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The ELCA has jumped aboard the "trans" train and is going full steam ahead. ELCA publications are publishing articles "normalizing" transgenderism. ELCA leaders are making public calls to allow transgender individuals in the bathroom, locker room and shower of their choosing. The denomination ordains persons who desire to be the opposite sex of which they were born. ELCA seminaries indoctrinate their students in the cause. The denomination's health coverage pays for transgender surgery. (Check out these links to see many of the trans-happenings in the ELCA - here and scroll down this page) The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is turning into the Trans Lutheran Church in America.
Here are the newest examples: - Rev. Kirby Unti is bishop of the Northwestern Washington Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He wrote an opinion piece for the Seattle Times titled "Maintaining transgender rights aligns with my Christian faith." (see here) And below Bishop Unti is publicly calling to keep the WA state rule requiring businesses to grant bathroom and locker room access on the basis of gender identity.
- Here the ELCA website Living Lutheran has an article titled "Bathroom brouhaha" where the author argues for transgender individuals to use the bathroom of their choice. (see here)
- WELCA is recommending “30 books about 'mighty women' published in 2015." One of the books is “Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American Family." This is a transgender feel good story. WELCA's link provides this synopsis of the book: "The twin boys that Wayne and Kelly Maines adopted could not have been more different: Jonas loved trucks, sports, and other 'boyish' pursuits, while Wyatt sought out princess dolls and dress-up clothes. By the time the twins were toddlers, Wyatt was insisting he was a girl. In the process of coming to understand Nicole, their daughter, the Maines faced conflict both within and outside the family. It meant rewriting the script at home and the rules at school and in a community that was suddenly forced to confront its prejudices. This inspiring story of a transgirl who stood up for the right to be herself — and the family and friends who stood by her — sheds a new, very personal light on one of the great cultural debate of our time.” (see WELCA Facebook post here) - A recent edition of the ELCA’s The Lutheran has a nice story about a pastor finding out she has Jewish grandparents. Tucked in at the end of the story is this line, “Three rambunctious little boys come in with their parent, who is fine with them calling her 'Dad' even though she is now a woman.” The ELCA is trying to normalize sinful, deviant behavior. (see here) - The Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (ELCA) posting a transaffirmative blog saying "In recent years the glorious dynamism of the trans community has been poignantly visible in virtually every media and even – in the case of the next writer – in the halls of LSTC. So please read and enjoy the following reflection upon transgender identity and pay close attention to River’s heartfelt tutorial on trans-identity and respect." (see here) - St. Olaf College, an Evangelical Lutheran Church in America school proudly posting about their class of 2009 transgender student. 
- This St. Paul, MN ELCA church writes on their website “Gloria Dei is pleased to offer the blessing of Jesus Christ to couples of all sexual orientations and gender identities.” (see here)
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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.)
Brenda Smith, program director for faith practices and missional development of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, is quoted in the recent ELCA's magazine The Lutheran: "Congregations would be smart to embrace the cultural norms of 2016, including the needs of young people and the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, the use of technology, people’s busy schedules and the fact that the church isn't the center of life anymore". That is precisely what is wrong with liberal, mainline denominations. They have ditched the Scriptures and have embraced today's cultural norms. That is why we have mainline denominations supporting abortion, homosexual behavior, universalism, syncretism, yoga, and other trends in our culture. These denominations need to hear and obey the clear admonition of the Apostle Paul: "Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind" (Romans 12:2). Sincerely in Christ, Pastor Tom Brock Exposing the ELCA has been documenting for years that the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's leadership does not believe the Creation account God placed in Scripture. (read about 1500+ ELCA leaders signing a letter in support of evolution here. Also scroll down the page here to find a bunch of ELCA evolution related information) Let me give you another example from the ELCA's official magazine, The Lutheran - “It’s hard to believe that any ancient writer would have penned the Genesis story for the sake of recording good science. If that was the author’s intent, he (or they) failed miserably. The early chapters of Genesis make for lousy empirical science. Not that this has kept numbers of Christians from trying to cram every dinosaur jawbone, distant galaxy and Grand Canyon formation into the span of the last 6,000 years. The Genesis story was never meant to tell us how the world was created. It is rather a masterful treatise for informing us who created this floating orb in its magnificent universe. From the story, we learn that God appreciates beauty, design and order over ugliness, nonsense and chaos. One doesn’t have to tread far into Scripture before discovering that humans were created for relationship with God and one another. These convictions of faith are hardly at the heart of scientific inquiry.” (see here) The ELCA is trying to discredit the historical account of Genesis in this paragraph because they have decided that God did not, as He said, create the universe in six 24 hour days. And that brings us to Evolution Weekend! (February 12 - 14, 2016) The pro-evolution website, "The Clergy Letter Project," which organizes this event says, "Evolution Weekend is an opportunity for serious discussion and reflection on the relationship between religion and science." “Religious people from many diverse faith traditions and locations around the world understand that evolution is quite simply sound science.” Of course there are ELCA churches participating. They participate "through sermons, discussion groups, meaningful conversations and seminars..." conducted by each individual church.
(The following two articles were written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and twitter - here.)
Erin Strybis is an associate editor for Living Lutheran. She is an "avid yogi" and a member of an ELCA church in Chicago. She writes at the ELCA website: "The closest I’ve felt to God, as of late, was not in church. It was on my yoga mat last Wednesday." (see here) There is a Lutheran Church in the Twin Cities that advertisers yoga classes on a sign on its front lawn. I went to the church's website and saw a picture of a yogi in a seated position. You would have thought it was a page from a Hindu website. This is what got the ancient Jews in trouble. They kept worshiping Jehovah God, but added other pagan spiritual practices. In the end God judged them by bringing in the Babylonians. You cannot worship God and Baal. I recently visited a Missouri Synod Lutheran congregation (the Missouri Synod is much more conservative than the ELCA). Even this congregation was advertising a "Christian yoga" class led by one of the members. I wrote the pastor an email sharing my concern but got not reply. I am reminded of the song from Oklahoma "I'm just a girl who can't say 'No'". Sadly, pagan practices are making their way into Christian churches because some pastors do not have the backbone to say "No" to parishioners who may mean well but are deceived. May each of us this day keep the First Commandment: to worship no other gods than the one true God. In Jesus our Savior, Pastor Tom Brock pastorsstudy.org -- The Lutheran magazine promotes yoga In the latest edition of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's official magazine, we are encouraged to do yoga. Yoga is a Hindu practice that has to do with becoming one with the Ultimate. It has nothing to do with Christianity, but that doesn't keep the ELCA magazine from promoting it. "Syncretism" is the belief that one should take aspects of all religions and mix them together. This is precisely what got the Old Testament Jews in trouble when they tried to worship Yahweh alongside Baal and Ashtorah. You can read the whole sad story below. Sincerely in Christ, Pastor Tom Brock Pastorsstudy.org http://www.thelutheran.org/article/article.cfm?article_id=12931 (The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and twitter - here.)
Alicia Vargas, a seminary professor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, has written an article on the Lord's Prayer. She writes we can "expand" the Lord's Prayer to include God "the Mother". She writes: "Today, when both fatherly and motherly roles are lifted up as social patterns of responsibility and authority for their family in many parts of the world, we can expand the image for the addressee of this prayer to 'Our Father/Our Mother.'" Is this not sinful arrogance to say that we in the position to correct Jesus Christ's model prayer? No, we do not know more than Jesus Christ. We are not in the position of correcting or "expanding" His prayer. Pastor Tom Brock Pastorsstudy.org (see The Lutheran article here) (The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and twitter - here.)
I just read the current issue of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's official magazine. There are three letters to the editor responding to the magazine's recent glowing article on the ordination of the ELCA's first transgender pastor. All three letters are on the "pro-gay" side. Perhaps there were people who wrote sharing disagreement over this latest tragedy in the ELCA and perhaps the editors did not choose to print them. On the other hand, the one place (often the only place) one can find a conservative opinion in The Lutheran is in the Letters to the Editor section. I'm guessing here, but perhaps no one wrote to complain about the ELCA's endorsement of transgender clergy. If you know the history of The Lutheran magazine, it has been liberal for a long, long time. And its subscription rate has dropped hugely over the years. I am guessing that many of the conservatives who would have once written in have long since cancelled their subscription. When the ELCA ordains a transgender pastor and no one complains, wow, have things gone wrong. When I pray for the Church these days, I pray that those churches which are heretical will repent. I also pray that those churches which refuse to repent will die. I pray the people in those churches will be moved into good, Biblical churches. This indeed is happening. The growing churches in America are the Bible-based, often non-denominational, churches. And the churches which are dying are the ones which have abandoned the authority of Scripture to embrace homosexual and transgender pastors, universalism, de-sexing God language, and lessening of missions (the ELCA, United Church of Christ, Episcopal Church in America, Presbyterian Church USA). Please pray for Christ's Church today, that the Lord would grow the churches which honor Him and shrink those which do not. In Jesus our Savior, Pastor Tom Brock pastorsstudy.org (The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and twitter - here.)
A glowing article about Megan Rohrer, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s first transgender pastor, appears in the current issue of the ELCA’s official magazine “The Lutheran”. I’m not sure, but it appears from her picture that Megan is a woman who thinks she is a man. The article asks her “How do I refer to someone who is transgender?” She responds: “…it is best to use the name and the gender or non-gender pronoun they prefer.” So, if a woman is confused and thinks she is a he, we are to aid her confusion and call her “he”. Next Rohrer is asked “What about people who say being transgender is a sin?” She responds: “Thankfully, as Lutherans we believe God’s grace is more important news than who and how we are sinning.” This is called grace abuse, the belief that we can continue to live in sin because we are saved by grace. The Apostle Paul taught the opposite in Romans 6:1 “Are we to continue in sin that that grace might abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” This current example of grace abuse is reminiscent of a Lutheran bishop who years ago defended elective abortions at a Lutheran hospital in Portland, Oregon by saying that we can do these abortions “because the Lutheran Church believes in the grace of God.” Tragic. Because we are saved by grace, we can kill babies. Of course, the opposite is true. In Ephesians 2:8-10 the Apostle Paul insists that salvation by grace leads us to good works. But sadly in the ELCA one can live in homosexual or transsexual behavior, have an abortion, etc. and there is no need to repent. Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:22-23 are telling where He teaches one can do many wonderful things in HIs name, but “I will declare to them “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.”” We will not be perfect in this life, but true grace leads us to repent when we commit “works of lawlessness”. If there is no repentance, one has not been touched by the grace of God. As one pastor rightly put it “We are saved by grace alone, but grace never is alone.” Years ago I never would have dreamed that I would see an article in The Lutheran promoting transgender pastors. If you are an ELCA member, it is time to take your time, talents and money and join a more Biblical denomination. In Jesus our Savior, Pastor Tom Brock (See The Lutheran article here) (The following article was written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and twitter - here.)
Frederic and Mary Anne Brussat write a monthly column for the national magazine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He is a United Church of Christ pastor and she is an interfaith minister, ordained by the One Spirit Interfaith Seminary. If that sounds kind of New Age and "all religions are fine", that's the way their website looks. Through the years the Brussats regularly commend liberal books and media to their readers. Here is how their July 2015 article begins as they recommend a book by liberal theologian Harvey Cox: "Many mainline Protestant congregations have been split apart by biblical literalists who say there is only one way to read the Bible. Harvey Cox, who has taught at Harvard Divinity School, Cambridge, Mass., since 1965, can be counted on to help read and study the Bible with an open heart and mind." So there it is, if you have a conservative view of Scripture, you split churches apart. If you're liberal, you have an open heart and mind. The truth is that the liberal view of Scripture has caused division in ELCA churches where some ELCA pastors promote universalism, abortion rights, and homosexual behavior. Some ELCA seminary professors deny various miracles in the Bible like the Virgin Birth of Christ, some teach we should worship "God the Mother", and a number teach that all people will go to heaven, whether they believe in Jesus or not. So who is "splitting apart" the Church? Not those who believe in traditional Christian doctrine, but those who deny it. It is the reason that liberal, mainline denominations have shrunk in the last 40 years. In Jesus our Savior, Pastor Tom Brock The following is by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. Follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and twitter - here.
The April issue of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's official magazine, The Lutheran, has on its cover "Helping Save the Earth". The articles inside are about saving the planet. Yes, we should be good stewards of the environment, but I got to thinking: When is the last time The Lutheran had a cover article "Saving lost human souls through the Gospel of Christ"? I have never seen such a cover. Maybe because the ELCA doesn't know if it believes people are really lost without Christ. The Lutheran has printed a number of articles espousing universalism, the heresy that faith in Christ is not necessary for salvation (ultimately everyone universally will be saved, Christian or not). Where in the ELCA is the zeal for saving lost human souls? Tragically, I believe it has been replaced with concern for saving the planet, changing immigration laws, Middle East politics, gay advocacy, etc. etc. Just go to ELCA.org and look at its "News releases". Its mainly liberal politics. Perhaps the reason the number of ELCA missionaries has dropped dramatically since the ELCA's founding in 1988 is because many in ELCA leadership do not believe in Hell anymore. And in the ELCA's hymnal, the line in the Apostle's Creed that Jesus "descended into hell" has been left out. Years ago when I was still in the ELCA, some conservative pastors and I went to our Minneapolis Area Synod conventions every year and raised questions like: Why does the ELCA pay for abortion with offering dollars in its healthcare plan? Why is the ELCA promoting homosexuality? Why are we changing the Biblical "Father, Son and Holy Spirit" language for feminine images of God? One year we even had a resolution reaffirming the Bible's teaching that Jesus is the only way of salvation (John 14:6, Acts 4:12). It lost. What did pass one year was a resolution that we go back to our churches and encourage that we drink coffee out of ceramic cups because styrofoam cups are dangerous to the environment. I could take it no more and got to the microphone: "If we cared half as much about the dangers of hell as we do about the dangers of the styrofoam cup, there might be hope for this synod." Well, in three days we celebrate the resurrection of Christ, when He triumphed over sin, death and Hell for us. And yes, according to the Bible and Jesus Christ Himself, Hell really does exists. In the love of our Risen Savior, Pastor Tom Brock pastorsstudy.org High Profile ELCA Pastor Believes Jesus, if not Single, Was In a Sexual Relationship With a Man3/4/2015 Clint Schnekloth is one of the most prominent and influential pastors in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and his voice carries a lot of weight in the denomination. He is an author and blogger; he launched and facilitates the ELCA Clergy Facebook Group that has over 5800 members. And Pastor Schnekloth himself tells us that he -
In a letter posted on his blog he writes - “This is why I'd like to say here what I often say to LGBT families in our congregation. Not only are you welcome. Not only are you tolerated. You are beautiful. Your same-gender partnership is attractive and a witness in our church. We want to learn from you.” (read here) Again on the ELCA Clergy Facebook page, Rev. Schnekloth writes - “Here is what I want to know. It seems popular these days to go with the Gnostic notion that Jesus was married. But this seems to fall right into the hands of heteronormativity. If Jesus wasn't single, it's pretty clear to me he was in a committed relationship with the beloved disciple, another man. Why do we assume he was attracted to women?” (posted here) How sad that this man's view, this man's theology, is whole-heartedly accepted in the ELCA. After reading Pastor Schnekloth's defaming of Christ and celebration of sexual sin, it is with gladness that I can tell you there was a massive split in the church (Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Fayetteville, AR) that Rev. Schnekloth leads. Last month Rev. Schnekloth wrote - “I'm doing a 'state of the church' sermon tomorrow. My plan is to name the reality of the new church that has broken off from us...” - (read here and for a news article of the new church read here) It is almost unbelievable that anyone chose to remain under the leadership of this vocal, extremely liberal pastor. It is equally unbelievable that 3.8 million people have chosen to remain under the teaching of the satanically-inspired theology of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The ELCA's official magazine cover story for their December 2014 issue of The Lutheran is titled “Mary & mariachi music:Virgin of Guadalupe, Dec. 12.” In the cover story we read all about Trinity of Manhattan [N.Y.] Lutheran Church celebrating the Virgin of Guadalupe:
“The day commemorates the vision and miracle when a girl appeared to peasant Juan Diego on a hill outside of Mexico City with instructions to build a temple on the site. When he delivered the message to the local bishop, roses not native to the area fell from Diego’s cloak and an image of the Virgin Mary was impressed on the simple garment.” The Lutheran magazine goes on: “The first part of Trinity’s celebration, Las Mananitas, occurs at 6 a.m. on Dec. 12. Worshipers leave roses at the altar. They sing songs to Mary, enjoy Mexican sweetbread and a rice drink, and go on to work or school.” (read here) Is this the message ELCA leadership wants to send its readers, that singing songs to Mary is encouraged in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America? A church that sings songs to someone other than God sounds like it is worshiping that entity. And why is the ELCA lifting up a celebration of a supposed vision of the Virgin Mary? It's hard to believe they would believe this was a God-directed occurrence when the denomination's top leaders do not even believe the first chapter of the Bible (God's account of creation). I guess the ELCA will do anything to get people into their pews, even that which doesn't conform to the truth of Scripture. Sadly this is not the first time, nor, I might say, will it be their last. By Pastor Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. Please follow/like Pastor Brock on Facebook by going here and twitter users here.
In 2009 the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America voted to ordain practicing homosexuals as pastors. Many ELCA pastors now perform homosexual “weddings.” The ELCA also has its first “partnered” homosexual bishop. In the October edition of The Lutheran, the ELCA’s official magazine, it is reported that the ELCA is establishing a working group to explore how to minister to same-gender couples and their families. Who is the chair of this group? George Watson, an ELCA member, who “is in a same-sex relationship.” Once upon a time the Lutheran Church would discipline people living in impenitent sin. Today, it puts them in charge. The Lutheran magazine published an article called “The Hauntmaster’s Dream for Halloween: ‘Bigger, badder, faster, stronger’” (read here) highlighting a Halloween haunted house experience run by a young person in New York.
The ELCA magazine tells how the teen has been “producing the Halloween event for the past four years,” and that “calling the house an asylum lends itself to stunts. 'There’s lots of banging on the walls.' “The most popular scenario is sure to be the 'Butcher Shop,' noted this Eagle Scout candidate, who likes to give back to the youth group since it was such a big part of his life. 'Last year I used a lot of butcher props on loan from a friend in Warren, Pa., like foam feet, arms, legs, heads, all covered in lots of blood and put on festive decorated trays.'” We also learn that “School friends and youth group members also play spooky parts, like working a chain saw, running around covered in cobwebs, wielding axes and being the hooded guides.” But don't worry, the haunted house with all its scenes of blood, gore and killing, meant to instill fear in young and old alike, will give all its proceeds to the church. Jesus would be proud. Critical comments from readers printed in The Lutheran to the ELCA/publishers of the magazine:
"Not buying it I am all for elevating people out of poverty (July, page 16). But I do not share your cheerleading enthusiasm that paints economic inequality as demonic injustice. Nor do I share your animosity toward the so-called '1 percent.' I thought the Bible was a staunch critic of envy. Oh, I forgot this is all Democratic Party talking-points. Carry on. The Rev. John R. Thompson Treasure Island, Fla." (read here) "Enough already Marty’s article distracts from, rather than enriches, our worship of God. Why would it bother anyone to think of God in masculine terms? Is God ever referred to in the Bible as anything but 'he'? We cannot make God over to fit our human terms because God is God. Traditional hymns in Evangelical Lutheran Worship have already been reworded to avoid masculine pronouns for God. Now this. Enough. Hildegard P. Lamparter Lititz, Pa." (read here) “Politicized gospel The recent visit by ELCA bishops to Congress (May, page 4) reminds all yet again of church leaders’ devotion to a politicized, self-absorbed gospel. Peter advises Christ’s followers to 'always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.' Confident believers answer by boldly confessing Christ crucified and raised from the dead. But our bishops’ hope centers on convincing lawmakers to spend other people’s money on the ELCA’s lofty causes. Cheap grace indeed. Cliff Hadley Huron, S.D." (read here) “Law and gospel Once again Marty shows that neither he nor this denomination is in any way, shape or form Lutheran (May, page 3). Instead of discussing 'The Ten Words' as the law, which serves as a curb, a guide and principally a mirror, he denigrates obedience to them (which sinners can never fully achieve). Funny how Jesus told those whom he healed to 'go and sin no more.' God does command us to do things we cannot do. That’s why God fulfilled the law himself for us (the gospel). Drew Kornreich Los Alamos, N.M." (read here) Read for yourself what the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America published about salvation. It's from an article written by an ELCA seminary professor:
“Difficult as it is—because I always think of it as unfair—I’ve come to accept God’s universal salvation as the final consequence of Jesus’ resurrection. I think of all the best and worst, the innocent and the guilty, Holocaust victims and the evil perpetrators, those killed in all of our senseless wars and the misguided leaders who send them into battle. Christ will raise us all—and somehow bend us into shape so we become the human beings we were intended to be.” (read the article published in the ELCA's The Lutheran magazine here) Make no mistake, the ELCA magazine does NOT say that faith is required for salvation. They are clear: all people will go to heaven. Hitler, who murdered 6 million Jews, is in heaven according to them -- as are all his Nazi minions. In the same vein, so is ELCA member and late-term abortion doctor George Tiller . . . and Josef Stalin, Osama bin Laden, King Herod, kidnappers, rapists, murderers, terrorists . . . all people go to heaven, even if they reject Christ, according to the ELCA. Here is another quote from the article advocating universal salvation: “Because Jesus is risen everything has changed radically. We are set free from serving the powers of death with our lives, fears, policies...This vision also applies to everyone. Paul says 'all' repeatedly, and I take it that he means 'all.' Theologian Robert Farrar Capon taught me years ago that Jesus didn’t come to repair the repairable, correct the correctable, improve the improvable. He came to raise the dead! The only final condition for eternal participation in Christ’s victory is that we be dead, 100 percent, gold-plated dead.” All dead people go to heaven . . . so says the ELCA. That is completely false and hundreds of verses from God's Word make this clear. There is a hell. People will go there. The universal salvation message, that the ELCA is espousing, is deceiving its members and putting their salvation at risk. It is by grace, through faith in Jesus, that anyone may have the assurance of salvation. Who are these leaders who have the audacity to declare anything other than what God's Word declares? --- See more documentation on the ELCA teaching universalism here. |
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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