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To: Rashputin
Given the differences of opinion on what constitutes being an, "Evangelical"

My two cents: in contemporary culture, an "Evangelical" church is any church that adheres to the basics of Christian doctrine, but is non-liturgical and non-creedal. Some are fundamentalist, some are charismatic or Pentecostal.

One church that is definitely not Evangelical: the now-misnamed Evangelical Lutheran Church In America.

48 posted on 04/03/2014 6:17:20 PM PDT by chajin ("There is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12)
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To: chajin
That's probably as good definition as I've heard.

". . . the now-misnamed Evangelical Lutheran Church In America."

I was Lutheran, Missouri Synod for over thirty years. The Church I went to had a large faction that was ticked off because they didn't hold services in German any more. About ten years ago, it got to were while they're no where near as far gone as other Lutherans, you can hear the ice cracking under them and feel the changes creeping around.

I think a little at a time even the Missouri Synod is going to fade away as the congregations age to the point that people who are now in their fifties are gone.

Naturally, I only know about a handful of congregations I've got friends in, so maybe it's specific to some areas and less so in others. Here solidly in what was once the Bible Belt, though, it's surprising. I likewise have SBC friends who are having to fight tooth and nail to keep their church from sliding down and leaving the SBC so the rot runs deep across the board.

It's the same sort of winnowing out of the wolves in sheep's clothing, the proud, and those who shirk taking up their cross that's going on in the Catholic Church. It's a reduction of the army the same way Gideon was told to reduce his forces but this time with or without the consent of the "officers".

Those who cannot function as part of a team will be finding they can't function in the Lord's Army any more than they can function in a military unit independently of all others and a law unto themselves. There are incredible victories waiting in the wings but the army of Faithful will be so small there will be no doubt about who was in charge and is responsible for the victory.

JMHO

54 posted on 04/03/2014 9:58:25 PM PDT by Rashputin (Jesus Christ doesn't evacuate His troops, He leads them to victory.)
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