Posted on 02/13/2015 8:06:03 PM PST by lightman
Dear friends,
You are welcome in congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
We are a church that believes it is wrong to discriminate against anyone based on sexual orientation. All are welcome. We celebrate diversity.
While Lutherans in the U.S. are not of one mind about sexual orientation, the ELCA, the largest Lutheran denomination in North America, has taken a stand as an open, affirming church where all are welcome.
I recognize that some of you have been wounded by churches. On behalf of the church, I apologize for the hurtful comments, exclusion, and discrimination you have experienced. Churches are filled with hurt people who sometimes hurt people. We are not a perfect church, nor filled with perfect people. We follow Christ who forgives and calls us to be part of a new community beyond race, gender, and social status. The church is an imperfect community of hope.
When asked what was most important in life, Jesus, who never spoke a single recorded word about sexual orientation, said the greatest commandment was to love God and love neighbor. He modeled love of the neighbor and stranger. He said, “By this shall all people know you are my followers, if you love one another.”
I invite you to risk being part of an imperfect church striving to be a Christ-like community. You are welcome.
Sincerely,
Michael Rinehart
What to do When Forced to Perform ‘Gay Weddings’
Read more at http://barbwire.com/2014/06/14/forced-perform-gay-weddings/
Excerpt from the article:
“Pastors, priests, you will then face three choices: 1) Surrender, disobey God’s law and obey man’s, 2) Stand firm, disobey man’s law and obey God’s, or 3) Use the opportunity to serve, speak truth in love and glorify Jesus.
I like No. 3.
When you men of the cloth are inevitably put to this test, I suggest you do the following. It will take great courage and the strength of the Holy Spirit.
“Preside” over the mock marriage and speak the following truths in love:
“Let us begin with a reading from God’s Holy Word, Matthew 19:4-5:
“As Christ said, ‘Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh?’
“Do we dare call the living Christ a liar?
“I dare not!
“As it is written: ‘Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error (Romans 1:26).’
“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here on this dark occasion because the government has threatened to imprison me otherwise. We are gathered here, presumably, to join ‘Party A’ and ‘Party B’ in ‘holy matrimony.’ I say ‘presumably’ because this cannot be. God’s infallible word calls this a farce and a lie. God’s Holy word calls this an abomination – a mortal sin.
“He loves you enough, ‘Party A’, ‘Party B’ – all who are gathered here today – to tell you the truth. I love you enough to tell you the truth.
“God warns, ‘Woe to those who call evil good and good evil.’ I will not call this evil good. You can persecute me, jail me or even kill me, but you cannot force me to deny Christ.
“I am a sinner and can cast no stone. Neither can I condemn you. But, as did Jesus, I can tell you this: ‘Go and sin no more.’”
“Repent, ask forgiveness and believe upon Jesus.
“Because your eternity depends on it.”
Then walk away and pray that these Holy Spirit-inspired words, these transcendent truths, pierce the hearts of those in attendance who labor under deception – who suffer under this “strong delusion.”
That’s what it means to pick up your cross and follow Christ.”
Yes, definitely looks fruity.
Is anaxios the Greek word that is used for ‘unworthy’ in 1 Corinthians 6:2: Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
But He wrote a lot.
“Jesus, who never spoke a single recorded word about sexual orientation, “
“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.”- Matthew 5:17
The law:
“Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.”- Leviticus 18:2
The Almighty’s position on this issue should be obvious to any literate person. Those unrepentant sinners who define themselves by the sin they commit are damned.
Sorry, pseudo-bishop! You’re wrong!
Matthew 19:4
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+19&version=NKJV
“And [Jesus] answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,” and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?”
Homosexuality was not a big issue for Jews in the Holy Land in Jesus’ day. It was a HUGE issue in the Greco-Roman world of the First Century. Hence the Holy Apostle Paul (inspired by the Holy Spirit) had a lot to to say about it—ALL negative!!!!
In contrast, Jesus Christ spoke only about marriage—ONLY between a man and a woman! And He blessed the marriage at Cana with His first recorded miracle!!!!
Great Lent is coming soon. We must ALL repent—starting with me, the first of sinners. “Gays” too, must repent. There is no free pass for a special category of those who think they were “born that way”!
Oh, those demon eyes!!!!
It does appear so, though the characters render slightly different than as displayed by Strong's, and as one can find in Greek versions & interlinears. I notice I didn't provide working link for Strong's before, so do so now.
compared to
αναξιοι
and ἀνάξιοί
as that displays at
Careful with the Mounce Reverse Interlinear. Know that it is a reverse interlinear rather than a Greek version with English language words above or beneath...so there is a possible question of English translation itself to be considered, when asking questions worded as you did (when guys like myself try to use MOUNCE to get a clue).
I haven't been able to nail it down, but I think the Mounce interlinear that appears among NKJV and a pair of more direct Greek versions at the link I provided uses NASB, with NIV influences(?) since he was one of the NIV translators -- *i think*.
But it's a good and very helpful tool, and as far as I can tell he has also created a range of comparatively easily accessible biblical Greek instructional material. A person could take quite a trip, without ever leaving the farm, lol.
Sorry for all the extraneous explanation...but since I don't know the Greek well enough to go to say, Nestle-Aland 24, or 27, or something like a strongly authoritative Greek version such as those, I couldn't answer the question with 100% personal assurance.
There is indication that the answer to your question is a solid "yes" also at
It only took myself opening up about 15 tabs or more to answer the question, for I got hung up on asking myself "what English translation does Mounce use in the interlinear which is as BibleGateway?"...and am still not satisfied with the guessing that I engaged in as for answer to that small question.
I also do not know what reverse interlinear BibleHub uses, but being that in many English translations the phrase "not unworthy" appears in the texts...then I assume that a Greek word which transliterates into English language letters as anaxios is what is incontestably found in the Greek texts.
I notice that the NIV does not use the word "unworthy", but instead translates the the second sentence of verse 2;
The same biblegatway link as before, but after having added NIV to the other four...one can examine them side by side;
or arson
insurance fraud,
vehicular homicide, etc.
Therefore these are to be permitted, nay, celebrated?
This is so sad ... but Christ warned us ...
The church I attend left the PCUSA a few years ago..
At the time of the creation of the North American Lutheran Church it was touted as a “realignment of North American Lutheranism”
Something far bigger is going on, as you have indicated, there is realignment of North American Christianity as the old denominations fracture along orthodox/revisionist lines.
But since the orthodox remnants are receiving strong support and encouragement from the global south I believe the most accurate description is “a realignment of GLOBAL CHRISTIANITY”.
I agree .. I have a cousin that left Rome.. they started to attend an ELC in their town ..Cousin taught Catechism class IN RC and now teaches Sunday School ...But the truth is they( her and hubby) are pretty doctrine dumb.. They have a JW son and he was amazed they are no Christian .. That explains them staying in the ELC
I left the ELCA in 2005 when I couldn't stomach getting homosexuality crammed down my throat!
And endorsement of “love” NATURALLY and LOGICALLY implies endorsement of homosexual intercourse as one of several ways of expressing “love.”
“. . .Nor may we in our works and in our daily life tolerate the yielding to the wantonness of the flesh and at the same boast the Gospel of Christ, as did the Corinthians, who stirred up among themselves divisions and disorder, even to the extent of one marrying his stepmother. In such matters as these, Paul says, a little leaven leavens and ruins the whole lump - the entire Christian life. These two things are not consistent with each other: to hold to the Christian faith and to live after the wantonness of the flesh, in sins and vices condemned by the conscience. Paul elsewhere warns (I Cor 6, 9-10): ”Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with men, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.” Again (Gal 5, 19-21): ”The works of the flesh are manifest . . . of which I forewarn you, even as I did forewarn you, that they who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”
"Warrant is given here likewise for censuring and restraining the rash individuals who assert that men should not be terrified by the Law, nor surrendered to Satan. No! it is our duty to teach men to purge out the old leaven; we must tell them they are not Christians, but devoid of the faith, when they yield to the wantonness of the flesh and wilfully persevere in sin against the warning of conscience. We should teach that such sins are so much the more vicious and damnable when practiced under the name of the Gospel, under cover of Christian liberty; for that is despising and blaspheming the name of Christ and the Gospel: and therefore such conduct must be positively renounced and purged out, as irreconcilable with faith and a good conscience.” [Martin Luther, "Easter Sunday Sermon": —pts. 9-10
That'll be news to Jesus.
Jesus condemned ALL sexual sin when He said in Mark 7:21-23: "For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
The Greek word rendered as "sexual immorality" is "porneia," which is translated [Thayer's/Strong's Old & New Testament Greek Concordance entry #4202 ] "illicit sexual intercourse: adultery, fornication, homosexuality, lesbianism, intercourse with animals, etc."
"Other topics that were discussed:
"Assignment Process – the Bishops are constantly in conversation about revisions to this process to better service this church and its ministry candidates.
"The Placement of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer candidates for ministry. Guests who are part of Proclaim and the Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries joined the bishops for conversations about how placement is going across this church and to share best practices as well as concerns."
Hmmm, "revisions" to the pastoral placement process followed hard by "best practices" for selling, -er "placing" GLBTQ pastors, for whom there quite apparently isn't a clamorous demand.
I actually agreed with all of it until he said that bit about Christ not saying anything about sexual orientation. He, personally, ordained marriage as a sacrament. Man and woman join to become one flesh.
“And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”
That’s the thing about the ELCA, their selective amnesia when it comes to the Bible.
A member of my former Lutheran parish (who joined after I was received into the Orthodox Church) is a male-to-female transgender who is a candidate for ordination in the ELCA.
Meanwhile, the Queer cabal is trying to nibble away at the Orthodox Church. Phooey!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.