In our youth we were cautioned to walk the straight and narrow path. We were called to make decisions using the morals and values instilled in us by our parents and by our Father in Heaven. In other words we were counseled to conduct ourselves with integrity and to choose our actions wisely. It is when we make poor choices and fall from that path that trouble befalls us. Our Lord, Jesus Christ taught in the parable of the “Narrow and Wide Gates” in Matthew 7:13-14, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Following our sinful nature is easy for us. It comes naturally, because human beings are inherently self centered and inconsiderate toward others. This is why it is so easy for so many to accept the ELCA’s teaching of the “gospel of affirmation”. Having one’s weaknesses and imperfections affirmed as good and correct, allows that person to feel good about himself. Having no one to criticize or condemn your transgressions, allows you to continue in your sin without remorse or the need to repent. Feeling guilty about one’s behavior and having to confess that they fall short of expectations is difficult in this society that is so concerned about maintaining positive self esteem.
The ELCA has adopted doctrine to make sinful behavior acceptable in their church, directing those that accept this doctrine to the wide road of destruction. Their Biblical scholars challenge the authority of Scripture and accuse the Spirit inspired authors of bias, misunderstanding God’s true intent and conclude that they often offer conflicting and contradictory views. Why does the leadership of this misguided denomination persist in casting doubt upon the very truths they are charged to uphold? Our Lord calls us to deny ourselves and to take up His cross. These progressive leaders of the ELCA lift up the self and deny our Savior. Why is it so important to lift up the sexual identities of the LGTB community if our call is place our Lord above all else and deny our very selves. Matthew 10:37-39, Jesus said, “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38 and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” If we insist upon lifting up the self, we will be unworthy in the sight of our Lord. When one’s life becomes more important than our Savior, they will lose their life and their salvation.
The leaders of the ELCA are deliberately leading their membership to ruin. Emphasizing the self while minimizing our Lord in their ministry, puts their membership at risk when they accept this false doctrine. The leadership of the ELCA preaches love and unity, while they debase and chastise those that reveal the truth of their apostasy. So it is obvious that the ELCA has chosen a path that is in conflict with the path that our Lord has directed us to take. Now what? Should we stay with an organization that does not uphold our Lutheran values? As difficult as it may be, we need to break fellowship with the ELCA and find that synod that embraces the Lutheran core beliefs, not one that only gives lip service to God’s word while challenging the authority of Scripture. We need to find a partner that shares the values that our Lord has instilled in us and upholds the authority of Scripture. We need to find a synod that proclaims the Gospel of Jesus Christ and embraces the Great Commission. We need to find an organization that doesn’t look to offer a “big Tent” in order to maintain fellowship despite a variety of opinions, but one that embraces Jesus Christ, while striving for justice, not placing justice ahead of our Lord and Savior.
If you considered joining an organization, would it not be important to you that the organization shares the same values and beliefs that you do? Would you become a member of an organization that believed and behaved contrary to the values and beliefs that you espouse? While many would argue that it doesn’t matter what the greater church believes; that it only matters what one believes in their own hearts, it does matter greatly. Being a member of any organization carries with it the assumption that you, as a member of that organization, accept and practice what that organization preaches. So, to say that we belong to an organization, but don’t believe as they do, is nothing short of being hypocritical. John 5:22-23, Jesus said, “Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.” The false doctrines promoted by the leaders of the ELCA dishonor our Lord. Those that accept these false doctrines place their very salvation at risk. Those that choose to remain in fellowship with the ELCA take the very real risk that they too, will be overtaken by these false gospels.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Searchin'
This comment on the post "Spare the Rod" was received from a person troubled by the content of the article. My first impulse was to simply delete the comment as inappropriate. But, after much prayer and contemplation, I felt it was better to respond to this comment point by point since it appears that the writer is searching for something. I believe that she may be searching for the Lord, but does not know how to find Him. This post is made to reach out in Christian love to my fellow sister in Christ.
“The bible was written in a time of self mutilating, murder and incest. It is a book of laws to instill fear so we can basically behave.”
The Bible was indeed written long ago by uneducated men. In the first book of the Bible, Cain murders his brother Abel. Lot’s daughters had children by their father. The Bible contains the Ten Commandments and many other laws pertaining to the Israelites. So some of the assumptions above are valid. But, we are free to disobey God’s law, without consequence in this life, and to live our lives as we choose. God came to us as human being, took the burden of our sins to the cross, suffered horribly and died in our place, so that we may live. We rightly deserved that punishment, but God took that punishment upon Himself and forgave us all our sins. And all we have to do is believe and He offers us salvation, eternal life with Him in Heaven. When one accepts the truth that is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, we obey God’s law because we love God and truly want to please Him.
“The law of nature is that we evolve as a society and since such is so, the bible's meaning must also be evaluated and adjusted to fit today's life.”
Many of the laws of today's society mirror those handed to Moses on Mt. Sinai, so many years ago. Many of the laws that society consistently ridicules from the early books of the Old Testament were given to the Israelites to protect them from pestilence and disease. As modern society looks upon the Bible as archaic and tries to amend God’s word we fall further away from the Truth. Much of the great works of art and literature are hundreds of years old and are still considered masterpieces. The Bible is no different. Pattern your life along the path that Jesus walked and you will find much joy in this life.
“Organized religion is violent, irrational, intolerant, allied to racism, tribalism, and bigotry, invested in ignorance and hostile to free inquiry, contemptuous of women and coercive toward children. The Bible may, indeed does, contain a warrant for trafficking in humans, for ethnic cleansing, for slavery, for bride-price, and for indiscriminate massacre, but we are not bound by any of it because it was put together by crude, uncultured human mammals and it is time that we admitted that faith is nothing more than the license religious people give one another to keep believing when reasons fail. It is terrible that we all die and lose everything we love; it is doubly terrible that so many human beings suffer needlessly while alive. That so much of this suffering can be directly attributed to religion—to religious hatreds, religious wars, religious delusions and religious diversions of scarce resources—is what makes atheism a moral and intellectual necessity.”
It is true that many wars were fought in the name of religion. We are affected to this day by Muslim extremists that use religion as a justification to murder innocents. It is indeed unfortunate that it is man, yes man, that twists God’s word and lashes out against his fellow man in the name of religion. Those that hold fast to the truth that is Jesus Christ have no need for the evil ways of this world. Man is inherently evil. That is our nature. Without the morals and values instilled in us through God’s word, we would be uncultured human mammals. With God’s word to guide us, we can have a society that can coexist. Unfortunately, the evil in this world is not caused by God, it is caused by man. Man, when left to his own devices will inevitably turn the world upside down. If we would choose follow God’s word and obey His law, the world would live in harmony. It is when we choose to not believe and consider ourselves too enlightened to believe a book written thousands of years ago, that we will fall into sin and cannot free ourselves. So if anyone is to blame for societies ills, we need look no further than the mirror. We have met the enemy, and it is us, not the God who created everything that is good.
“Human decency is not derived from religion. It precedes it.”
Without the laws given to us by our Lord, we would become the uncultured human mammals described by the commenter. Love your neighbor as yourself, feed the hungry and thirsty, welcome strangers, clothe those in need, visit those who are sick or in prison. If someone slaps you, do not strike them, turn the other cheek. Do unto others as you would have them do to you. These are not society’s laws, these are the commands of Jesus Christ. It is when we choose to disregard our Lord's commands that cause us trials and tribulations.
“Beat your children and you only teach them to beat their children. Please read your post again maybe then you will see that your form of "equal" punishment is not only barbaric but steeped in ignorance.”
The posting “Spare the Rod” was not intended to advocate that parents beat their children. Children that receive no guidance or boundaries from their parents typically do not grow to become responsible adults. Without structure and discipline a child will have difficulty determining the proper way to behave in society. As parents we want the best for our children, so we try to teach them the proper values and behaviors that will help them be successful as they grow into adults. So, yes, it is imperative that our children are taught the proper behaviors and sometimes we need to punish inappropriate behavior so that the child will not repeat those actions. But, these actions of discipline are not done out of anger, they are done out of our love for our children. Our Lord also taught us to reach out to others in Christian love. Many of the questions raised above are answered much more eloquently in the writings and insights into Scripture by Timothy Keller. I would recommend his book “The Reason for God, Belief in an Age of Skepticism” to anyone searching. I would also request prayer for this person that she does find the Lord and with that find the peace that she is searching for.
“The bible was written in a time of self mutilating, murder and incest. It is a book of laws to instill fear so we can basically behave.”
The Bible was indeed written long ago by uneducated men. In the first book of the Bible, Cain murders his brother Abel. Lot’s daughters had children by their father. The Bible contains the Ten Commandments and many other laws pertaining to the Israelites. So some of the assumptions above are valid. But, we are free to disobey God’s law, without consequence in this life, and to live our lives as we choose. God came to us as human being, took the burden of our sins to the cross, suffered horribly and died in our place, so that we may live. We rightly deserved that punishment, but God took that punishment upon Himself and forgave us all our sins. And all we have to do is believe and He offers us salvation, eternal life with Him in Heaven. When one accepts the truth that is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, we obey God’s law because we love God and truly want to please Him.
“The law of nature is that we evolve as a society and since such is so, the bible's meaning must also be evaluated and adjusted to fit today's life.”
Many of the laws of today's society mirror those handed to Moses on Mt. Sinai, so many years ago. Many of the laws that society consistently ridicules from the early books of the Old Testament were given to the Israelites to protect them from pestilence and disease. As modern society looks upon the Bible as archaic and tries to amend God’s word we fall further away from the Truth. Much of the great works of art and literature are hundreds of years old and are still considered masterpieces. The Bible is no different. Pattern your life along the path that Jesus walked and you will find much joy in this life.
“Organized religion is violent, irrational, intolerant, allied to racism, tribalism, and bigotry, invested in ignorance and hostile to free inquiry, contemptuous of women and coercive toward children. The Bible may, indeed does, contain a warrant for trafficking in humans, for ethnic cleansing, for slavery, for bride-price, and for indiscriminate massacre, but we are not bound by any of it because it was put together by crude, uncultured human mammals and it is time that we admitted that faith is nothing more than the license religious people give one another to keep believing when reasons fail. It is terrible that we all die and lose everything we love; it is doubly terrible that so many human beings suffer needlessly while alive. That so much of this suffering can be directly attributed to religion—to religious hatreds, religious wars, religious delusions and religious diversions of scarce resources—is what makes atheism a moral and intellectual necessity.”
It is true that many wars were fought in the name of religion. We are affected to this day by Muslim extremists that use religion as a justification to murder innocents. It is indeed unfortunate that it is man, yes man, that twists God’s word and lashes out against his fellow man in the name of religion. Those that hold fast to the truth that is Jesus Christ have no need for the evil ways of this world. Man is inherently evil. That is our nature. Without the morals and values instilled in us through God’s word, we would be uncultured human mammals. With God’s word to guide us, we can have a society that can coexist. Unfortunately, the evil in this world is not caused by God, it is caused by man. Man, when left to his own devices will inevitably turn the world upside down. If we would choose follow God’s word and obey His law, the world would live in harmony. It is when we choose to not believe and consider ourselves too enlightened to believe a book written thousands of years ago, that we will fall into sin and cannot free ourselves. So if anyone is to blame for societies ills, we need look no further than the mirror. We have met the enemy, and it is us, not the God who created everything that is good.
“Human decency is not derived from religion. It precedes it.”
Without the laws given to us by our Lord, we would become the uncultured human mammals described by the commenter. Love your neighbor as yourself, feed the hungry and thirsty, welcome strangers, clothe those in need, visit those who are sick or in prison. If someone slaps you, do not strike them, turn the other cheek. Do unto others as you would have them do to you. These are not society’s laws, these are the commands of Jesus Christ. It is when we choose to disregard our Lord's commands that cause us trials and tribulations.
“Beat your children and you only teach them to beat their children. Please read your post again maybe then you will see that your form of "equal" punishment is not only barbaric but steeped in ignorance.”
The posting “Spare the Rod” was not intended to advocate that parents beat their children. Children that receive no guidance or boundaries from their parents typically do not grow to become responsible adults. Without structure and discipline a child will have difficulty determining the proper way to behave in society. As parents we want the best for our children, so we try to teach them the proper values and behaviors that will help them be successful as they grow into adults. So, yes, it is imperative that our children are taught the proper behaviors and sometimes we need to punish inappropriate behavior so that the child will not repeat those actions. But, these actions of discipline are not done out of anger, they are done out of our love for our children. Our Lord also taught us to reach out to others in Christian love. Many of the questions raised above are answered much more eloquently in the writings and insights into Scripture by Timothy Keller. I would recommend his book “The Reason for God, Belief in an Age of Skepticism” to anyone searching. I would also request prayer for this person that she does find the Lord and with that find the peace that she is searching for.
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