jesus. My interests are messing with Pharisees,... riding dinosaurs, hanging out in the Wartburg Chapel during Lent…” Also on campus were a number of posters advertising Gayla Week and Wartburg’s upcoming Drag Show on March 22nd. The show is promoted on the official Wartburg College website (wartburg.edu) as follows: “Have you ever seen a guy do a back flip in stiletto heels? Now you will. Wartburg’s annual cabaret/drag show has become a phenomenon…About 700 people attended the performance in 2010. The show brings in professional drag queens and kings from around the state of Iowa… Wartburg is an inclusive community…The (drag show) is meant to educate the campus in a fun way about the history of drag and its importance in the LGBT culture…The Wartburg cabaret/drag show honors how the gay rights movement in the United States first began… The website makes clear that Wartburg College is supportive of students’ sexual orientations and gender expressions. According to the student newspaper, last year’s drag show brought in over $1600. Lastly, I stepped into Wartburg’s “Reflection Room” which “provides a quiet place for reflection, prayer or meditation…please respect the diverse traditions that are presented in this space. Enter to listen, learn and receive”. In the room was a table presenting a Bible, a Koran, a Buddha statue, a Dali Lama book and a Mwimbieni Bwana book. I couldn’t help but get the not-so-subtle message that all religions are okay. Nowhere did I see any indication of the Bible’s teaching that Jesus is the only way of salvation (John 14:6, Acts 4:12). Wartburg College was founded in 1875 by George Grossman, who was sent by a Lutheran pastor to establish a teacher training school for German immigrants. The college is named after Wartburg Castle in Germany whereMartin Luther translated the Bible into German. If the founders of Wartburg could see what has become of their college, I believe they would weep. 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 |
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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