Claiming to celebrate women, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) featured a man who is transgender in an ELCA article for Women's History Month. (See here)
It is an incredible display of disrespect and mansplaining for a man to be highlighted for Women's History Month and then for him to explain what he believes "are the most pressing issues facing all women today?" and what actions "the ELCA could take to better support and empower women within the church and in the wider community?" This is the world we live in, where those who claim Christianity encourage sin, deny science, and reject God's creation. Where society and faux Christian denominations propagate and generate the belief that men are women, usurping the dignity and blessings of women.
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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.)
Once upon a time in 1830 Lutherans founded a university in Ohio to teach young people Christianity. It also had a seminary to train pastors. Today, if you watch the below video, both Capital University and Trinity Seminary have fully embraced gay pride. "Everyone is welcome" they say, but I wonder how welcome Martin Luther would be who called homosexuality "a perversion of the devil". The President of Capital University can be seen below marching in the gay pride parade and Trinity Seminary has officially endorsed "gay inclusion" for pastors. I don't know of one college or seminary related to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America that I can recommend. I don't know of one that has not bowed the knee to the LGBTQAI+ agenda. Sincerely in Christ, Pastor Tom Brock (The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and Twitter - here.) Lutherans believe in "Sola Scriptura", that the Bible alone is the highest authority for the Christian. Since the Holy Spirit inspired the Bible, and since the Holy Spirit and Jesus are one in the Trinity, Jesus and the Holy Spirit-inspired Bible are not going to contradict each other. But read the below in which the bishop of the Minneapolis Area Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America approvingly quotes the belief that Jesus and the Bible can contradict each other. "We Lutherans believe that the Bible truly matters. But, it doesn’t matter as much as the Word made Flesh. It doesn’t matter as much as Jesus. To quote Marcus Borg, “Jesus is the norm of the Bible. When the Bible and what we see in Jesus conflict, as they sometimes do, Jesus trumps the Bible. … In Jesus, Christians see more clearly than anywhere else the character and passion of God.” Years ago my Minneapolis bishop was Herbert Chilstrom who went on to become the first national bishop of the ELCA. He did not want anyone teaching in our Lutheran seminaries who believed in the infallibility of Scripture. Today, years later, this is the result: Lutheran bishops, pastors, and seminary professors who believe Jesus and the Bible can contradict each other. In Christ, Pastor Tom Brock (Read article from ELCA bishop here) Living Lutheran magazine: Bemoaning the Transfiguration's "White Jesus" and celebrating queerness3/13/2023 (The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and Twitter - here.) In the January/February 2023 edition of Living Lutheran, the official magazine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, is an article on the Transfiguration of Christ. The author, an ELCA pastor, writes "... I am convinced the transfiguration story is where we get white Jesus (Matthew 17:1-8)… a signal for later audiences of this Gospel to see Jesus transfiguring into whiteness. Over time, that whiteness prevailed for some beyond all logic and reason, but I guess that's how racism works…As a black pastor...my blackness is inextricably bound to my femaleness, my cisgenderness, my queerness, my disabledness, my fatness…"
Another article is by a "queer, black veteran" who claims that God called her into ministry when she heard "the still, small voice of God" at a gay pride event. She had been taught that homosexuality is wrong but "Marrying my wife, a lifelong Lutheran, led me to the ELCA". The ELCA pastor who married them helped her in the process of becoming "liberated, free to live a life of authenticity and right relationship with Christ." This means, I presume, the ELCA pastor helped her see that homosexual behavior is really a good thing. She is now heading into ministry to spread that good news to others. This is the umpteenth pro-gay/transgender article to be found in Living Lutheran. You will never find an article which upholds the traditional, biblical understanding of homosexuality because this has been banned in this ELCA publication. This, in spite of the fact that when the ELCA voted to affirm homosexual behavior in 2009, conservatives were assured that their viewpoint would also be respected and allowed. So this year when we celebrate Transfiguration Sunday on August 6, 2023, I guess we are supposed to pause and bemoan the fact that the Transfiguration is what turned Jesus into the "White Jesus." Sincerely in Christ, Pastor Tom Brock (See Living Lutheran Jan./Feb. publication here) (The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and Twitter - here.) My alma mater, Luther Seminary in Saint Paul, Minnesota, used to be known as the most conservative of the seminaries of the liberal Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. No longer. Luther has just announced they have hired as a professor Cody J. Sanders, author of “Queer Lessons for Churches on the Straight and Narrow: What All Christians Can Learn from LGBTQ Lives”. In his Facebook page, Sanders describes himself as a “queer theologian” (photo below). The ELCA’s United Lutheran Seminary in Pennsylvania also has as its president a man who is “married“ to a man, who was previously the ELCA’s first practicing gay bishop. There is no question as to what Martin Luther would think about all this. Luther called homosexuality a “monstrous depravity” and a “terrible pollution”. I personally have struggled with same-sex attraction most of my life (see my article “My struggle with same-sex attraction” at pastorsstudy.org), but I abstain from this behavior for the sake of Christ and my eternal soul (1 Corinthians 6:9-11). Today, the ELCA embraces and promotes homosexuality, transgenderism and bisexuality. The ELCA even promoted transgenderism to 31,000 teenagers at the ELCA’s national Teen Gathering a few years ago by putting an 11-year-old boy who thinks he is a girl on stage. If you are still a member of the ELCA, time to flee this unbiblical denomination. Sincerely in Christ, Pastor Tom Brock (The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and Twitter - here.)
Below is a worship service dedicated to “Reconciling in Christ Sunday”, a day when some congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America celebrate all things LGBT. At minute 31 below you will hear an LGBT Lutheran pastor affirm all kinds of “gender identities” without a hint that the Bible teaches – and Christians have believed for 2000 years—that homosexual behavior is a sin. And the choir sings a hymn about “our queer siblings moving all about the earth”. I’ll say it again, this ain’t my grandma’s Lutheran Church. In Christ, Pastor Tom Brock PS. If you would like to see the various verses in the Bible which address homosexuality, see my article “What does the Bible teach about homosexuality?” at pastorsstudy.org https://www.youtube.com/live/KDheQVhMGQc (It seems the settings were changed to "private" by the ones in charge of this YouTube channel.)
(The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and Twitter - here.)
In the November, 2021 edition of Living Lutheran, the national magazine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton writes an article avoiding calling God “He” and twice using the word “Godself” to avoid saying “God Himself”. But “Godself” is not a word, and has been invented by liberals in the church to avoid talking about God Himself. At its most recent national convention, the ELCA passed a resolution stating it desires to move to more expansive, inclusive images for God. We must never forget the language Jesus gave us for God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). But at the installation service of the ELCA’s first transgender bishop, Eaton also referred to God as “Parent, Child, and Holy Breath” and as “Rain, Estuary, and Sea”. As the ELCA estranges itself more and more from the Biblical language for God, I believe it will experience more and more of God’s judgment. Indeed, it already has, as huge numbers have left the ELCA for more biblical denominations. In Christ, Pastor Tom Brock (See article here on page 50) ELCA‘s United Lutheran Seminary to host “out and proud" transgender advocate: “She is a father…”2/13/2023 (The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and Twitter - here.)
In a previous post I shared that a practicing homosexual, who was also the first gay bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, is now president of the ELCA’s United Seminary in Pennsylvania. United Seminary is advertising that it will host a transgender advocate to speak at its “Transgender and Lutheran” webinar. This man who presents himself as a woman (an “out and proud trans woman”) is called “she” by United Seminary: “Dr. Stephanie Dykes is the father of a 29-year-old son, and she sings bass with the Seattle Men’s Chorus”. I am not making this up. Tap on the below link to see United Seminary’s ad and how bizarre the ELCA has become. I encourage you that if you are still a member of this denomination, it is time to take your money, time, and talents and join a biblical denomination which you can support. In Jesus our Savior, Pastor Tom Brock https://assets.website-files.com/5ef7c7ab36fe0248900a03d2/62f50677fe7a4ec07836a1ec_Trangender%20and%20Lutheran%20Promo%20piece.pdf?fbclid=IwAR3X5MBeYHV9Pe9YE2cxrIULCMgJ9ktFSkfpxjO3ns7zcKM-Zlk2_7DpACw
You may be wondering what "Extravaganza" is. The ELCA Youth Ministry Network website tells us it is "...the annual gathering of children, youth and family ministry leaders from across the ELCA." (see here)
So it is a conference for people in the ELCA who teach youth of all ages. Below are a few of the workshops at last weeks Extravaganza 2023: (The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and Twitter - here.) Below is a picture from the current issue of Living Lutheran, the national magazine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Pictured is Guy Erwin leading a worship service at the National Assembly. Erwin is the ELCA’s first homosexual bishop with a “husband“ and he is now the president of an ELCA seminary. The article mentions that the Native American practice of smudging occurred during the assembly, along with the Native American “Prayer to the Four Directions of the Earth.” Smudging is a Native American practice of burning sage in order to get rid of evil spirits and energy. In a previous post here was my comment on incorporating pagan practices into a Christian worship service: “Years ago when I was still a pastor in the ELCA, I went to one of our conventions where we turned to the north, south, east, and west in order to pattern our prayers after Native American spirituality. I got to the microphone and said "I am German, my ancestors worshiped Thor and Odin. Are we going to incorporate Thor worship at our next convention?" When I returned home, I told that story to my congregation and a Native American woman with tears in her eyes said "They're trying to take us back to what Jesus saved me from." This is called syncretism, when people mix various gods and religions together. It is what got the ancient Jews in trouble when they tried to mix Baal worship with the worship of Jehovah.” It is interesting that the ELCA’s national magazine put all of this on display for everyone to read. I hope many ELCA Lutherans will become upset over what happened, but I’m afraid the “frog in the kettle“ syndrome has dulled the senses of many in the ELCA. But I must say to the ELCA: No, ELCA, smudging and sage do not drive out evil spirits, but only the power of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Christ, Pastor Tom Brock (The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and Twitter - here.) Pope Benedict passed away recently and the head bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Elizabeth Eaton, has written the below letter of condolence.
I got to thinking. Pope Benedict believed abortion is a sin. Bishop Eaton works for abortion rights. Pope Benedict believed homosexual behavior is a sin. Bishop Eaton has produced gay pride videos. Pope Benedict believed in Hell. Bishop Eaton has said that, if Hell exists, she believes it is empty. Martin Luther believed in Hell and in the sinfulness of abortion and homosexuality. It is ironic that we live in a day when a Catholic Pope is more Lutheran than a Lutheran head bishop. Sincerely in Christ, Pastor Tom Brock --- ELCA presiding bishop issues message on death of Pope Benedict XVI Dear church, Yesterday we awoke to the news of the passing of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. As part of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), we mourn his death and celebrate his life eternal in Christ Jesus. In the LWF statement, which I commend to all of you, General Secretary Anne Burghardt reminds us of Pope Benedict's enduring commitment to the unity of Christ's church and, in particular, "his appreciation of the 'Joint Declaration of the Doctrine of Justification' that has enabled many advances in Lutheran-Roman Catholic relations." His brilliance as a theologian and his ecumenical spirit will continue to challenge us to build bridges of mutual understanding and visible unity through dialogue, cooperation and common witness. We also pray for Pope Francis, who will continue to lead the Roman Catholic Church in this historic time – the likes of which haven't occurred since nearly a century before the Reformation. We extend our condolences and unceasing accompaniment to all our Catholic neighbors, including the bishops, priests, deacons, scholars and laypeople with whom we are in dialogue and partnership. Pope Benedict lived in the surety that "whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's" (Romans 14:8). Now, Lord, you let your servant go in peace: your word has been fulfilled. Amen. In Christ, Elizabeth A. Eaton Presiding Bishop, ELCA (view here) (The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and Twitter - here.) It is popular in liberal religious circles to call God not only “he” but now also “she” and “they“. “She” is a nod to feminism, and I believe “they” is a nod to transgenderism. God is whatever we want him/her/it/they to be. If you watch the below sermon at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago, you will notice the guest preacher changes the reading of Luke chapter 18 to call God “her” and “they” (at minute 1:10). But Lutherans have always taught that we are not to change Scripture to suit ourselves. We are to change ourselves to suit Scripture. That is what the authority of the Bible is all about. That is what Martin Luther’s “sola Scriptura” was all about. For years the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago has been one of the most radical of the ELCA seminaries. Now because of failing finances LSTC has had to sell its buildings to the University of Chicago. It reminds me of what Jesus said in Revelation 2:5 “Repent, if you do not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand…” Sincerely in Christ, Pastor Tom Brock
(The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and Twitter - here.)
If I had to pick the very worst moment of the year 2022, I might pick one that I did not list below, namely, when head bishop Elizabeth Eaton of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America went to the White House to advocate for abortion rights. Or, it might be when she produced yet another gay pride video promoting the LGBTQAI+ agenda.
Below are 12 of the worst moments of the year for ELCA Lutherans: January: ELCA’s first transgender bishop reads storybook she wrote to help children accept transgenderism February: The national church council of the ELCA affirms “gender-non-binary, gender-fluid, women, men and other genders” March: Canadian Lutheran pastor: Jesus did not die for our sins and God the Father needs to step down for sexually assaulting Mary April: “Openly queer” preacher at ELCA’s Luther Seminary embraces his bisexuality, and thus experiences “resurrection” May: Radically liberal Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago is forced to sell off its buildings June: Roe v. Wade is overturned and head ELCA bishop urges Lutherans to advocate for abortion rights July: ELCA’s Living Lutheran magazine says to use LGBT pronouns or people may kill themselves August: ELCA’s national assembly practices Native American smudging and praying to the four winds September: ELCA’s United Theological Seminary hosts “out and proud” transgender advocate, saying “she is a father…” October: ELCA Lutheran lesbian bishop sings “Homosexual is not in the Bible” November: “Brazenly queer” male professor at Pacific Lutheran University says “I will wear skirts and blouses when I preach in chapel” December: More attacks on God the Father from Living Lutheran magazine article: God language needs to be inclusive “of all genders and no gender” The above heresies abound not just in the ELCA, but also in the United Church of Christ, the Episcopal Church in America, the Presbyterian Church USA, the United Methodists, the Disciples of Christ, and the Reformed Church in America. In spite of all this darkness, this week let us praise God that He sent His Son into the world to save us from the craziness and destructiveness of sin. Jesus is the only light of the world and He offers forgiveness of sins and eternity in heaven for all who will put their trust in him. May you have a wonderful Christmas celebrating our new-born King, Jesus Christ, the light of the world. Merry Christmas! Pastor Tom Brock PS. For more details on all the above items, page through my articles on this Facebook page
(The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and Twitter - here.)
In the video below, the bishop of the Lower Susquehanna Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America makes a plea that Lutherans should become allies of the transgender movement. Lately the ELCA teaching seems to be that men who identify as women don’t need to repent, we who believe something is wrong with that do. The ELCA used to be liberal, now it is radically so. If you are still a member, it is way past time to leave for a more biblical denomination. In Christ, Pastor Tom Brock Woke ELCA Lutheran leaders affirm "gender-nonbinary, gender-fluid, women, men or other genders"12/13/2022
(The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and Twitter - here.)
The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the highest leadership board of the liberal denomination, at it's most recent meeting passed a resolution stating "...the percentage of laypeople not allocated to women or men may be allocated to persons who identify as gender non-binary, gender-fluid, women, men or other genders." "Other genders"? Jesus said "He who made them at the beginning made them male and female" (Matthew 19:4). There are no "other genders", Jesus said there are two. It is tragic that the ELCA continues to side with our confused culture rather than with Christ. In Jesus our Savior, Pastor Tom Brock |
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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