See the Missouri Synod or a good Baptist Church. Who needs a liberal church...what an oxymoron.
Most of the articles on the ELCA Lutherans are from people who are not Lutherans in the first place.
That Synod is not the true Lutheran Church.
The LCMS and Wisc. Syn are the traditional High German
and Conservative Lutheran Church.
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Obama Says A Baby Is A Punishment
Obama: “If they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby.”
A synod built on a seminary split, ELCA’ns choosing to believe that the bible is part divine inspiration, part author embellishment set it all off in the 1970’s. They were once part of the Missouri Synod if my memory is correct.
Actually, I’m suprised that they didn’t have gay clergy before - their reputation has been as a pc group for a long time. Lutheran in name only.
Back to the only Church that wasn’t founded after Pentecost Sunday, 33 A.D.
First of all, the ELCA is NOT the only Lutheran denomination. There are several conservative Lutheran denominations that teach that all forms of homosexuality are contrary to the Word of God. You have plenty of options. You shouldn’t be surprised that the ELCA voted to accept another practice contrary to the Word of God. It has been teaching false doctrine since it’s conception. Why did it take you so long to figure this out? What are you going to do about it?
Christ promised, in a high priestly prayer spoken the night before He was crucified, that His Church would be unified (Jn 17:1-26). Jesus is perfectly righteous, so His prayers for His Church will be answered. He said the world would know His Church by the unity of His disciples (Jn 17:21).
There are well over 20,000 Protestant denominations. Where is the unity there?
Paul describes the Church as the “Pillar and Foundation of Truth” (1 Tim 3:15). Why so many “truths” in Protestantism?
The essential nature of Protestantism is to attempt to bring renewal through division and fragmentation (protest). This is unscriptural. Jesus, Paul, and John ask for unity and beg members not to let divisions occur.
If you believe Sacred Scripture, you believe Christ promised that the Holy Spirit would guide His Church and the gates of Hell would not prevail against it. The Reformation happened in the 1500s. Does this mean the gates of Hell had prevailed against the Church and that the Holy Spirit ceased to guide Christ’s Church after the apostles died? As said in 2Tim 4:3-4, “when the truth is not pleasing, they will create their own.”
Only the Catholic Church claims Christ as its founder; all other Christian religions claim Christ as their head, but a human as their founder.
The Lutheran Church’s decision is an opportunity, a sign, and a challenge to examine its origins. I ask you, in all humility, to take a fresh look at the Catholic Church. It is full of imperfect people; but its doctrine is unchanged from the time of the apostles. It backs this claim up biblically and historically. If you would like to examine this objectively, read “Surprised By Truth.”
I hope this does not offend you. I just needed to say it to someone who obviously loves God’s word and is searching. God bless your search.
Since Lutherans came from the Catholic Church, I see them coming back too. I will not be surprised at all if we have Lutherans as well as some disenchangted Anglicans and Episcopalians in our RCIA classes that are starting in September.
What do the rest of you think?
Go to a strict Baptist, Bible or Evangelical Free Church. Go to a church that is Bible based and passionate about God’s Holy Word. Please do not choose a church just because you like the music. Do not go to a church that is based on man’s traditions which change like the wind that blows. Ask God to lead you to the church that He knows you belong in and trust Him to do so.
LORD, WHERE SHALL WE LUTHERANS GO?
Home?
Mel
Why not get a head start on the rest of us, and begin to practice whatever you plan to do when being openly Christian is made illegal?
A bible-based, non-denominational church.
A suggestion of where to go for ELCA members: When the first truly doctrinally indifferent, socially-driven merger occurred in one of the predecessor church bodies of the ELCA, that of 1917, when the Norwegian Synod, the United Norwegian Lutheran Church of North American, and the Hauge Synod, they formed a church body that a little later was named the Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELC). The basis of their merger was, besides the Norwegian ethnicity of all three groups, characterized by a phrase derived from a “study document” of the time. The phrase was “agree to disagree.” That phrase became the organizing and operating principle of each new merger that followed, culminating in the 1981 merger that became the ELCA. So, after 92 years, when the first agreement to disagree was over the doctrine of election (really about whether the Bible and Lutheran Confessions taught SOLA GRATIA, that is, saved by grace, 100% the work of God), the ELCA has now agreed to disagree about whether homosexuality and same sex marriage is a sin or a wonderful and blessed gift of God. WOW! To say that Martin Luther would be spinning in his grave is putting it mildly ... he was surely spinning in his grave in 1917 too, but that was then and this is now.
A small group of congregations (seven) and pastors refused to go along with the 1917 merger. That small group, grown to about 140 congregations, still exists today. They have their own college and seminary, and can be found throughout the country. It is called the Evangelical Lutheran Synod (ELS). They confess and teach today what they did in 1917. So, instead of looking for a new home, how about an old home. Come home. It may not be an easy change for you, because you have wandered far, far from home. But SOLA GRATIA, SOLA FIDE, SOLA SCRIPTURA, and thus, SOLUS CHRISTUS still reign supreme, and the cross of Christ not only remains firmly attached to steeples, but Christ crucified for sinners is preached every Sunday in every congregation by every pastor.
Did the homosexuals just nail their theses to your door? Relax, you've just been "reformed". You've experienced a "reformation" in a way you never expected. Enjoy.
What goes around, comes around.