News and Resources for Confessing Lutherans
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In This Issue...
Now fast forward to the ELCA’s triennial churchwide assembly this past August in Milwaukee. No tornado struck the Wisconsin Center where the voting members gathered, leaving the question of whether God approved or disapproved in serious doubt for theological interpreters of the jet stream. In the end, though, no gust of wind was needed: the churchwide organization of the ELCA just may succeed in knocking over its own steeple.
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CWA Reflections: God Has a Way of Sorting His Church
Vice President of the board of Lutheran CORE
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Shortly after the ELCA’s vote to change the sexual standards for ordained ministers in 2009, a strong and unexpected wind knocked over the bell tower of Central Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, which was helping to host the churchwide assembly. Many conservatives interpreted this stormy event as an act of God, expressing His displeasure with the vote. Revisionists responded in kind, saying it was God unleashing divine joy at seeing an oppressive structure of yesteryear finally knocked over. The whole thing was a good lesson in why Lutherans generally avoid seeking the clear will of God in natural occurrences. The Word suffices.
Now fast forward to the ELCA’s triennial churchwide assembly this past August in Milwaukee. No tornado struck the Wisconsin Center where the voting members gathered, leaving the question of whether God approved or disapproved in serious doubt for theological interpreters of the jet stream. In the end, though, no gust of wind was needed: the churchwide organization of the ELCA just may succeed in knocking over its own steeple.
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The Power of the Word of God
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Note from CORE Executive Director, Dennis D. Nelson: Congratulations to Mark Mattes, Professor of Theology and Philosophy at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa, for being chosen to give the commencement address at the recent graduation ceremonies for
Leadstar Theological College
in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Our prayers are with the faculty, staff, and students of that school, as well as with all of the graduates, as they serve God in a part of the world where the Holy Spirit is moving in a most powerful way. We are very grateful to Dr. Mattes for reminding us that we need to read, heed, believe, and obey the entire Word of God for it is there that we find assurance of His love, His will for our lives, and the message of salvation.
This is one response to God’s word when it challenges us: whittle it down, reject it, even burn it. Especially if what it says accuses us, we want to get rid of it. Unfortunately, Europe and North America have a long history of copying King Jehoiakim’s attempt to eliminate the word whether they admit it or not. One of America’s greatest presidents, Thomas Jefferson, during his tenure in the White House, took scissors to the Gospels and cut out all those passages which he felt no rational person could believe. So, Jesus walked on water? Out that goes. Or, Jesus turned water into wine? Well, no scientific person can believe that.
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Postmodernism Gone Viral, Part 3: Responding to My Critics
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The board of Lutheran CORE would like to thank Brett Jenkins for the time he has served on the board. Brett is an ardent defender of the historic, orthodox Christian faith. He has added greatly to the ministry of Lutheran CORE through the contributions he has made to the discussions at our meetings as well as the articles he has written. Notable among these articles are the ones he has written about the post-modern worldview which is reflected in the ELCA social statement on "
Faith, Sexism, and Justice
." We wish Brett God's richest blessings in his continued ministry and are very happy that he is willing to continue writing for Lutheran CORE.
I was pleased that my Postmodernism Gone Viral article garnered a decent amount of response both positive and negative from those who read it. Though I have no doubt that my rhetorical hacking did not quite reach the “roots of evil” present in the document, that it instigated such responses may indicate that I was at least striking heartwood rather than mere leaves. In this article I will respond to the criticisms I received as a result of publishing the initial article. Because these criticisms were received as private correspondence rather than “letters to the editor,” I do not feel I can publish the full texts of them. I will therefore try to faithfully capture the gist of the criticisms, though I will not reproduce the verbal abuse.
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What Will It Be Next? Part 2
Executive Director of Lutheran CORE
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Unfortunately, this has become a regular part of our monthly communications – our asking the question, “What Will It Be Next?,” as we find the ELCA slipping further and further away from the historic, orthodox Christian faith, a traditional view of the mission of the church, and Biblical morals and moral values.
This month’s “What Will It Be Next?” is my response to an August 20 communication from ELCA Worship. This email included in its list of resources a new hymnal entitled, Songs for the Holy Other: Hymns Affirming the LGBTQIA2S+ Community. This hymn collection was introduced at the recent annual conference of the Hymn Society of the United States and Canada. According to the society’s website, TheHymnSociety.org, the volume is intended to be “a toolbox of hymns by and for those who identify as members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, transgender, nonbinary, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual, aromantic, two-spirit, and other sexual/gender minority (LGBTQIA2S+) community and their allies.”
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Annual Chicago
Encuentro
Set for Holy Cross Day, Sept. 14th
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This year's autumn
Encuentro
Luterano (Lutheran Encounter) will fortify the people of God in their Baptismal identity, beginning with the opening talk by The Rev. Dr. Maxwell Johnson, an ELCA pastor and faculty member at the University of Notre Dame, South Bend, IN. Dr. Johnson will present "Baptism: Walking Wet in the Via Crucis" at the inter-Lutheran gathering, to be held on Holy Cross Day / Dia de la Santa Cruz, Saturday, Sept. 14th at St. Timothy Lutheran Church, 2101 N. Kildare Ave. (corner of W. Dickens), in Chicago's Hermosa neighborhood.
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© 2019 Lutheran Coalition for Renewal
PO Box 1741 Wausau, WI 54402-1741
Lutheran CORE's mission:
- A Network for Confessing Lutherans
- A Voice for Biblical Truth
Our purpose can be summed up in two words–
Network
and
Voice
. As
Network
for confessing Lutherans, we support and connect Lutheran individuals and congregations who seek to live in accord with Biblical and confessional teachings and practices. As a
Prophetic Voice
, we advocate for Biblical authority and confessional fidelity among churches of the Lutheran community.
We support local gatherings and communicate Biblical truth through our newsletter, mailings, and various forms of social media.
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