Pride, one of the seven deadly sins, is actually the basis for all sin. Pride is mentioned 297 times in the Bible, most often in a negative connotation. When pride drives the self, it causes one to have an inflated opinion of one’s importance in the grand scheme of things. Pride, overdone, will eventually lead to vanity where one cannot pass by a mirror without admiring oneself and produces an undue desire to be admired by others, sometimes overwhelming reason. Vanity leads to conceit that manifests itself as an overinflated assessment of one’s status in this world. Then conceit leads one to fall in love with one’s self and suffer from the malady known as egotism. Unfortunately, all of humankind falls into this trap sometime or another. Our selfish human nature compels us to place our needs first. The First Commandment states, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Who then is our god when we decide to worship ourselves, our possessions and our identities? For we certainly worship ourselves when we place ourselves before God.
LGTBQ activists have long advocated for full inclusion in the church. Apparently, acceptance as a child of God, sinful and unclean, like all of God’s children is insufficient. The sin of homosexuality must be accepted as not sinful in order to properly love and welcome this misguided class. Oh, how much easier it would be if God’s church affirmed my misbehavior by decreeing that it is no longer a sin. Too bad it would do nothing to make me right with God. In the Lutheran worship service there is what is known as confession and absolution where we confess our sins and the pastor affirms that God does indeed forgive us. 1 John 1:7-10, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.” When one claims that the sin of homosexuality is no longer a sin, he deceives himself and makes God out to be a liar.
Are those that choose a lifestyle that is prohibited by God any worse than any other child of God? Absolutely not! Just like the rich man that would not follow Jesus because he did not want to give up his wealth, those who selfishly cling to the things of this world fall into the same trap. Each and every one of us commits the gravest of sins every day. Rather than give our God the first of ourselves, our time and our possessions, we selfishly take the first fruits, relegating the leftovers to God. God has given everything to us. Nothing belongs to us, it all belongs to Him. Yet, we cling to the notion that whatever we decide to give to Him is acceptable. Those that tithe simply give 10% to the church. Is that sufficient? “Gracious God, we offer with joy and thanksgiving what you have first given us - ourselves, our time and our possessions - signs of your gracious love." When one invokes their bound conscience to usurp the authority of Scripture, they withhold themselves from God. They do not freely give themselves to Him. They withhold what the selfish nature wishes to retain. When Jesus told the parable about the rich young man, attaining the kingdom of heaven is not only difficult for a rich man to attain, the selfish will also find it difficult to attain.
The leadership of the ELCA has abdicated their responsibility to preach sound doctrine. They look at the world and have become enamored with it. They not only live in the world, they love the world. And this love of the world turns them away from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 1 John 2:15-17, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.”
The pursuit of social justice instead of the pursuit of souls for Christ cements this wayward denomination’s place in this world. No longer is the Gospel of Jesus Christ proclaimed to the world. Now the leadership of the ELCA determines that the love of the neighbor is paramount in their effort to repair our broken world. The gods of tolerance and acceptance are placed upon the altar to be worshipped. What is called sin by God is overruled and affirmed as no longer sinful by the leaders of the ELCA. Romans 6:11-14, “In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.” Offer yourself fully to the Lord. Love Him with all your heart, mind and soul. Love your neighbor as yourself, subservient to our Lord, not above Him.
Faith in the Risen Savior allows God’s grace to cancel your debt to sin. Even though we all fall short, our love and appreciation for what Jesus did for us compels us to please him in all we do. What pleases Him most is our willingness to serve Him with our obedience. The leadership of the ELCA has betrayed their call to serve the Lord. The leadership of the ELCA must reconcile with God in order to lead their membership back to the Lord. Their penchant to falsely affirm sinful behavior only widens the chasm between God and humankind. Pray unceasingly for the leadership of the ELCA to return to the Lord and once again do God’s work by reaching out to save the souls of the lost.
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Monday, June 25, 2012
Speak the Truth to Power
This pretentious phrase has become a common expression used by liberal activists, or what they prefer to call themselves, progressives. Truth has little to do with those that utter this contradiction of terms, but it has much to do with power. This catchphrase is simply the excuse used by those on the left to disparage and demean conservative logic, since it is primarily used as a means to end an argument without the benefit of rational debate. The power is simply used to shut off any and all logical argument, especially conservative argument. There is little thought involved in much of the liberal or progressive agenda as, it merely involves vilifying someone or something, or pitting one class against another. We have witnessed the progressive left in politics speak this "truth", aiming their epithets and talking points at their declared enemies, the one percent. Most of these leftists cannot even articulate what it is that they so loudly protest. As a former liberal, I know of what I speak.
Now those who want to help those who have lost their way return to the Lord’s path are in the crosshairs of those they are trying to help. “Progressive” Christians chastise those with the temerity to uphold the authority of Scripture, by invoking this liberal talking point. Lifting themselves up as tolerant, welcoming and loving they look with contempt at their conservative brothers and sisters in Christ who uphold the authority of Scripture, judging them to be hateful, bigoted and homophobic. They parrot tired and worn out slogans in a vain attempt to justify their selfish and deliberate disregard of God’s will. Rational argument quickly turns to verbal confrontation when those who adhere to traditional or classic Christian theology attempt to “gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth.” 2 Timothy 2:25 Criticisms also appear as comments in local newspapers, in Christian blogs, many by those with no stake in the local issue at hand (see Grace Lutheran in Eau Claire, WI) and in various articles written for the more progressive churches, such as the ELCA.
Progressive Christians continually proclaim that our Lord’s command to love one’s neighbor allows one to ignore that which the Lord prohibits, in order to properly welcome them to our Father’s house. It is simply a false argument that asserts that since God is good everything He has made must also be good. Since God made those with sinful proclivities, they “reason” that those proclivities must also be good. So, those trapped within that sin are affirmed by declaring that behavior no longer sinful. Affirmation of those with a proclivity to engage in sinful behavior is NOT the way that our Lord taught as a way to properly love and welcome the neighbor. Leaving a life of sin to love, worship and honor our God is a lesson taught over and over again in Scripture. “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you. Titus 2:11-15
The amoral attitude of those that have the audacity to challenge God’s law simply advocates for man to usurp God’s role as the sole authority in our lives. The leaders of the ELCA lead the faithful over the edge like lemmings in their misguided attempt to normalize that which our God forbids. What the world accepts is of no consequence to our Lord’s command. What His church accepts is another matter altogether. Scripture is the sole authority in our faith lives and any church that would have its members disregard God’s word and replace it with “new things” leads its members away from Him. Jesus has all authority and it is the leaders of God’s church that are called to uphold His word. “After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. “ John 17:1-5
Pray that the leaders of the ELCA abandon their attempt to be of the world. Continue to pray that those true to the Lord recognize the truth and walk away from the apostasy of the ELCA.
Now those who want to help those who have lost their way return to the Lord’s path are in the crosshairs of those they are trying to help. “Progressive” Christians chastise those with the temerity to uphold the authority of Scripture, by invoking this liberal talking point. Lifting themselves up as tolerant, welcoming and loving they look with contempt at their conservative brothers and sisters in Christ who uphold the authority of Scripture, judging them to be hateful, bigoted and homophobic. They parrot tired and worn out slogans in a vain attempt to justify their selfish and deliberate disregard of God’s will. Rational argument quickly turns to verbal confrontation when those who adhere to traditional or classic Christian theology attempt to “gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth.” 2 Timothy 2:25 Criticisms also appear as comments in local newspapers, in Christian blogs, many by those with no stake in the local issue at hand (see Grace Lutheran in Eau Claire, WI) and in various articles written for the more progressive churches, such as the ELCA.
Progressive Christians continually proclaim that our Lord’s command to love one’s neighbor allows one to ignore that which the Lord prohibits, in order to properly welcome them to our Father’s house. It is simply a false argument that asserts that since God is good everything He has made must also be good. Since God made those with sinful proclivities, they “reason” that those proclivities must also be good. So, those trapped within that sin are affirmed by declaring that behavior no longer sinful. Affirmation of those with a proclivity to engage in sinful behavior is NOT the way that our Lord taught as a way to properly love and welcome the neighbor. Leaving a life of sin to love, worship and honor our God is a lesson taught over and over again in Scripture. “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you. Titus 2:11-15
The amoral attitude of those that have the audacity to challenge God’s law simply advocates for man to usurp God’s role as the sole authority in our lives. The leaders of the ELCA lead the faithful over the edge like lemmings in their misguided attempt to normalize that which our God forbids. What the world accepts is of no consequence to our Lord’s command. What His church accepts is another matter altogether. Scripture is the sole authority in our faith lives and any church that would have its members disregard God’s word and replace it with “new things” leads its members away from Him. Jesus has all authority and it is the leaders of God’s church that are called to uphold His word. “After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. “ John 17:1-5
Pray that the leaders of the ELCA abandon their attempt to be of the world. Continue to pray that those true to the Lord recognize the truth and walk away from the apostasy of the ELCA.
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