Lutheran (EL
* as of August 19, AD 2009, a liberal protestant SECT, not part of the holy, catholic and apostolic CHURCH.
Posted on 08/22/2009 10:18:09 AM PDT by EternalVigilance
A Gentle But Firm Warning
(Hat tip to Christopher Schwinger for this commentary)
John Piper has a most interesting post at his blog.
It is on the tornado that unexpectedly hit downtown Minneapolis last Wednesday.
It hit the convention center and the church across the street.
It hit at 2pm.
That was the exact time the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ECLA) was going to dicuss “Consideration: Proposed Social Statement on Human Sexuality.”
So what you say? They were going to tackle the issue of “whether practicing homosexuality is a behavior that should disqualify a person from the pastoral ministry.”
In the convention center…that got hit by the tornado.
The church across the street hit by the tornado was being used by the ELCA.
Piper does not believe it was a coincidence.
Neither do I.
What say you?
And Hurricane Bill is stomping all over -10nobama’s extravagant Martha’s Vinyard vacation.
Who says there’s no God?
If your theory were true, then San Franscisco would be leveled rather than assorted trailer parks.
I think God can do whatever He wants.
Salem First Baptist Church Destroyed By Tornado
http://www2.wrbl.com/rbl/news/local/article/salem_first_baptist_church_destroyed_by_tornado/61599/
The Hickory Grove Missionary Baptist Church, which dates back 143 years, was destroyed Wednesday night by an apparent tornado just months after completion of a $300,000 addition.
http://www.macon.com/149/story/625469.html
The Hickory Grove Missionary Baptist Church, which dates back 143 years, was destroyed Wednesday night by an apparent tornado just months after completion of a $300,000 addition
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_Palm_Sunday_tornado_outbreak
At 11:39 a.m., a tornado slammed into the Goshen United Methodist Church collapsing the roof on a congregation during Palm Sunday services. It claimed 20 lives and injured 90. The tornado was an F4 on the Fujita scale. The supercell that formed this tornado ended up tracking for 200 miles (320 km) to South Carolina.
Tornadoes destroy a lot of churches; that was just from a cursory search. Many of these are from not from the “wrong” denominations as apparently defined by the “God’s Punishment” types.
This reminds me of way back when Quix got all excited about the possibility of analyzing the churches destroyed in Mississippi by Katrina to see if the “bad” ones were destroyed and the “good” ones spared.
Hint. Hint.
I don’t suppose God would single out the Lutherans for screwing up any more than he would single out some other denominations. However, this ELCA church-wide assembly is not particularly representative of a good many local congregations. I expect and hope that a great many congregations will withdraw from the ELCA, which has been a house of cards since its inception, and let the witches and warlocks have this “church of what’s happening now” as their playground freed of those of us who have no use for their cavorting. Maybe they can all be bishops and prance around in gaily colored frocks and purple dancing shoes.
Click on this site and read about an immediate response to the assembly’s action which has some chance of accelerating the exodus of traditional Lutherans from the ELCA:
http://www.lutherancore.org/pdf/newsrel-8-21-09.pdf
I love John Piper and have gone to his church many times, but this is theologically unsound, and inconsistent with Piper’s usual thoughtful, solid Christian witness.
It might have been an expression of divine disgust. We have too little information to say that it positively is.
I disagree. When folks asked Jesus about the meaning of certain disasters He quite explicitly said that they happened as examples to us all, and that so would we all likewise perish if we don’t repent.
Things happen for a reason, and we should all take the appropriate warning from them.
God calls homosexuality an abomination, and I’m sure you’ve read in the Scripture how God always ultimately deals with such.
There must still be 10 good people!
I agree, Jesus told us that disasters aren’t necessarily indicative of the greater-than-usual wickedness of those victimised by them. Instead, He said that *everyone* needs to repent.
That being said, homosexuals and the Lutheran abominationists who are abetting their agenda need to be worried about the eternal version of God’s punishment.
just trying to get their attention
Jesus: “Those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:4-5)
On this point, I believe Piper is stating the complete opposite of what Jesus was saying. The 18 on whom the tower fell were not worse than others, and ALL need to come to repentence. The tower was not punishment because they were no more guilty than any others who had not come to repentence.
It's not that God couldn't or wouldn't send particular judgement in this situation. (Obviously homosexuality is an abomination). It's just that Piper can in no way know what God was doing and why. If this particular tornado was a particular judgement then what about the thousands of other tornadoes and storms that have struck and killed people?
It's just not solid theology, EV.
And pretending we know what God was doing in something like this is arrogant.
I hope Piper isn't as arrogant as this post makes him seem. I have a lot of respect for this man, and have known his ministry for 40 years (same denomination). He's off base on this.
Salt and Light, meet Fred Phelps. You’ll get along just fine.
* as of August 19, AD 2009, a liberal protestant SECT, not part of the holy, catholic and apostolic CHURCH.
For those with ears that hear and eyes that see it was by his hand.
BTTT!
My brother’s congregation is finally leaving them. I hope a good many others stand up as well. I wish they would stop calling themselves Lutheran so I don’t have to cringe every time they do something (Im a member of the Missouri Synod) There are plenty of Lutherans in the Missouri, Wisconsin and scattered other synods that remain true to Christ and His teachings as outlined in the Bible.
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