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“Luke’s Lead-up to Christmas: The Nativity of St. John the Baptist and the Song of Zechariah, the Benedictus” (Luke 1:57-80)When last we left Zechariah, he was doing his best Marcel Marceau impression. In other words, he couldn’t speak! He was making signs and gestures to try to communicate. In other words, there were no words! Zechariah had been struck mute, unable to speak, because he had not believed the words the angel Gabriel had spoken to him, telling him that he and his wife Elizabeth were going to have a child, even though they were both old and had been...

From NE Ohio December newsletter - Bishop's Article: On December third we held a special meeting of the synod council, deans, committee chairs and synod staff to take a look at the projected $250,000-$400,000 deficit for fiscal year 2010-11. Since a $400,000 deficit is a jaw-dropping number to me, I wanted advice on how to carry out the ministry that we do together as a synod. The short-term solution is to reduce hours and compensation for the entire staff. Developing a long-term solution is going to take a lot more work. I have had many people who are quick to...

Christmas Message 2009 A message from Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us... -- Titus 3:4-5a Into this shadowed world light shines and joyous voices sing. Glad tidings cheer the heart and liberate hope. “A child has been born for us, a son given to us” (Isaiah 9:6). God our Savior has appeared! God’s saving goodness and loving kindness have arrived in Jesus, the Word made flesh. Though hidden in the humility of a manger, and later in the scandal of the cross, God’s promise is being...

Lutheran Churches in Eastern Europe have added their voices to those of Lutherans worldwide who are critical of the decisions of the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly to endorse same-sex unions and to allow pastors to be in same-sex sexual relationships. The leaders of the Lutheran Churches in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania met Nov. 3-4. The bishops issued a message noting the crisis of faith and fellowship caused by the actions of the ELCA and the Church of Sweden in endorsing same-sex sexual relationships. These churches are all members of the Lutheran World Federation. “At the present time a common witness...

CLEAR LAKE — Members of Zion Lutheran Church voted to withdraw from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America on Sunday, a reaction to the issue of practicing gay pastors. The vote was 238 to 119, exactly the two-thirds majority vote needed for it to pass. “I’m happy that they decided to go this direction because I think it sets the possibility for a new and stronger future for the congregation,” said Rev. Dean Hess, senior pastor at the Clear Lake church. Carole Roth, church council president, said she was pleased with the results, too. “Certainly God has spoken today,” she...

“When Your Life Is Not Magically Golden” (Luke 7:18-28)I don’t know about you, but I try to keep an eye on what’s happening in our culture and society, including what’s happening politically. What are people thinking and saying? So the other day I was reading a political forum, one that comes from a very left-leaning perspective, and there was a discussion going on in which people were quite upset with the way things are going in our country. Some were even calling for a revolution! “A revolution! Yes, that’s what we need! A revolution to fix all the problems and...

“Darwin’s finches” are a variety of small black birds that were observed and collected by British naturalist Charles Darwin during his famous voyage on the H.M.S. Beagle in the early 1800s. Years later, Darwin argued that subtle variations in their beak sizes supported his concept that all organisms share a common ancestor (a theory known as macroevolution). The finches, whose technical name is Geospiza, have since become classic evolutionary icons...

“Luke’s Lead-up to Christmas: The Annunciation of Our Lord” (Luke 1:26-38)Our midweek series this year is called “Luke’s Lead-up to Christmas.” During Advent we’re looking at the events in Luke chapter one, which will prepare us for hearing the events of Luke chapter two at Christmas. Last week we began with the opening portion of Luke 1, “The Annunciation of St. John the Baptist” to Zechariah. Today then we continue with “The Annunciation of Our Lord,” our Lord Jesus Christ, to Mary. That’s the way Luke structures these first couple of chapters, on a kind of two-track model, switching from...

esearch has shown that humans like to help, even before they are old enough to have been taught how to do so. This innate characteristic distinguishes humans from their supposed closest evolutionary family member, the chimpanzee, which doesn’t demonstrate the same altruistic behavior. In studies on the subject, at only 18 months old, toddlers were observed to consistently aid unrelated adults in simple tasks such as opening a door or picking up a clothes pin. Researchers assumed then that altruism, or unselfish concern for the welfare of others, evolved early in humans. But does this conclusion necessarily follow from the...

CHICAGO (AP) — The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America says that in a town hall meeting Sunday, its presiding bishop was presenting the views of some within his denomination rather than his own views on the Bible and homosexuality.

Thousands of people logged on to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's first-ever online town hall forum to hear the denomination's head tackle some tough questions. Many of the questions on Sunday addressed the pro-gay actions of the churchwide assembly in August. "Can you give a good, solid reason why we, the dissident traditionalists, should remain in the ELCA as a decreasing minority instead of moving our memberships to other Lutheran bodies?" George Erdner of Lawrenceville, Ga., asked through an online submission. ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson first made plain, "Don't call yourselves dissident minorities." Hanson stressed that the...

The current treatment of young-age creationists in the scientific community and society at large is unfair and unwise. Scientists and philosophers of science, including old-age creationists and naturalists, should respect youngage creationists as legitimate contributors to science. Young-age creationists offer to the current origins science establishment a competing rational viewpoint that will augment fruitful scientific investigation through increased accountability for scientists, introduction of original hypotheses and general epistemic improvement...

In many ELCA synods, the new year will bring new concerns for funding of vital ministries. Take the Southeastern Synod, where Bishop H. Julian Gordy committed to keeping synod members "informed and to be transparent in all decision-making." In January 2010, the synod's council will consider budget cuts for the rest of the 2010 fiscal year. The cuts, which could be effective as soon as Feb. 1., would reduce, but not eliminate grants (more than 12 percent of the synod's proposed $3.67 million 2010 budget) to Southern Seminary, Newberry College, social ministry organizations, and other ministries. Layoffs 'inevitable' The proposed...

The Oromo Evangelical Lutheran Churches have unanimously voted to join Lutheran CORE. Lutheran CORE is honored to have these faithful Christians standing with us. We are humbled by their faithful witness both during the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly and since then. These faithful Christians faced persecution in their homeland of Ethiopia. They know what it means to stand firm in faith even in the face of intense opposition. Their witness is a source of encouragement to all who bear the name of Christ and to all who stand on the witness of Scripture and thus in opposition to the ELCA...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) hosted a "Town Hall Forum" here Dec. 6, fielding a variety of questions on topics such as leadership, mission, evangelism, anti-racism and racial justice matters, funding, churchwide staff reductions and actions of the 2009 Churchwide Assembly. The Rev. Mark S. Hanson responded to 19 questions -- posed by a live audience and members watching online -- during the hour-long forum. Carlos Peña, ELCA vice president, Galveston, Texas, introduced Hanson and posed questions from viewers. Hanson had said he wanted to use the forum to speak directly...

Six area churches in the Wolf River Region have voted in recent weeks to sever ties with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, Two other churches have votes coming up, said the Rev. John Justman, bishop of the East-Central Synod of the ELCA in Appleton. All eight of the churches are in either Waupaca or Oconto counties. Justman said he thinks several of the churches will eventually leave the ELCA. “It makes me sad — they’re all special, and they’ve been good partners,” he said. “And if they do leave, we will wish them well. There’ll be sad feelings, not...

December 4, 2009 Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ, Grace to you and peace in this season of Advent anticipation and hope. At its November 14, 2009 meeting, the synod council passed two resolutions in response to the actions of the churchwide assembly votes on ministry policies and the social statement on Human Sexuality. These resolutions were passed after thoughtful conversation by a majority vote. The resolution addressing the "bound conscience" clause of the churchwide resolutions was adopted by a vote of 10 in favor, 5 opposed and 1 abstention. The memorial requesting that the ELCA church council repudiate and...

The answer seems too simple: other alleged divine writings are not from God because they are not among the 66 books of the Bible and, in fact, they contradict the Bible...

“Repentance Road Repair” (Luke 3:1-14)Tomorrow the road repair will be finished, and the highway will reopen, better than ever. I’m talking about Interstate 64 in St. Louis, or, as many of the locals still call it, “Highway 40.” The road is all straight and smooth now, all the way from Spoede to Kingshighway. The rough spots have been filled in, the crooked stretches have been straightened out, the perennial bottlenecks and traffic jams all have been accounted for and remedied. A lot of thought and effort, a lot of time and expense, went into making these improvements. The I-64 project...

A northeast Iowa synod council is the first in the nation to defy the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s decision to allow clergy to be in committed same-gender relationships. A resolution passed last month by the council of the Northeastern Iowa Synod, based in Waverly, seeks to circumvent the controversial August decision by the ELCA’s churchwide assembly. The denomination currently requires that homosexual clergy remain celibate, and the council wants to maintain the existing regulations. If successful, the move could ultimately restrict how churches call pastors in the future because it sets a policy where none existed. The resolution was...

IRON MOUNTAIN - A regional chapter of Lutheran CORE (Coalition for Renewal) will be formed when Lutherans from across Upper Peninsula, northern Wisconsin, and northern Lower Michigan gather on Saturday. The Rev. Corinne Johnson, interim pastor of Bethany Lutheran Church in Escanaba, and a member of the Lutheran CORE Advisory Council, said the meeting will begin at 9 a.m. and conclude at 4 p.m. at Our Saviour's Lutheran Church in Iron Mountain. The chapter will be formed in the afternoon. There will be about 150 people at the event, 15 of them pastors, and two keynote speakers. "After the events...

Dec 3, 2009 — In the previous entry, Darwin inspired some geologists, even though he was wrong. Here are some news stories showing nature inspiring engineers with wonders right under their noses...

New Zealand Climate Scientists Faked Data, Too. From Anthony Watts at Watts Up With That The New Zealand Government’s chief climate advisory unit NIWA is under fire for allegedly massaging raw climate data to show a global warming trend that wasn’t there. The scandal breaks as fears grow worldwide that corruption of climate science is not confined to just Britain’s CRU climate research centre. In New Zealand’s case, the figures published on NIWA’s [the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric research] website suggest a strong warming trend in New Zealand over the past century [go to the link to see...

In May 2009, a remarkably well-preserved extinct primate, nicknamed “Ida,” was hailed as one of the most important fossil finds ever. It had features that some interpreted as a link between two primate body forms. At the time, ICR News suggested that its evolutionary significance was far overblown, predicting that the scientific consensus would offer retractions. Those retractions came three months later, confirming that the fossil―called Darwinius―was really just an extinct lemur variety...

Christmas 2009: A Message from ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson "But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us..." (Titus 3:4-5a). Into this shadowed world light shines and joyous voices sing. Glad tidings cheer the heart and liberate hope. "A child has been born for us, a son given to us" (Isaiah 9:6). God our Savior has appeared! God's saving goodness and loving kindness have arrived in Jesus, the Word made flesh. Though hidden in the humility of a manger, and later in the scandal of the cross, God's promise is being made...

Evolutionists retreating from the arena of science --snip-- Today, the Darwinian scientific consensus persists within almost every large university and governmental institution. But around the middle of the 20th century an interesting new trend emerged and has since become increasingly established. Evolutionary theorists have been forced, step by step, to steadily retreat from the evidence in the field. Some of the evidences mentioned earlier in this article were demonstrated to be frauds and hoaxes. Other discoveries have been a blow to the straightforward expectations and predictions of evolutionists. Increasingly, they have been forced to tack ad hoc mechanisms onto Darwin’s...

“Luke’s Lead-up to Christmas: The Annunciation of St. John the Baptist” (Luke 1:1-25)In a few weeks we’ll be hearing one of the most familiar and well-loved passages in the Bible once again, and that is the Christmas Gospel, from Luke chapter two. But the fact that there’s a chapter two must means that there’s a chapter one before it. There is. And Luke chapter one is Luke’s lead-up to Christmas, his account of the events leading up to the birth of Christ. That’s going to be our theme for this series of midweek services, as well as for the last...

Although creation-based organizations have reported for over a decade on the technical scientific journal articles published about soft tissue found inside dinosaur remains, mainstream media outlets have largely been silent on the subject. But a recent segment that aired on CBS’s 60 Minutes finally broke the news to a broader audience. The soft tissue issue may be gaining more traction, and even “may be changing the whole dino ballgame,” according to correspondent Lesley Stahl.[1] The program is currently viewable online at the CBS website. In a field test demonstration to determine whether a dinosaur fossil was real bone, and not...

Need evidence for Darwinian evolution? Just make it up. That’s the lesson of Donald Prothero’s book, Evolution: What the Fossils Say and Why It Matters (New York: Columbia University Press, 2007). Prothero is a professor of geology at Occidental College in Los Angeles. On November 30, he teamed up with atheist Michael Shermer (founding publisher of Skeptic Magazine) to debate Stephen Meyer and Richard Sternberg of the Discovery Institute. Shermer wrote the foreword to Prothero’s book, calling it “the best book ever written on the subject.” In fact, “Don’s visual presentation of the fossil and genetic evidence for evolution is...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), said he will share priorities and hopes for the ELCA, and wants to hear stories from members about the church's work in their own contexts, when he hosts an online "Town Hall Forum" Sunday, Dec. 6. The hour-long forum begins at 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time (4:30 p.m. Central Time). The program will be webcast live from Chicago, where Hanson will be joined by an audience of ELCA members. The audience will ask questions of the presiding bishop. Web viewers can watch the...

A new concept making its way through the scientific community holds that just a few key changes in the right genes will result in a whole new life form as different from its progenitor as a bird is from a lizard![1] This idea is being applied to a number of key problems in the evolutionary model, one of which is the lack of transitional forms in both the fossil record and the living (extant) record. The new concept supposedly adds support to the "punctuated equilibrium" model proposed by the late Harvard paleontologist Stephen J. Gould. Dr. Gould derived his ideas...

More than a dozen Lutheran congregations in Minnesota have vowed to leave the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) after a vote in Minneapolis this summer to allow gay and lesbian pastors in committed relationships to serve as clergy. The fifteen churches will join a new denomination called Lutheran CORE and leave the ELCA, the largest Lutheran denomination in the world. The leaders of Lutheran CORE say the ELCA has moved too far away from the Bible. "Many ELCA members and congregations have said that they want to sever ties with the ELCA because of the ELCA's continued movement away...

Those in the Northeastern Iowa Synod are providing significant leadership in trying to keep their synod together in spite of the biblical and theological crisis in the ELCA. Call to Faithfulness, one of the reform groups that comprise Lutheran CORE, has provided leadership in the efforts in the Northeastern Iowa Synod. The Northeastern Iowa Synod Council has passed two resolutions in response to the Churchwide Assembly’s votes. The first resolution calls upon the ELCA Church Council to reject and work to overturn the Sexuality Statement and the Recommendations on Ministry because they are contrary to the Confession of Faith in...

A decision at the highest level of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America about homosexuality has sent discontented ripples into Polk County, and a local church is holding discussions with a potential splinter group. At Abiding Savior Lutheran Church in Winter Haven on Sunday, a representative of Lutheran Coalition for Renewal, or CORE, met with about 80 parishioners to answer questions, said the Rev. Alan Ford, pastor of Abiding Savior. The Rev. Rebecca Heber of Lake Mary told those present the Evangelical Lutheran Church is moving away from its historic standards of scriptural authority by loosening restrictions on gays in...

“Starting Out on a Journey to Jerusalem” (Luke 19:28-40)Today is the First Sunday in Advent, and that makes it the first Sunday in a brand-new church year. And as the start of a new church year, that means it’s also the first Sunday for our main Gospel-writer for the year, which this year is St. Luke. Now on this day--the First Sunday in Advent, the first Sunday of the church year, the first Sunday in the year of St. Luke--our Gospel reading is the story of Jesus riding into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. And you might ask: “Why is that?...

Reminders of last summer’s tornado are still evident at Central Lutheran Church in downtown Minneapolis. A red scaffolding setup stands next to one of the limestone walls of the historic, 82-year-old church at 333 S. 12th St. At the peak of the roof, still more scaffolding — complete with a Les Jones Roofing banner — surrounds the tornado-damaged steeple. A 176-foot crane towers over the house of worship, which stood in the path of the Aug. 19 twister as it swept through south Minneapolis. The tornado inflicted $300,000 worth of damage to the church, but repairs are going well and...

God's mercy is a monumental theme in Scripture, the English word appearing some 341 times in the Bible. The four Hebrew and three Greek words associated with this term appear a total of 454 times and are also translated as "kindness," "lovingkindness," "goodness," "favor," "compassion," and "pity." Of the sixty-six books of the Bible, only sixteen do not use one of these words for mercy. Even though "mercy" is an important concept, it is somewhat difficult to prescribe a definition, especially since "grace" is occasionally closely coupled with it.However similar they may appear to be, these words are not synonyms....

“Thanksgiving: America’s Forgotten Holiday”Ah, Thanksgiving! Turkey, football, and the start of the holiday shopping season. No, wait, that started back around Labor Day. But seriously, is that what Thanksgiving has come to? An opportunity to eat 2,000 calories in one sitting, then fall asleep on the couch watching the Detroit Lions, so you can get up the next morning at 5:00 a.m. to buy presents for people you don’t like, with money you don’t have, for stuff they don’t need? Thanksgiving has become the Eve of Black Friday. And it’s a big day at the movie theatres, too. Got to...

HUNTSVILLE, AL, Nov. 25 Christian Newswire -- Two creation films called "inappropriate" were denied the opportunity to be shown in government facilities this week--which marks the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin's "Origin of Species". While the intelligent design film "Darwin's Dilemma: The Mystery of the Cambrian Fossil Record" has not been granted permission for a showing in California, "The Mysterious Islands", a new 90-minute Vision Forum film that challenges Darwin's evolution by taking audiences back to engage the enchanted Galapagos Islands, has enjoyed a victory and will premiere as previously scheduled tonight, Nov. 25, at 6:30 PM, at...

3 Trees Said to Prove Warming! --snip-- That's another thing, folks. People said, "I don't get why you believe in God, Rush. Your belief in God, how does that tell you that global warming is a hoax?" Well, belief in God is a very personal thing, but I happen to believe in a loving God of creation -- and I just intellectually cannot accept the fact that a loving God which has created all this beauty and has blessed this country -- I cannot believe that a God like that -- would punish the human being he created for progress,...

CNN correspondent Max Foster’s short report about Richard Dawkins on Tuesday’s Situation Room played more like a commercial which promoted the militant atheist’s new book. Despite Dawkins’s past inflammatory statements about Christianity, Foster only labeled him “an outspoken critic of creationism....[whose] atheist views have put him at the center of controversy” [audio clip available here]. Anchor Suzanne Malveaux’s introduction for the correspondent’s report highlighted the 150th anniversary of the printing of Charles Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species,” and how Dawkins was a “controversial successor [to Darwin] carrying the torch for evolution.” Foster gave a very basic description of Dawkins’s...

More details are now coming out from the lawsuit filed against the California Science Center by the American Freedom Alliance (AFA), filed in the Superior Court for the State of California for the County of Los Angeles (Central District). AFA's lawsuit contends that the California Science Center engaged in viewpoint discrimination when cancelling AFA's contract to screen the pro-intelligent design (ID) documentary Darwin’s Dilemma at the Center’s IMAX Theatre on October 25th. As discussed below, AFA's complaint contains e-mails from California Science Center staff revealing that the Center cared more about how it would be perceived by ID-critics in the...

A lawsuit has been filed against the California Science Center by the American Freedom Alliance (AFA) for cancelling the AFA’s contract to screen the Darwin’s Dilemma documentary on October 25th. According to AFA’s press release: American Freedom Alliance (AFA), a non-profit group, has filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles against a popular science museum for cancelling an event exploring the topic of intelligent design. The group says its free speech rights were violated when the California Science Center (CSC) abruptly reversed a decision to allow the showing of a pro-intelligent design documentary at the museum’s IMAX Theater. The program was...

Pro-Darwin consensus doesn't rule out intelligent design --snip-- (CNN) -- While we officially celebrate the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin's "On the Origin of Species" on November 24, celebrations of Darwin's legacy have actually been building in intensity for several years. Darwin is not just an important 19th century scientific thinker. Increasingly, he is a cultural icon. Darwin is the subject of adulation that teeters on the edge of hero worship, expressed in everything from scholarly seminars and lecture series to best-selling new atheist tracts like those by Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens. The atheists claim that...

Today, November 24, it is exactly 150 years since Charles Darwin published his On the Origin of Species. The world has been gearing up for this “second echelon” of celebrations for this international “Year of Darwin”, following on from the 200th anniversary of his birth this last February. Atheists and humanist groups in particular have seemed to be relishing the thought of giving further prominence to the ideas of their patron saint. Their adulation is heightened by their knowledge that...

A new group calling itself The LGBT Anglican Coalition, network 'working for the full and equal inclusion of LGBT Christians within and beyond the Church of England', has sent an open letter to the Archbishop of Uppsala, the Most Rev Anders Wejryd and Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams at the Church of England's decision to shun the consecration of the new lesbian bishop Eva Brunne of Stockholm. I like the sound of Eva. She's a mum, like me. Blogger Sandra Showtime writes: 'Her sense of humor doesn’t hurt either. When Brunne, who was a pastor in Stockholm for 16...

Lutherans to Observe World AIDS Day Dec. 1 WASHINGTON (ELCA) -- Every nine and a half minutes a person in the United States becomes infected with HIV, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta. Globally, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS estimates the number of people infected with the virus is 33 million. On the weekend before or after World AIDS Day, Dec. 1, members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) are invited to participate in a worship service, event or advocacy activity, and to remember and demonstrate support for people living with and...

Hurt by the recession and decisions by some Lutheran congregations to withhold their support, the Chicago-based Evangelical Lutheran Church in America acted last Sunday to reduce its budget by 10 percent and eliminate more than 40 full-time positions. Many Lutheran congregations, including some in Rowan County, have redirected their mission support to the ELCA in protest of the national organization's recent vote to allow gays and lesbians to serve as clergy. In October, about 450 Lutherans met at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Rowan County to discuss the ELCA's change in ministry policies. Those assembled approved a resolution to form...

Fungi are single or multi-celled organisms that break down organic materials, such as rotting wood, in order to absorb their nutrients. Neither plant nor animal, they range from mushrooms to single-celled yeast. Scientists were investigating organic chemicals trapped in an Italian sedimentary rock formation when they found evidence that an extinct fungus feasted on dead wood during a time when the world’s forests had been catastrophically eradicated.[1] What could have caused such a universal effect on forests, and why does organic material remain in rocks that are supposedly 251.4 million years old?...

“Of Mayans and Millerites: 2012, 1844, and 2009” (Mark 13:24-37)There’s a new movie out called “2012,” maybe you’ve heard of it. It’s about an enormous, earth-shaking event that will take place in the year 2012. No, it’s not a fantasy about my Chicago Cubs finally winning the World Series. No, nothing as far-fetched as that. Rather, “2012” is a big-budget disaster movie about the end of the world. I haven’t seen it, and I’m not planning on seeing it, but from what I can tell, it’s your standard end-of-the-world movie: Big cataclysmic disaster coming, worldwide destruction, some time to get...