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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.) 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) 
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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.) The two men pictured in the first link below are “married” and both are pastors in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The one on the right recently preached a sermon (see video below) entitled “The road ahead will be difficult”. In it he tells parishioners that we follow Jesus by working for abortion rights. He also quotes the ELCA’s head bishop, Elizabeth Eaton, who has also called upon Lutherans to work for abortion rights. Tragic. “Thou shalt not kill” was not mentioned. Please pray for Christ’s Church. In Jesus our Savior, Pastor Tom Brock https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10100871211507480&set=a.558482085790&type=3
(The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and Twitter - here.)
Augsburg University in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Augsburg University has become radically liberal, evidenced by its recent chapel series entitled “Series on Female-Identifying Leaders Who Participate in Proclamation”. Notice, the series is not about “women preachers” but “female-identifying preachers” in order, I believe, to include non-binary, transgender preachers. But it gets worse. The Lutheran pastor preaches to the students that Jesus “screwed up” in His dealings with the Syrophoenician woman (Mark 7:24-30) and that she had to redeem Him (see minute 15:30 below). That’s right, Jesus gets redeemed by the Syrophoenician woman. The preacher also uses the F word in her sermon. A few years ago I did a post on this same preacher who went on (and on and on) in a bizarre sermon telling her congregational members to call a transgender woman “they” This is the bizarre, new, "enlightened" world of many colleges and congregations of the ELCA. In Christ, Pastor Tom Brock
Rev. Emily Ewing is an ELCA pastor who is employed as a "Social Justice Pastor" at a United Methodist church.
In a Facebook post written Feb. 14, 2021, Pastor Ewing writes "FYI: TRANSfiguration Sunday is a celebration of Jesus being trans and nonbinary. Dazzling change and consistency." The ELCA is fine with denigrating and blaspheming our Lord and Savior. Why are you still part of this denomination? 
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Help Exposing the ELCA reach our goal of $75,000! Gifts can be given by credit card, or PayPal at www.paypal.com/paypalme/exposingtheelca A sign held by Cassie Hartnett read, "When Jesus Comes Back She'll Be Gay." Cassie Hartnett is a former vicar at an ELCA church in Maryland and she attended Union Theological Seminary. When ELCA leaders openly blaspheme Jesus it is time to leave and never set foot in an ELCA church again.  (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 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 by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and Twitter - here.) Frank Honeycutt, a pastor of the liberal Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, has written a number of articles for the ELCA’s national magazine Living Lutheran. In the December issue, he says of Jesus “...he undoubtably...threw a tantrum or two, and grew up into a teenager with occasional rebellious and haughty moments...I’m convinced Jesus didn’t pop out of his mom’s womb preprogrammed to always do and say the right and perfect thing. This last sentence may unnerve some Lutherans...” It certainly does. If Jesus was rebellious and haughty, then He sinned. If Jesus sinned, he would have to pay for his own sins on the cross and could not be the spotless Lamb of God who sacrificed himself in our place for our sins. The Bible teaches that Jesus was indeed both fully God and fully man. But the Bible also makes it clear that Jesus never sinned (Hebrews 4:15, 1 Peter 2:22, 1 John 3:5, 2 Corinthians 5:21). In John 8:46, Jesus challenged the Jewish leaders “...which one of you convicts me of sin?”. They couldn’t. But apparently the ELCA’s national magazine feels it can convict Jesus of having “rebellious and haughty moments.” This is tragic false teaching. See the entire article in the link below. Just to recap some of the ELCA’s actions: it recently ordained a transgender pastor who called Jesus “an SOB”...this summer it passed an interfaith resolution saying we don’t know what God thinks of non-Christian religions and refused to affirm Jesus as the only way of salvation...the ELCA publicized a TV program that presents a Lutheran transgender 13-year-old as a “hero” and the ELCA healthcare plan paid for the child’s hormone blockers...and the ELCA continues to pay for abortion for any reason whatsoever in its healthcare plan which is funded by offering dollars. If you are still an ELCA Lutheran, I strongly encourage you to make this your New Year’s resolution: to find a more biblical denomination where I can give my offering dollars joyfully knowing they will go toward proclaiming Jesus as the only way of salvation, and will not go toward hormone blockers for children and abortion. Sincerely in Christ, Pastor Tom Brock (Read the ELCA article here)  A Facebook post by Evangelical Lutheran Church in America pastor Lura Groen refers to Jesus' conversation with the woman at the well as an attempt by Jesus to sexually seduce the woman. ELCA pastor Groen has rewritten the story to better reflect what she believes was really happening.  (Also see Rev. Groen's FB post here) This is heretical and demonic. The fact that Rev. Groen's view of scripture and Christ is allowed by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America says all you need to know about the denomination. It is time for you and your loved ones to depart from the ELCA, and please consider sharing this with others who also need to know about the realities of the ELCA. This all began with a podcast about polyamory. "Polyamory...is the practice of, or desire for, intimate relationships with more than one partner, with the consent of all partners involved." (See here) Invited to speak on the podcast was "theologian" J.D. R. Mechelke, an ELCA Luther Seminary student who is getting his M.A. and is also a high school youth minister for an ELCA church.
The headlines are numerous with this one so let's dive in and take a look at what this ELCA seminary student had to say, beginning with this blasphemous quote: - "Some would say that the Last Supper, Jesus is proposing to the 12 friends and so it's very gay and very polyamorous." Here is J.D. Mechelke's full statement beginning with a question from the podcast host:  More from the ELCA seminarian: - "In the evangelical world, there are a lot of the songs and prayers that are used talk about, there's this very intimate, individualistic relationship that people have with God and it's very erotic sometimes. My favorite example is this old song. It's not old, but '90s, "In the secret and the quiet place, I want to touch you. I want to see the--" "You start to think, 'That's kind of erotic and yet it's evangelical.' It's that we're doing that, which is fine. There are queer theologians that are taking that and saying, 'Maybe we have this erotic thing going on with Jesus.' Also thinking about it, 'This is my body.' You're taking somebody's body in your mouth, and so there's some phallic-." - "There's this idea of the polyamorous crisis that's gained traction, but usually the safe way to say it is that God loves everybody. This isn't very safe to say, but God's a total slut in that sense." - "Oh, God, I love when Jesus says 'bush'...I don't think of the burning bush, I think of something else."  (I believe the ELCA seminary student misspoke or there was a transcribing error in the second paragraph, and the first sentence that should say "...there's this guideline for pastors basically that says you can [not] have sex outside of marriage.") If you are wondering what church would be most welcoming to polyamory, J.D. Mechelke answers: "If a church is openly for gay and queer folk, my guess is that you probably won't have that much push back (on) polyamory..." See here for transcript or see the video below) (The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and Twitter - here.)
Luther Seminary is a seminary of the ELCA. They have had homosexual and transgender preachers at Luther chapel but to my knowledge since 2009 they have not had one preacher uphold the traditional viewpoint on homosexuality. So much for “diversity and inclusivity” at Luther. Today Luther’s seminary pastor, Reverend Justin Lind-Ayers, preached a seminary chapel sermon stating that he was heartbroken over the Methodists’ rejection of homosexuality. If you want to hear a heretical use of Jesus to promote homosexuality, start at minute 20 in the below video. Three of the lowlights of his sermon: “I have heard the voice of Jesus emboldening the defiant acts of justice”. Lind-Ayers believes “the voice of Jesus” is calling us to “dismantle heterosexism”. Lind-Ayers praises the “amazing God-given gifts of the LGBTQIA community.” I am sad and angry that my alma mater, Luther Seminary, has become captive to the spirit of the age instead of captive to the Holy Spirit. I am sad they have embraced the world and not the Word. Sincerely in Christ, Pastor Tom Brock Many in Christendom including most Lutheran denominations believe the Bible, written by God, is inerrant, or "free from error." Dr. Albert Mohler, Jr. says, "The affirmation of biblical inerrancy means nothing more, and nothing less, than this: When the Bible speaks, God speaks.” That is not the case with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Why not? And what does the ELCA believe about the Bible?
“We believe that the Scripture are the inspired word of God. But they are not inerrant because human beings are in error. You ever read one part of Scripture and then read something else and they don’t match?” (listen here, at the 58:10 minute mark)  At the same meeting, Rev. Craig Miller, Assistant to the Bishop of the Upper Susquehanna Synod, gave the following disturbing responses to questions from St. Luke Lutheran Church members: Question: “Do you believe that the writers of the Bible were so controlled by the Holy Spirit that they wrote exactly what God wanted them to write?” Rev. Craig Miller: “No. No.” Question: “You don’t believe that the writers of the Bible wrote what God wanted them to write?” Rev. Craig Miller: “Letter by letter? In the form that we have it? No. These have been copied over and over again and there have been mistakes that have been made.” Question: “So the Bible is full of mistakes and contradictions?” Rev. Craig Miller: “Certainly, there have been copy errors and yes, if you are only reading the Bible literally, then yes there are contradictions.” (listen at the 1:05:25 minute mark here) The ELCA states the following about the Bible, "This church accepts the canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the inspired Word of God and the authoritative source and norm of its proclamation, faith, and life" (Art. 2.03 of the Constitution of the ELCA). The ELCA does not call Scriptures inerrant. ELCA Rev. Jay Thorson said this, in the ELCA magazine Living Lutheran, about God's Word, "I was reclaiming the view that the Bible isn’t an inerrant oracle dropped from heaven but more like a messy, earthen vessel holding the treasure of the saving gospel message. That’s what most ELCA professors and pastors teach, and I realized that was where I belonged." (See here) ELCA pastor Jerry O'Neal similarly writes, "To those who say, 'But you don’t believe in the Bible?' No, I don’t. As our former presiding bishop, Mark Hanson, once said, 'I don’t believe in the Bible – I believe in the God revealed in the Bible.' The Bible is NOT inerrant. It contains clear contradictions in places (e.g. 2 creation stories in Gen. 1—3 that do not agree), and it has been open to interpretation from the beginning." (see here) Popular and helpful website gotquestions.org writes this about the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, "It claims to hold to the authority of Scripture, but it rejects inerrancy." (See here) The ELCA's belief about Scripture is a major problem. It has allowed heresy to take hold in the denomination. (As I document on this website). The most popular ELCA pastor, Nadia Bolz-Weber, whom the ELCA adores and had as a keynote speaker to address 31,000 ELCA teenagers this summer, says the following about God's Word: - “We should never be more loyal to an idea or an interpretation of a Bible verse than we are to people..." (See here) - "This is where it’s very convenient to be a Lutheran, because Lutherans very admittedly have a canon within the canon. So not all Scripture is the same to us. The Gospel of Jesus, the good news of who Jesus is, whether those texts are found in the Old Testament or the New, is at the very center of our understanding of why the Bible even exists. The Bible is the cradle that holds Christ. The cradle’s not Christ. If you understand that that is the importance of the Bible, then suddenly Scripture is read in concentric circles around what it is at its center. Sometimes you read Paul, and it’s the most beautiful thing you’ve ever read. I actually can feel it in my body. I’ll read something gorgeous from Paul, and just be like, 'That’s breathtaking. That is the word of God. That is the word of God. There’s something eternal about what he’s saying.' And then other times you read Paul and you’re like, 'Good lord, what is that?'" - (See here) - “The Bible is not God. The Bible is simply the cradle that holds Christ. Anything in the Bible that doesn't hold up to the gospel of Jesus Christ simply doesn't have the same authority.” (See here. Video looks to be removed) - “...Preaching hopefully in some way is the word of God, speaking is not. So I thought, I wonder, we can look at Paul that way. You know like sometimes he was just going off on his snotty opinions, he has some authority to speak on it but that’s not necessarily the Word of God.” (Listen to the audio posted here) - "The Bible’s not clear about shit!" (see here) (apologies for the language) This view, as you have read, is much different than how of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ viewed Scripture. He view it as authoritative, as truth, as from God. (See here) The namesake of Lutherans, Martin Luther, also stands against the ELCA belief about Scripture, saying the following about the Bible,
“Over against all the statements of the fathers and of all men, yes, over against words of angels and devils, I place the scriptures” (p. 80) And, “I have learned to ascribe the honor of infallibility only to those books that are accepted as canonical. I am profoundly convinced that none of these writers have erred” (p. 78). A review of Luther and the Bible, by Willem Jan Kooiman, translated by John Schmidt (Muhlenberg Press. 1961.) What one believes about the Bible is significant. The ELCA conducted a study in 1991, and one of its findings was that pastors who believe the Bible is inerrant were less likely to support abortion, homosexuality, and the belief that "men keep women down because most men benefit from having more power." (See here) How do you think the ELCA's view of God's Word has affected the ELCA's stance on transgenderism, sexual morals, the state of Israel, the reality of hell, salvation, seeking converts, the validity of other religions, miracles in the Bible and God's account of creation?
The Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC) is a seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). A couple weeks ago, Masters of Divinity student Elle Dowd preached during worship in the school's Augustana Chapel (listen to it here or read it here).
Elle Dowd didn't want us to miss it, as she contacted me a number of times wanting me to read her sermon (and write about, no doubt). The Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago certainly thought highly of it as well, because they promoted it on their Facebook page and linked to the full audio of the sermon. 
(Go see the seminary Facebook post here)
Here is Elle Dowd's second tweet seeking my attention:
Below is the type of teaching and preaching future ELCA pastors are digesting (and it has been like this for years). Lowlights of the sermon:
You can read more about this ELCA seminary student here. ELCA pastor Lura Groen responded to my tweeting this article:
And this from ELCA pastor John Sipf:
 An article by an ELCA seminary professor titled “Bearing witness through community organizing” was printed and hosted on the ELCA’s Living Lutheran magazine and website. The article is another example of heresy being taught, allowed and disseminated by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The author of the article writes:
“Jesus emerged initially in his own Galilean community as a prophet concerned with the renewal of village life…For a variety of reasons we have come to interpret the story of Jesus through an individualistic lens as the saving of souls and deliverance from personal sin. But throughout Scripture salvation refers to rescue from present danger or liberation from oppression, and the language of sin in many instances refers to structural evil. The numerous healings and exorcisms show Jesus restoring bodies and minds suffering the effects of colonization. Although the exorcisms are performed on individuals, they were symptomatic of internalized oppression that was the consequence of the domination and control of social and political space.” (read here) This is a warped and deceitful understanding of Christ and his mission on Earth. God’s Word explains why Jesus came here. “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost” (1 Timothy 1:15, ESV). “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10, ESV). “And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners’” (Mark 2:17, ESV). "’ . . . even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many’” (Matthew 20:28, ESV). “’I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness’” (John 12:46, ESV). “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:4-5, ESV). |
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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