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?" -
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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) --- 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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Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (WELCA) went on Twitter and Facebook this week claiming the Son of God made errors.
God's Word says, “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth" (1 Peter 2:22), but these ELCA leaders foolishly think they know better. If this isn't proof enough that the ELCA has a false view of Scripture and God Himself, I don't know what it will take to convince you.
(Update: It looks like WELCA deleted the tweet I originally posted. It was the same as above except it included this comment "Today is the 15th Sunday after Pentecost. Jesus corrected his errors; how will you do the same?" They have not remove this comment from Pinterest yet, you can see it here or I have taken a screenshot of it and posted at the end of this article).
This teaching is widely taught in the ELCA and widely accepted by ELCA leadership. Just a few days ago ELCA Pastor Cindy Muse of Calvary Lutheran Church, West Chester, PA begins this video asking, "Was Jesus a racist?" Please view this video. Later, after claiming she is "Shocked" by Jesus' words she says "Jesus just uttered a racial slur." Here is a blog from a couple months ago with two more ELCA leaders (a seminary professor and a pastor) making similar claims. http://www.exposingtheelca.com/exposed-blog/bigoted-biased-and-racist-jesus
ELCA.org published a post by ELCA pastor Bob Chell, Sioux Falls, SD, on this same topic and he writes “Jesus is being rude and dismissive to the woman he encounters. That is the simplest and, I believe, best explanation.” (see here)
-- WELCA's Pinterest post - Mark Fitzsimmons is the senior pastor at the ELCA’s Lutheran Church of the Nativity in Arden, North Carolina. On August 14, 2011, the Gospel lesson was from Matthew 15 where Jesus is asked to heal a Canaanite woman's daughter, and here is what Pastor Fitzimmons had to say in his sermon:
“In the lesson we see a little prejudice, we see a little racism. And unfortunately it’s coming off the lips of Jesus, our Savior, our messiah. Did you hear it?” Pastor Fitzsimmons then focuses in on Jesus’ comment to the Canaanite woman in which He says, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel...It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” Pastor Fitzsimmons responds, “In Jesus day, ‘dog’ is the derogatory, racist slur that a Jew would use for a Gentile. Jesus said that.” (Listen here. Also, sermons from church here) This isn’t the first time an ELCA leader criticizes Jesus’ words in Matthew 15. Last year we reported on Rev. Dr. Wil Gafney, associate professor of Hebrew and Old Testament at the ELCA’s Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP) make some audacious statements: “Jesus said to a woman kneeling at his feet begging for help for her child, 'Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.' Did Jesus just call that woman a b----? I know this is Jesus and we’ve been trained to read him and hear him religiously, more than religiously, divinely, incarnationally. But where I come from you cannot call a child a dog without calling her mama a dog and you cannot call a woman a dog without calling her a b----.” “How human, how divine is your Jesus? Is he human enough to be bigoted and biased? Or does your preconceived notion of the divinity of Jesus mean that whatever he said was holy.” (read here) Jesus is bigoted, biased and racist? Jesus sinned? That’s the claim of these ELCA leaders. These leaders are teaching about the Son of God? God incarnate. Are these the words of God or those of the devil? "Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” - Matthew 7:15 The Rev. Dr. Gemechis D. Buba is the former Director of African National Ministries of the ELCA. However in 2010, he resigned from his position and left the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America for good. Below is a word from Dr. Buba explaining his decision. Dr. Buba was challenging his listeners to know that Jesus is calling them to himself, “Sometimes God calls you, but you don't know where he called you to . . . don't build relationship with institutions, build relationship with a Person. Don't build relationships with a religious system, build relationships with Jesus . . . (Jesus) call them (the disciples) to Himself. He did not call them to--that is what Luther got during the Reformation. That's why he said, 'Who are you, sitting in Rome, dictating over the Word of God? Who are you, Council of Cardinals, bishops and archbishops, snuffing out the Word of God? Declaring your authority above the Word of God? Who are you? You are just an institution.' He says 'I'm not going to stand and line up with an institution, I will walk with Jesus.' The day I resigned from my position in the churchwide office in Chicago, my office was on the ninth floor. I sit on that floor and look down on O'Hare airport, and I was big, and I was earning, and I was just in a position in an institution. And Jesus, was standing down (pointing down, as in out a window), he was not on the ninth floor with me; he left that building. He left that institution. He left that organization. He was right there on the grass, and he was saying, 'Are you going to stay in the institution or follow me?' December 8th, 2010, I submitted my resignation, came down with an elevator and went to that field. Jesus and I went into my Jeep, and that day I did not drive, I flew. I went home. All the burden was gone.” Jesus left the building. Jesus left the ELCA. Rev. Dr. Gemechis D. Buba is now the Assistant to the Bishop for Mission for the NALC. View Dr. Buba's remarks starting at the 1:42.45 minute mark - “Hallelujah, We've been found A child is born To save us now Jesus Hallelujah light has come A Savior who will set us free A Promise for those who believe” You read some interesting things when you peruse an ELCA clergy Facebook page. Here are a few dandies from pastors in the ELCA:
(About the Truth of Scripture)
(Again about the Truth of God's Word)
(About what Christ said in Scripture)
(About what God has said in Scripture about creation)
(Again about God's creation account)
--- The above quotes come from a closed Facebook group and some of them can be viewed at this link (here) if you are a member of the group. "The chief danger of the 20th century will be religion without the Holy Ghost, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God, and Heaven without Hell." - William Booth
So it is with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. A recent article by long time ELCA seminary professor, author, speaker and current ELCA president of The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP), Rev. Dr. David J. Lose, is proof to William Booth's point. Addressing the concept of hell, Rev. Lose tries to dismiss the belief by saying “as you read the rest of the New Testament there are very few references to hell (outside similar parables) and in the Old Testament next to nothing.” (read here) Truth be told, “hell” is specifically addressed fifty-five times in Scripture (King James Version, see here) and that does not include other references to it or the use of different words and phrases for “hell” like “lake of fire” and “everlasting punishment.” Hell is a major problem for the liberal leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America because it stands contrary to their belief and teaching that all people will be saved (universalism). The ELCA seminary president goes on, in his article, to say “For the last few decades at least, you see, 'hell' has stopped being a particularly lively or compelling topic in mainline preaching and conversation. Given it’s relatively scant place in Scripture, that may be a far more faithful treatment of the topic than many on the far right of the religious spectrum would guess. But while many of us have a harder and harder time imagining the God we know in Jesus consigning someone to a place of eternal torment and therefore applaud this development, I have wondered from time to time if we’ve figured out exactly what is a good substitute for hell. What, that is, is the motivation for our gathering, our giving, our serving and volunteering? At least things were pretty clear when you had heaven as the carrot and hellfire as the stick. But what now? Even heaven seems increasingly difficult to talk about, as we perhaps too narrowly defined it as, well, the opposite of hell. So if we don’t have the mother-of-all reward-and-punishment schemes to fall back on, have we figured out exactly what we’re offering people.” Rev. Lose then states, “I don’t miss hell...” The Son of God, Jesus the Christ, spoke of hell more than anyone else in Scripture. So Rev. Lose and the ELCA's attempt to deny the existence of hell is blatantly a satanic lead assault on truth, Scripture and salvation. “The friendly preacher who fails to warn of the reality of Hell, betrays the Son of God with a kiss.” - Ray Comfort God is Sin and Jesus is a Bigot: Teachings of Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia4/27/2014 The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP) is an ELCA seminary that is charged with the responsibility of teaching and preparing the future leaders and pastors of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Bible-believing Christians should be outraged at what is being taught at LTSP.
Rev. Dr. Wil Gafney is an associate professor of Hebrew and Old Testament at LTSP, and she has some very non-Biblical and heretical thoughts and teachings which she imparts to her students. Dr. Wil Gafney writes - “Jesus said to a woman kneeling at his feet begging for help for her child, “Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” Did Jesus just call that woman a b----? I know this is Jesus and we’ve been trained to read him and hear him religiously, more than religiously, divinely, incarnationally. But where I come from you cannot call a child a dog without calling her mama a dog and you cannot call a woman a dog without calling her a b----.” “And I’m standing up to Jesus, talking to and about women like me using language like that.” “Apparently even Jesus needed a little help” “How human, how divine is your Jesus? Is he human enough to be bigoted and biased? Or does your preconceived notion of the divinity of Jesus mean that whatever he said was holy.” This ELCA seminary teacher is posing the thought that not everything the Son of God said was right, true and holy. At the same time she is presenting to future ELCA pastors that Jesus was bigoted and biased. (read here) An additional quote from the seminary professor is this, ''The image of God is old, young, strong, weak, pregnant, infertile, nursing, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, straight and crooked, saint and sinner.” (read here) Let's be clear: there is no sin in God. Sin is not an element of God's nature, yet this ELCA professor is stating that it is. She is saying God is a sinner, a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered. Humans are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26) but our sinful ways are not part of God. “False,” “dangerous” and “heretical” are words that describe the teachings of the Jesus Seminar. Those are also words that describe many of the teachings of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. So it will come as no surprise to many of you to learn that the Northwestern Minnesota ELCA Synod is promoting a conference by the Jesus Seminar. (see here) The seminar will be hosted this month by the ELCA's Christus Rex Lutheran Campus Ministry Center at the University of North Dakota.
A writer from the Institute on Religion & Democracy attended a recent Jesus Seminar gathering and reports of the heretical utterings made by the seminar speaker:
The Jesus Seminar is teaching “doctrines of demons” and the ELCA is accountable for encouraging people to sit under this teaching. 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. An ELCA pastor wrote the following on an ELCA facebook page which was discussing the movie "Son of God" -
"Not a great title in this era of increasingly aware inter-faith-sensitive folks who see Christian History as a history of violence done toward peoples of other faiths because Christians believed that their spokesperson or prophet was the Son of God (misunderstood to mean that Jesus was God). Son of God was originally attributed to Ceasar. The Christians wanted all to know that their allegiance was NOT to Ceasar, but to the Holy One to whom this itinerant Rabbi pointed. The One who sent me, Jesus would say. In other words, we need to make a theocentric move here in order to show consideration for our Muslim, Jewish, Hindhu, Buddhist....and all other friends. These kinds of Christocentric obsessive movies just continue to give the rest of us Christians a bad name." (reported by Lutheran CORE here and originally post from a closed ELCA facebook group here) It is this pastor and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America that give Christians a bad name, but worse than that, they are leading people away from Truth, God's Word and Faith in God the Son. Shared this last Christmas, but it is so good I need to share it again. Merry Christmas everyone - And this one just for fun - The Roman solders mocked Jesus the day they crucified Him (Mark 15:16-20). Today we have an ELCA seminary professor, and the institution which employs her, doing the same.
The Rev. Wil Gafney is an Associate Professor of Hebrew and Old Testament at The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, an ELCA seminary. Incredulously, Rev. Gafney has a habit of mocking and insulting Jesus (see past blog here). It seems Rev. Gafney revels in it. This time the ELCA seminary professor placed an image on her website of the “Last Supper” where Jesus and His disciples are depicted as women. (see here) We all know that calling a person of one gender, the opposite gender, is extremely insulting. Rev. Gafney, a professor and educator of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, whose job is to instruct future leaders and pastors in the denomination, continues to intentionally insult the King of Kings, Jesus Christ. More on Rev. Gafney next week... Over the past day I've been getting a number of comments in support of Dr. Wil Gafney, an Associate Professor of Hebrew and Old Testament at The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, an ELCA Seminary. The people writing recently found a blog I wrote back in May regarding a blog written by Dr. Gafney where she posted a picture of Jesus as a female. (read my blog here) Those who commented thought the picture was great. They expressed that Dr. Gafney is a wonderful professor and attempted to justify what she did and wrote. Many of them justified the female Jesus picture by pointing to the verse where Jesus says, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.” - Matt. 23:37. Somehow, because Jesus referenced a female chicken, these people think Jesus was a woman.
Some of the comments I received: From an ELCA pastor – Dr. Gafney's “. . . teaching and preaching build up the faith and instill a deep interest in knowing more about our Scriptures, something you sadly know nothing about. Go and educate yourself.” From another ELCA pastor - “Do you honestly have so little imagination that you cannot see that God is greater than gender, color or race? Your God is too small, too white and too male as far as I can tell.” “I am so glad that ELCA pastors in training are being taught by Dr. Gafney. Too few seminarians are learning robust feminist and womanist theologies . . .” “I think Dr. Gafney is one of our most gifted and prophetic voices in our church.” “It troubles me that my beloved church may actually have paid for your education which you are now abusing in order to propagate such flawed and hateful statements. Shame shame on you.” “Clearly the author of this reflection is at best novice and at worst ignorant of how social realities impact theological reflection. Please spend time doing something more productive than objecting to the scholastic innovation that comes from Dr. Gafney.” “I think the Christa image is beautiful and thought-provoking.” “The Rev. Dr. Gafney opens up, by her meticulous scholarship, access to images of God that are not only scriptural but deeply needed in a world that is increasingly polarized by racist, sexist and homophobic agendas.” Most of the people who support Dr. Gafney's female Jesus picture are liberals who warp Christianity and Scripture to their own liking so much so that many of them do not even worship the God of the Bible anymore. In their lost-ness, they would likely still sing Dr. Gafney's praises even in view of the professor's belief that Asherah, a Canaanite goddess, is the Holy Spirit. (see here) I'm not joking. As you can see, that is what she believes. Is this thinking and foundation for teaching “scholastic innovation” and “meticulous scholarship?” No. It's heresy! People in the ELCA need to know what is happening in their church and what their leaders are teaching. “(P)ostmodern readers should strive to envision Christ as gender queer. . .” so says ordained Evangelical Lutheran Church in America pastor Megan Rohrer. Rev. Rohrer is “The first openly transgender Lutheran pastor ordained in the United States” (see here). The pastor says this in an essay “she” authored titled “Male Brides of the Mother Christ.” Here are some of the “her” more egregious comments: “When queer readers name Christ as a gender queer mother/father it is not done out of fear of linking Christ to a queer sexual orientation. If Christ is both male and female, then it is impossible for a Christ to have an opposite-sex relationship. And if it is true as Paul writes in Galatians 3:28 that in Christ we too are no longer male or female, then it is also impossible for any Christians to have an opposite-sex relationship.” For the past three years Rev. Rohrer has been a contributing blogger for the ELCA website Living Lutheran (see here). Also, Rev. Rohrer “has been the Executive Director of The Welcome since June of 2002 and has been called to this ministry by a joint call from herchurch (Ebenezer Lutheran), Christ Church Lutheran, St. Fracis Lutheran and Sts. Mary and Martha Lutheran. Megan is rostered and overseen by both the local Lutheran and Episcopal bishops. Megan is also called to serve as an Associate Pastor at St. Aidan's Episcopal Church.” All churches are in the San Francisco Bay area. (see here) Any God-fearing denomination should find these comments heretical and incompatible with their teaching and take action against the pastor who made them. But the ELCA will take no action. They have proven to be accepting of these kind of teachings in the past (just look around this website) and Rev. Rohrer's teachings are well known by her superiors. |
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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