Posted on 10/21/2017 7:13:25 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of American was founded in 1988 with 5,288,230 members. By 2016, less than twenty years later, the ELCA had shrunk to 3,563,842 members. With that kind of "growth," the ELCA has less than forty years before the final member throws her hands up and quits. Christ the King Lutheran Church in Cary, N.C., believes that they've found the answer to stopping the mass exodus of tithing members. They've stopped preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ and have embraced progressive theology and social justice.
Writing for Religion News Service, Yonat Shimron tells the story of Christ the King Lutheran Church:
[The ELCA's] successful churches, such as Christ the King, located in a bedroom community of Raleigh, are pushing forward with a new vision, one that has less to do with upholding the purity of Luthers theology and more with the spirit of Luthers reform agenda.
That spirit of reform is evident in the casual clothes sans-collar Pugh wears for Bible study, in his embrace of technology and audio-visual enhancements the Bible study is posted to the churchs YouTube channel and in his theological exploration that brings recent academic scholarship into the pews and challenges members understanding of their faith.
Christ the King Lutheran Church wants to move beyond the hidebound traditions of American Protestantism, take risks, attract younger people and make Christianity more relevant to the 21st century.
They definitely moved past the "hidebound traditions of American Protestantism."
In a sermon series about Genesis posted on YouTube, Christ the King Lutheran Church gives evidence to how far removed from orthodox Christianity they now are.
In the video, the pastor tells the crowd, "When we're looking at Genesis, we're not looking at our sacred texts. We're looking at somebody else's." According to Daniel Pugh, the church's associate pastor, Genesis and the entire Old Testament belong to Judaism and not to Christians.
While it's true that Judaism counts the Torah as their sacred text, Christians also count the Old Testament as part and parcel of our sacred text. Second Timothy 3:16 says that "All Scripture is breathed out by God." That "all" includes the Old Testament.
Not content with simply attacking the Christian doctrine of the Bible, Pastor Pugh brings up Martin Luther's famous Latin phrase, "Simul Iustus et Peccator. A rough translation is, "I am a saint and a sinner." Pugh rightfully recognizes that Luther's basis for that belief is found in the first three chapters of Genesis. He then dismisses Luther (and Protestantism) and says, "Today, we're going to look at Genesis 1-3, this thing we've been calling 'the Fall' for a long time, and I'm going to show how our Jewish friends read their sacred text."
He then goes on to throw orthodox Christian theology under the bus by claiming that we shouldn't want our theology to be medieval. The audience laughed as he encouraged them to let go of Lutheran theology and embrace a better story. Deconstructing Genesis, he proceeded to take his progressive hammer to the first book of the Bible. At the end, the listener is left with the foundation of the Christian faith shattered. A charlatan has reformed God and the Bible into his own image, and humans no longer need to repent and turn from their sins.
While Christ the King Lutheran Church may be one of the few shining spots in the ELCA in terms of members, history tells us that their success won't last long. Study after study reveals that when a church turns to liberal theology it's the beginning of the end. Unless Christ the King Lutheran Church repents and turns back to their "first love" of the gospel of Jesus Christ, they too will find themselves irrelevant and unwanted.
Bookmark
As always, don’t confuse the ELCA with true Lutheranism.
Can you say apostate?
While they are at it they can hire strippers of both sexes, bring in lots of alcohol & drugs, and have everyone get naked and share the love among each other. That will have them there 7 days a week I’m sure.
I dont think its very newsworthy if an ELCA congregation abandons the Bible. much or most of ELCA did that years ago already
Christ the No Longer King Here Church.
Come out, LCMS still preaches the gospel.
If they stopped preaching the Gospel in my church the “tithers” would be running out the door OR running off the pastor(s) OR both.
God will judge.
Bookmark
Ditto that. The ELCA is apostate.
Leni.....(thankfully and happily a lifelong congregant in the conservative Missouri Synod Lutheran Church !)
I was in the french quarter a few years ago when reformed Lutherans were having a big jamboree
Felt like Berkeley
Helmet head old women in Birkies
Shiney faced pale utes
Grumpy old men in sandals with socks
After 500 years after Luther posted the 95 Theses 10/31/ 1517
This is where we are now..... and we ask God to bless this nation. What a fricken joke!
Another Marcion of Sinope heresy. Hey, this screwball pastor isnt doing anything new or innovative hes nearly 2,000 years behind the times. And of course sadly, very sadly misleading his flock
The original Martin Luther would be unable to recognize what they now call “Lutheran” churches.
Most assuredly the original Jesus wouldnt know this heretical pastor (Luke 13:27)
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