Category: Jesus

Sermon At ELCA Seminary Says Jesus Was 'in Many Ways Queer'

11/4/2018

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:

I can never figure out what sets off @ExposingtheELCA and what they’ll ignore. Tell angry women to organize? Get called out. Preach a sermon in Lstc chapel comparing Jesus to a trans woman of color? Nothing. I thought for sure that’d be a thing because he hates our seminaries □□‍♀️
— elle dowd (@HowNowBrownDowd) October 19, 2018

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:

"Grace and peace are yours from the One who made all genders in Their image. Amen".

"Jesus, a sexual minority himself at the time by virtue of being unmarried and in many ways queer, is telling this story of equality to the religious aristocracy..."

"And in Mark today Jesus just refuses to fall into their trap and stay within their bounds. This is a very queer thing to do as well, to blur lines, subvert hierarchies. Marcella Althaus-Reid says that – in addition to calling Jesus 'God in human drag' – Jesus is queer precisely BECAUSE of his transgressiveness. To be queer is to be transgressive. To break the rules and norms of society."

"And the church, with its queer-antagonistic, white supremacist, and misogynistic interpretations of scripture, has their blood on our hands."

"Creating a permanent criminal underclass is the foundation of mass incarceration and modern day slavery, and the United States Empire – cheered on by our own Religious Aristocracy – delights in setting traps of racism and poverty for the purposes of their own profit."

"In our white supremacist colonial context . . ."

You can read more about this ELCA seminary student here.

ELCA pastor Lura Groen responded to my tweeting this article:

What a powerful sermon! Thanks for publicizing it, so that more people may feel God’s Queer love!
— Lura Groen (@lura_groen) November 6, 2018

And this from ELCA pastor John Sipf:

@ExposingtheELCA
You know, I really should follow you.

You are lifting up so many wonderfully gifted theological minds in the Church today.

Thank you!
— John Sipf (@Pr_JT_Sipf) November 6, 2018

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Warped ELCA Reading of Scripture

9/16/2018

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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).

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ELCA Advocacy: Making Jesus a liberal democrat "revolutionary"

9/4/2018

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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.)

If you go to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Advocacy blog (blogs.elca.org) you will get posting after posting of politics from the left of center. Here is how the ELCA's Rev. Dustin G. Wright of Messiah Lutheran Church in Schenectady, New York describes Jesus:

"Jesus was a refugee, a day laborer, after all, lynched in the manner of a political revolutionary by one of the most powerful empires the world has ever known specifically because he sought to challenge and change that system. While he talked about getting into heaven, for sure, this world, not the next, was the focus of his ministry....Jesus was a poor man. How then could followers of the Way of this poor revolutionary become identified with policing folks’ bedrooms but not saying much of anything about the systemic sins of poverty, racism, militarism and ecological devastation? The “moral narrative” of this country, influenced in part by a false, ahistoric and heretical brand of Christian Nationalism that has almost nothing to do with the teachings of Jesus, has quite simply become distorted."

Wow, who is doing the distorting here? Jesus mainly focused on this world and "sought to challenge and change" Rome? Jesus told Pilate “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world" (John 18:36). And I can't recall Jesus saying anything about "militarism and ecological devastation".

The ELCA claims to be a church based on diversity and inclusivity, a "big tent" where people of all views are welcome. But go to blogs.elca.org and take a look at the ELCA advocacy blog, see if you find any evidence that, say, unborn children should not be aborted or that Christians should promote traditional marriage. No, you won't find that in the ELCA (the ELCA pays for abortion for any reason in its healthcare plan and the ELCA now allows for homosexual "weddings"). Instead of diversity from ELCA headquarters, you will overwhelmingly get one point of view: liberal politics.

In Jesus our Savior,

Pastor Tom Brock

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ELCA's Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago Shares Re-write of the Christmas Story

12/19/2017

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Preaching about your pet causes and infusing them into your sermon is typical of ELCA pastors. It is hard to find anyone in the denomination preaching the Good news of Christ's sacrifice and payment of sins for those that believe He is the Son of God. Below is an egregious example of this from an ELCA seminary, the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC). Where is the news and proclamation of God coming to Earth as a baby and that "he will save his people from their sins?" Matt. 1:21b

This Christmas, and the years to follow, are you going to entrust your soul, your faith and that of your loves ones to the pastors of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America?

(See here)

Additionally, below is the type of person this ELCA seminary, LSTC, is placing in leadership of the future pastors studying at the school, the people who will lead ELCA churches for years to come:

“The Rev. Erik Christensen has accepted a call to serve as pastor to the community and director of worship at LSTC.” “He served as co-chair of the board of directors of Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries and is a member of Proclaim, a Lutheran community of LGBTQ+ rostered ministers, seminarians and candidates for ministry.” (See here, on page 2)

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Responding to Liberal Pastors Who Say "Judge Not"

10/12/2017

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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.)

Some liberal pastors of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America did not like a recent post in which I wrote about the false teachings I encountered at a United Church of Christ worship service. They basically said that I'm too critical and I need to "judge not."

I think "Judge not" is the most misquoted verse in the Bible. Below is my response to them.

In Jesus our Savior,

Pastor Tom Brock
pastorsstudy.org

The same Jesus who said "Judge not" said "...judge with righteous judgement (John 7:24)" and "Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? (Luke 12:57)." Both are true. I believe "judge not" means we are not to see ourselves as superior to anyone, and "judge with righteous judgement" means we are, of course, to distinguish between right and wrong. We can't get away from that nor should we. In fact, people who say "Judge not" are making a judgement about those they deem judgmental. Jesus tells us we will know false prophets by their fruits (Matthew 7:15-20), so we must be discerning (I John 4:1).

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Is Believing God’s Word So Hard, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America?

9/18/2017

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Long ago Satan began sowing doubt and disbelief regarding the Word of God. Today we have the ELCA doing the same thing. God’s directives are often twisted and dismissed, while many historical happenings in Scripture are considered myths. A recent interview with the presiding bishop of the ELCA confirms the ELCA’s Scriptural maleficence when she said there may be a hell “but I think it is empty.” (see here) Other examples can be seen here, here and here.

Today we get another example of this. The official magazine of the ELCA recently published an article where the author, an ELCA pastor, tells how he was challenged by a friend concerning the miracles of the Bible and those of Jesus saying, “Do you really believe these stories…Water into wine? A sea parting? Feeding thousands with so little? Come on…(t)he Bible is expecting a little much from anyone who has a brain.”

You would expect a minister of Christ to say, “Yes, I believe the miracles of Jesus (and those in all of Scripture) really happened.” But no, the author does not. Instead the author presents a couple of ridiculous explanations for the miracles, explanations that the author then dismisses.

Then the author goes to an old ELCA standby, he “spiritualizes” the miracles. He tells the readers that another question is needed, the question “why,” “(W)hy were these stories told in the early church?” His answer? “Jesus brings abundance. He brings ferment, fullness and lavish plenty.”

Later the author tells us,

“These stories won’t stand up to scientific scrutiny.”

And,

“Did the stories really happen this way? For me, this is the wrong question. The stories are meant to illumine the abundant life right here, right now. So perhaps the right question becomes: Are the stories really happening?” (see here)

The ELCA hosted and posted this article. Doesn’t the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America believe the account of Scripture? Do they not believe Jesus actually performed these miracles? They put forth an article that will not answer or confirm that these miraculous events by Jesus actually happened historically.

Do you really want people who do not believe God’s Word teaching you about God and His Word?

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Soon-To-Be ELCA Intern Pastor Founds the P#@$! Club and Thinks Jesus Had 'Wet Dreams'

7/20/2017

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(My apologies for the vulgar quotes, references, that I have to report this and that the ELCA allows this kind of thing from their leaders.)

The following article is so startling that I need to share it with you, to write about it here and not just post the article itself on the homepage.

The article is about a woman who is “getting ordained with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America.” The article is in ELLE magazine and is titled, “How The ‘Pussy Pastor’ Is Bringing Sex and Christianity Together.” You can read the whole article here.

Some “noteworthy” parts of the article include:

- "'Jesus had a penis. And wet dreams.’ This was the philosophy that inspired Heidi Johnson to found the Pussy Club, a sex-positive group at Duke Divinity School where Christian female students would discuss, among other things, masturbation as a spiritual practice, in 2014. They also gathered to buy sex toys to explore this newfound sexuality. And so, Johnson earned herself the nickname the ‘Pussy Pastor.’"

- Heidi Johnson described “the Pussy Club gatherings…as ‘loud, drunken, emotional mess[es] with tons of laughs, stories shared, and tears shed for the ways the religious community abuses and suppresses women's sexuality by labeling it as evil and sinful and temptation.’"

- This September she will begin as an intern pastor in Oregon.

- She discusses her “masturbation routine” a couple of places in the article.

- She talks about “hooking up with classmates and enjoying her sexuality…”

- The article speaks of a fellow student of Heidi’s saying, “After leaving his church because he thought it was incompatible with his queerness, Heidi taught him "’a faith that uses the word of God to help with identity exploration, as opposed to identity suppression.’"

- Heidi Johnson “continues to host Pussy Club meetups and online discussions…”

If you are thinking “this is just one anomaly” in the church, you have not been paying attention to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

See the following blog about similar thinking persons, leaders and pastors in the ELCA here.

Also consider how the ELCA continues to push the boundaries, God set, in regard to sex by marrying those in same-sex relationships, ordaining pastors in same-sex relationships, pushing LGBT ideology, supporting LGBT causes/lifestyle in their publications and social media, paying for sex-change operations and hormone therapy in the ELCA health insurance, as well as ordaining transgender individuals. The ELCA is obsessed with sex, pushing sinful sexual practices and trying to influence the minds of its members to view it all as “good.”

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Getting Rid of Christ's Substitutionary Atonement

5/19/2017

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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.)

The Bible teaches, and the Church has always believed, that Jesus died in our place for our sins. But some liberals in the Church today are saying "No, that would be divine child abuse." They teach that God is love and God doesn't need to punish sin, and God did not punish Jesus for our sins. However, Jesus Himself said "The Son of Man came to give His life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45) and other verses in the Old Testament (Isaiah 53:5) and New Testament agree (Romans 5:8-10, 2 Corinthians 5:21, I Peter 2:24, 3:18).

In the tragic article below, a president of an Evangelical Lutheran Church in America seminary denies Christ died in our place to pay for our sins. Because the ELCA is shrinking, his seminary is now merging with another ELCA seminary and Dr. Lose is no longer president of the newly formed seminary. But, sadly, his new position will be the senior pastor of one of the largest ELCA churches in the country, Mt. Olivet Lutheran Church in Minneapolis.

It is tragic enough that the ELCA allows this kind of false teaching, but to put it at the forefront of a seminary and now one of its largest churches, is incredibly sad. The Bible--and Martin Luther's writings--have no trouble proclaiming the basic truth that Jesus died in our place for our sins. In fact, the Apostle Paul goes so far as to say "Christ died for our sins" is the most important teaching of the Christian Church (I Corinthians 15: 3).

It is this attack on basic Christian doctrine that is causing the ELCA and other liberal mainline denominations to shrink in numbers and financial giving, as true believers take their membership and money to more evangelical churches which joyfully proclaim the Gospel message: Jesus died for our sins.

In Jesus our Savior,

Pastor Tom Brock
pastorsstudy.org

(Here is the article)

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Imaginary Hell

6/6/2016

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Jesus talked about hell, more than anyone in Scripture, but many ELCA leaders are so enamored with their own "enlightened" views that they have decided and teach that hell is not real and everyone goes to heaven. They believe they are more attuned to truth then the Son of God, I guess. This is ELCA pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber’s teaching. She has already revealed that she is a universalist (see here) and in a recent sermon Nadia tells us that hell is "imaginary." Here is her direct quote,
“One of the more interesting things folks will say to me is: ‘I’m not religious or anything, I just hope that being a good person is enough.’ To which I always want to say… ‘enough for what?’ … avoiding the punishment of burning in the eternal fires of some kind of imaginary hell?” (see here)

As I’ve already mentioned, “hell deniers” must be deceived or in a state of denial because Jesus continually warned people about hell and being eternally separated from God. In Matthew 25, Jesus talks about people being separated like sheep and goats and He says the goats "will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” Elsewhere He says, "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28).

Hell is real. Telling people that it is not, is a lie from Satan, and it can lead people to think that faith in Christ is not necessary, that one can believe what ever they want and still go to heaven. People will end up in hell because of this lie.

Stop listening to people who teach contrary to God’s Word and warn others about them. They are false teachers.

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ELCA Leader Says Jesus was "Intersex"

4/25/2016

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Clint Schnekloth is an ELCA pastor, author, writer and speaker who is well-known within the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He controls at least two ELCA Facebook pages which reach thousands of people, and he wields a great deal of power and influence by dictating who is allowed to post and what kind of comments will be allowed on his ELCA pages. Not only does he have the respect of fellow ELCA leaders and members because of that power, but Pastor Schnekloth's influence reaches much farther. He “...write(s) content for a worship resource published by Augsburg Fortress. It's called Sundays & Seasons...” (see here)

Now that you know a little about ELCA pastor Schnekloth, take a look at the vile, non-Biblical and sacrilegious comment he made about Jesus, the Son of God:

Pastor Schnekoth believes Jesus was intersex? What?!?! This is the definition of intersex: "An individual having reproductive organs or external sexual characteristics of both male and female."

It is disgusting that a man with this kind of power and influence within the ELCA is telling people that Jesus was intersex, a hermaphrodite. What kind of spirit is at work in someone who thinks like this?

The ELCA has turned the Bible into an arbitrary reference guide that has no authority. It tells them about Jesus, but it isn't good for much more than that. Because of their view of God's Word, they can ignore plain teaching, such as "She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21) and make things up to fit their twisted worldview. It is demonic.

God will not be mocked. Please share the truth of what is going on with your ELCA friends and family.

Here are some more Exposed blogs about the teachings, sayings and ways of ELCA Rev. Clint Schnekloth:

ELCA Church Has Study on Merits of Transgenderism

High Profile ELCA Pastor Believes Jesus, if not Single, Was In a Sexual Relationship With a Man

ELCA Goddess Worshiping Church

I Am 'Hate-Filled' Because I Preach Repentance

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Did Christ Die For Our Sins? See What This ELCA Seminary President Has To Say

3/28/2016

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The Bible is God’s Word. It is true, it is right, it is accurate, it is without error, it is God-breathed. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is a denomination that constantly denies Scripture, throwing its truth out the window in favor of their own thoughts, beliefs and feelings.

God’s Word tells us that Christ "'himself bore our sins' in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; 'by his wounds you have been healed'" (1 Peter 2:24, NIV). This idea is found throughout the Bible in such places like Isaiah 53:5, 1 Corinthians 15:3, Colossians 2:14, Hebrews 9:28 and Romans 4:25.

So what do we find being taught by an ELCA seminary president?

“(T)he cross is not about punishment for sin either. Not for Jesus’ sin, certainly, but also not for ours.” So says David Lose, President of Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. David Lose, who previously was a professor at the ELCA’s Luther Seminary goes on to say:

“That is, of course, a tradition interpretation of the cross: that because God is just, God has to punish sin, and because God is loving, God beats up on Jesus instead of us. But I have a hunch that this understanding of the cross says more about our inadequate understanding of justice than it says about God. In contrast to this theory, I’d suggest that the cross is not about punishment but is instead about identification, solidarity, and love.” (read here)

This is against the witness of Scripture.

And please take note who seminary president David Lose is addressing as he writes. He begins his blog with “Dear Working Preacher,”

Later saying,

“Dear Partner, what might we say to people this Sunday?”

And,

“That’s what we can tell our people, Dear Partner, and this, at last, is all promise. Thanks for sounding that message.”

President Lose is instructing pastors into this teaching and telling them to preach accordingly, indoctrinating the people in their congregations. That is scary. He is teaching something against God’s Word, to ELCA pastors who will take that false-teaching to the pulpit. Is there any wonder why so many Bible-believing Christians are calling on ELCA members to leave the denomination?

A couple of people challenged Lose in the comments section of this article saying,

“’The cross is not about punishment.’ Really? Then what of ‘sacrifice,’ ‘scapegoat,’ ‘passover lamb,’ and ‘without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness’?”

And,

“…biblical writers’ clear use of the model of the sacrifice of lambs (John 1:29; Hebrews 9, etc.). Paul employs often the substitution concept, to stand in our place under the law, to take the punishment we deserve (Galatians 4:4, Romans 3:21-26), and of course the familiar “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Christ came to take our place, to take unto himself our guilt, sin, and death, to give his li(f)e as a ransom (Mark 10).”

Because of those comments, Lose wrote another article where he says,

“I found our exchange in the comments last week kind of fascinating. You probably don’t read the comments, so I’ll recap briefly. The exchange centered on how we understand the cross and was prompted by a statement I made that ‘the cross is not about punishment for sin.’ Several folks questioned that, referencing Anselm’s substitutionary theory of atonement and the attendant Scriptural passages associated with it…Anselm’s view – echoed later by Thomas Aquinas, John Calvin, and Reformed theologians in North America – is one of the primary ways the Church, particularly in the West, has understood the cross and, indeed, is perhaps the dominant view today.

And yet all that notwithstanding, I have to say I find it utterly unconvincing and, indeed, rather off-putting and out of character with the God I know in Jesus.” (read here)

The most popular and beloved liberal ELCA pastor, Nadia Bolz-Weber has a similar belief saying, “And just to be clear: The cross is not about God as divine child abuser sadly sending his little boy off to be killed because we were bad and well, somebody had to pay." (read here)

ELCA leaders continually walk in opposition to God’s Word.

Find out more about substitutionary atonement and why it is Biblically correct here.

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Thank God for Redemption

3/24/2016

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Johnny Cash, Good Friday, the Resurrection and Redemption. What can be better?

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'Queer Jesus'

12/21/2015

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Rev. Kristin Johnston Largen preached a sermon titled "’Queer’ Jesus--a Sermon.” (read here) She also posted it on her blog, which she says she usually does not do, because she is so "passionate about the subject matter and...want to share it." Rev. Largen is the Interim Dean and Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at the ELCA's Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, (see here)

Rev. Kristin Johnston Largen makes it clear at the beginning of her sermon that she is a big supporter of LGBT people who embrace their sin saying, “The seminary just received our certification as a ‘Reconciling in Christ’ seminary, which means that we are explicitly and publicly welcoming to all people, especially those in the LGBTQ community. It's an exciting decision for us…” and “I believe people should be able to name for themselves what they want to be called; and wear what they want—pants and skirts alike.”

Rev. Largen then turns her attention to calling Jesus “Queer” based on her expanded idea of what queer is. (you can read that for yourself in her blog) Here is some of what the ELCA seminary professor says in her sermon -

- “the very incarnation was ‘queer’—“

- “And, when you think about 'queer' this way, you know who else was pretty queer? Jesus!”

- “That’s one reason why I like this language of a ‘queer’ Jesus—it’s a disruptive, shocking word for the church, and sometimes I think that’s exactly what we need to see Jesus anew, and to appreciate afresh who he is, and what his life continues to mean for us today—and for the whole world.”

Rev. Largen is blaspheming our Lord and Savior. She is being purposefully provocative. She knows full well what “Queer” means to most people, a sexual attraction to someone of the same sex. And even though she adds to that definition, the desired result of this sermon is to normalize sexual perversion and draw attention to herself because she called Jesus "queer." This is the type of person teaching in ELCA seminaries.

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Are you a chaplain to culture or are you a pastor for Christ?

10/7/2015

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by Reverend Nicole A.M. Collins

This article is written for my pastoral peers as well as for continuing support for Lutheran CORE.

This has been a phrase I have meditated on for quite some time. From the beginning of my seminary journey to now coming from my initial steps into pastoral ministry. Why would this phrase have such a profound impact on my conscience? What was it that drove its conception in the first place?

A couple of years back was the last time I shared on here as an anonymous, frightened seminarian compelled to share what I felt was profoundly in error with the direction and intentions of liberal, intellectually-progressive Lutheran education… In short it became a definitive article on what I saw developing as Lutheran “Unitarianism” that has systemically gone out of its way to polarize & to a lesser extent, persecute people of true faith essentially over the concept of: whom do you serve?

Chaplaincy is a noble career, and is truly a significant aspect of the large skill set the post-modern Lutheran church pastor must incorporate to an extent in order to fully serve. The pastor is to be the nurturing guide, the discipleship coach, the catechist instructor, the counselor, the comforter, the steward, the administrator, the gardener, the house cleaner…. Ad infinitum! Things they never taught you in seminary & much more~

Speaking for myself, I have been tremendously blessed with having the experience of assisting to plant two unaffiliated Lutheran churches as well as recently have planted a small house church ministry which will shift to being a continuing online ministry once my husband & I move out west. Being bi-vocational is what is needed these days since the church is changing… BUT returning to the need to compose this article, to whom do you truly serve? Are you a pastor for Christ or are you a chaplain to culture?

As a former artist and poet, I love culture! Culture however holds a Pandora’s box of meanings, purpose and agenda. How you perceive and receive culture is the defining context here. Just this past weekend, I was privileged to attend an extended Lutheran CORE sponsored conference on Hispanic ministry. Topics ranged from Radical Hospitality (genuine pastoral care and implementation) to a Cursillo-like retreat to implement teaching discipleship principles through the Apostles Creed & Small Catechism known as Kogudus.

There were many other wonderful talks as well at the conference which what all talks had in common was addressing contexts. This address included the cultural context, ethnographic, economic and sociological scope of who you serve as a pastor for Christ, not as a chaplain to culture. Catering from Christ to serve others includes the concept and practice of altruism and accountability grounded in Grace through faith.

Catering to the self includes consumerism and political idealism. Both of these concepts cannot truthfully include Christ Jesus as the center and motivation to be guiding principles of discipleship yet alone genuinely reflect a call to accountability to both God and neighbor through TRUE Grace. Cheap Grace or works righteousness under the label of social justice seems to be a convenient label to make their efforts sound much more noble than they actually are.

Compassion has been made a political two-way street painted by designer self-oriented cherry-picked hermeneutics of Biblical truth! Showmanship and the ugliness of politicized doctrinal battle have tried to replace and divide the Gospel imperative of Christ, plain and simple. This Gospel imperative is the foundation to our gracious response: “29 Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; 30 you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

In essence, if you operate from a Grace-given, genuinely spiritually-transformed heart: you will be doing ministry in, with and through Christ—It’s NOT about you! & frankly it was never to be about “you.” Again, let this haunt you: To whom do YOU serve? This is the question I wish would haunt those who refuse to come to the table yet alone allow voice to Orthodox Lutherans. What this behavior of exclusion represents for me is graceless behavior. This ironically is what they condemn the Orthodox for is being exclusive…

This goes way beyond synod assemblies, politically driven seminaries and forums to be where and when we gracelessly label people as anti-gay, misogynists to Republicans or democrats, etcetera. It’s when we are profoundly and intentionally indifferent to whom we ARE to truly serve!

Championing the world of the self and all its needs, wants, decadence is only completing Satan’s goal for the church. Satan’s goal for the church is to serve the unholy trinity of I, Me, Mine—NOT the Holy Trinity of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. If we have to control God and His Spirit through consumerist ideologies and politics, we glorify the empty promises of a world devoid of genuine being and purpose. The ruler of this world would love to see us further divide over BAD theology…

It’s a rather sad and humorous fact according to wikipedia that there are something like 440 different Lutheran bodies in the world today. Can’t we all just get along? Becomes a lovely note of sarcasm to a sad truth. Underneath all the layers of it’s about this or that doctrinally, socio-politically, BAD theologies and whatnot… the profound truth we’re avoiding here boils down to that haunting statement: To whom do you serve?

Being and becoming a Pastor for Christ is a lifetime’s spiritual formation journey. The first church is the heart—it’s is here we develop heart knowledge that is to be obediently and intentionally—prayerfully shaped by Grace through faith—Holy Spirit’s work. It is one grounded firmly in Biblical Truth incorporating a living “hermeneutic of faith” over a doctrinal, politically motivated agenda of the self over and above God AND neighbor! Maybe being in supportive communities such as Lutheran CORE, (if you’re still in the ELCA that is), is like trying to hold the Vietnamese borderline… OR maybe there is still genuine hope, enough grace and initiative to come to the table and ask, pray with one another: WHOM DO YOU SERVE?

Like many who have traversed the Lutheran alphabet soup groups just to get their toe into the door of pastoral ministry… I am done with crying my bitter tears and other Old Natured temptations to vent against the ELCA for I am serving my Lord and my neighbor…. My Lord Jesus and my neighbor go over and above denominations, socio-political BS and serving the world of the self! There’s a lot of work to be done people… I have no regrets that I am no longer ELCA, that’s for sure. What I do regret is that we’re still engaged in these graceless battles. The only person we’re serving with great success beyond the self is Satan. Again in closing may this NOT bind your conscience but free it: Whom Do you truly, faithfully and graciously serve?

Bio:

Reverend Nicole A.M. Collins was ordained January 17th, 2015 in Chicago & currently serves as the Spiritual Formation Pastor at an unaffiliated Lutheran church plant—The Gathering North in suburban Chicagoland, Glenview, Illinois. She and her husband Phil live in Mundelein Illinois. She is currently awaiting a call for her first solo pastorate in the state of Oregon. Her then anonymous article here was: http://www.exposingtheelca.com/exposed-blog/a-seminarians-journey-exposing-the-teaching-of-an-elca-seminary

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ELCA Leaders and Speakers

9/22/2015

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The woman who works for and writes the tweets for the Northern TX-Northern LA Mission Area of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, according to the synod's twitter page (see here), describes herself as an “angry feminist, former teacher, former blogger. Mom to 1 son and 4 cats.” (see here)

This women has written 2 or 3 dozen tweets and retweets this week supporting abortion. Below is one tweet she wrote, in response to someone else who tweeted this, "Abortions aren't 'cool' nor anything to be proud of. I'm disgusted that #ShoutYourAbortion is even a thing. Where is Jesus in our world?" -

Walking with the person walking into the abortion clinic & holding her hand through the procedure #ShoutYourAbortion https://t.co/e9PxsqYJhX
— Criss (@c4shay) September 22, 2015

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Kristin Berkley-Abbott is a frequent writer for the ELCA's website Living Lutheran - see here. (Exposing the ELCA just posted a blog about one of her articles - see here). The following paragraphs by Berkley-Abbott will give you a little insight into the type person (with terrible theology) the ELCA is comfortable having write for their website.

"I don't really want to unpack my pastor's idea this morning--it's a little too close to troubling aspects of atonement theology, with which I don't agree. I think that Jesus died on the cross not to save us from our sins, but because he was a threat to the established social order, and crucifixion was the punishment for people who posed that threat to Empire. Enough of that unpacking.

But the idea of reconciliation appeals to me. I agree with theologians like Marcus Borg who says that Jesus came to show us what is possible for a human life. And reconciliation is one of our chief tasks." (read here)

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The Rev. Lamont Wells is in the position of Director for Evangelical Mission/Assistant to the Bishop of the ELCA's Metropolitan New York Synod. If you go to his Twitter page, see here, you will find that every day Rev. Wells tweets his (I assume) horoscope. Most of his Twitter page is filled with these horoscopes. God's Word warns us to stay away from fortune telling and astrology. (see here) Yet here is a high-level leader in the ELCA doing just that.

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The ELCA's Trinity Lutheran Seminary will host extreme liberal Brian McLaren. Trinity Seminary's website announced -

“This year’s Trinity Days will take place on September 24 and 25. Brian McLaren, named by Time magazine as one of America’s top 25 evangelicals, will be the keynote speaker. Brian McLaren is an author, speaker, pastor and networker among innovative Christian leaders, thinkers, and activists. He will speak on the theme 'Christian Identity and Mission Tomorrow.'” (see here)

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Thank God for Redemption

'Queer Jesus'

Are you a chaplain to culture or are you a pastor for Christ?

ELCA Leaders and Speakers

Dan Skogen

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