Hey, both Tiller the late-term abortionist & the BTK serial killer were members of ELCA churches in Wichita.
Now if they both wind up in hell, I guess, yes, you can say that "all things redound to the (ultimate) will of God" but ya know, it sure would have been nice if Tiller & the BTK guy would have been actually saved in those ELCA churches they attended!
So why not the same with Lds...no urgency for them be saved?
“So why not the same with Lds...no urgency for them be saved?”
I wasn’t aware that we had any control over either the timetable or the outcome.
As to whether one is saved, we can only know by their actions, and even then, another human being looking on can’t know for sure.
The ELCA is a sect. It wasn’t when I joined it. It is now.
One must ultimately choose. I can’t make the choice for them, but I can live in a way that might put the inconsistencies in their lives in some relief. Many are blind and stay that way.
You speak of urgency as if this were a question of coverage - the more we proselytize, the more we convert. Even the Mormons will tell you the limitations of that approach.
Ever get a question about God from someone who is gay? I think the last thing they want to dwell on is that they are a living abomination before God. If they are asking the question, you can infer they already understand the inconsistencies in their lives, and are seeking a change.
Wanna hit’em with the 2x4? You can tell them their behavior is a choice, for example. I’ve seen enough homosexuals commit suicide before they were 20 to know that they don’t see it that way.
Salvation is a choice. It’s the first choice you make, and then you choose to change your life in other ways. Accepting Christ and making that changes enables so many other changes that would have been considered impossible.
Homosexuality is a sin. So is stealing gum. Let’s talk about Christ, Heaven, and Salvation. Homosexuals are some of the unhappiest people I know, and it ISN’T because we don’t accept them. It’s because they know they are fundamentally broken in ways more serious than the rest of us. It’s not something one has to dwell on.
Mormonism has its inconsistencies too. If they are asking the question, all we really need do is answer it?
Readiness to be saved is part of this that makes the ‘urgency’ thing seem so inappropriate. Seeds are planted, they are tended, and some grow, others whither.
Once you figure out you’re swimming with sharks, you then develop the urge to get out of the tank. Getting there in any one person is a team effort.
I hope you aren’t insinuating that had I acted sooner, perhaps the BTK killer or Tiller situations may have been different. That’s like saying ‘Had the owner of the Yankees just signed Fidel Castro, Cuba wouldn’t be in the situation its in.’