In Matthew 19: 14 Jesus told His disciples, “Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.”  In Matthew 18: 3 He added, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”  Children show us what it means to be humble and trust.

Lutheran CORE is very pleased to be able to offer a large number of resources on our website for pastors, lay people, and lay leaders of congregations.  We have suggested prayers of the church and hymns for each Sunday, daily devotions, and weekly lectionary-based Bible studies.  Links to these resources can be found here, here and here.

We are now very happy to be able to add weekly, lectionary-based children’s sermons.  Many thanks to ELCA pastor Jim Fitzgerald and his wife Hanna for providing this new resource.  Jim is pastor of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Fulton, Maryland.  A link to his children’s messages can be found here. 

The children’s sermons are focused on the lectionary, usually the Gospel.  Hanna plays a lamb puppet named Sammy.  Each week Sammy and the pastor have conversations about Jesus and the disciples.  Pastor Fitzgerald shares, “We keep the scripts simple, fun, easy to understand, and focused on Jesus.”  The scripts are written for young children under the age of twelve, but the Fitzgeralds have noticed that adults also have fallen in love with Sammy’s messages about Jesus.  Each week the Fitzgeralds provide a prop list and Scripture reading along with the script as well as information about each of the characters.  Their goal is to make the scripts “as accessible, readable, and easy to use as possible.”

I asked Pastor Jim how he and his wife became involved in providing children’s sermons.  He wrote –

“During internship, prior to his call to ministry at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Fulton, Maryland, Jim served at Evangelical Lutheran Church in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania as a vicar. One of the pastors had conversations with ‘Donkey,’ the puppet his wife played. Jim watched each week as children filled several pews to hear about Jesus from Donkey and the pastor.

“The initial thought both Jim and Hanna had about these children’s sermons was how wonderful they were, but Hanna didn’t want to ever engage in playing a donkey puppet, and then their daughter was born. In October 2023, Pastor Jim was ordained, and he and Hanna began talking about how they could offer meaningful children’s sermons to the children at St. Paul’s. Hanna was not willing to play a donkey, but said she would play a lamb, as long as she could pick out the puppet (the puppet had to be cute). Sammy was born.

“Jim and Hanna started leading children’s sermons together at St. Paul’s Lutheran during the season of Advent in 2023. Working with Sammy, the lamb puppet, they had no idea how the congregation and children would respond to the weekly discussions Sammy and Pastor Jim had together. They had no idea how much the congregation would fall in love with the character of Sammy—and that love has to stem from the church’s deep love of Jesus.

“Each week, Pastor Jim reads the gospel and invites the children to come forward for a children’s sermon. During the time that the children are walking up the aisle, Hanna works her way behind the pulpit, grabs a handheld microphone, and becomes Sammy. One of the members of the congregation created a wooden frame with green felt on the front that slides into place next to the pulpit: Sammy’s meadow.”

A link to further information regarding “The Adventures of Sammy the Lamb” can be found here.

Lutheran CORE would like to thank Pastor Jim Fitzgerald and his wife Hanna for sharing this resource.  To contact Pastor Jim for questions or more information, please email him at pastorjim@stpaulslutheran.info.

The church’s mailing address is:

Photo of Pr. FitzGerald and Sammy the Lamb was taken by Sally Murphy.

“WHY ARE YOU FRIGHTENED?”

The Gospel reading from Luke 24 for April 14, the Third Sunday of Easter, tells of an incident that happened on Easter Sunday evening – after Jesus had spent some time with two of His followers on the road to Emmaus.  According to verses 33-35, after Jesus suddenly disappeared, the Emmaus disciples “got up and returned to Jerusalem and found the eleven and their companions gathered together.  They said, ‘The Lord has risen indeed!’  Then they told them what had happened on the road, and how Jesus had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.”

I believe that this is the same time as the appearance of Jesus to His disciples recorded in John 20: 19ff (the Gospel reading for the Second Sunday of Easter), when Thomas was not with them.  Luke 24: 36-38 tell us what happened next.  “Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’  They were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost.  He said to them, ‘Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?’” 

That is a good question for all of us – Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 

We all have many reasons to be frightened and many reasons for doubts to arise in our hearts.

1. Afraid of the future

First, many are afraid of the future.  We all have many reasons to be afraid of the future. 

I have talked with many people who are fearful for the future viability of their congregations.  They see their aging and diminishing membership.  They wonder whether they will be able to continue to afford a pastor, and even if they can afford one, whether they will be able to find one.  Many congregations have been without a pastor for a long time.

I have talked with people who face deep financial insecurities.  Inflation has taken a huge toll and they are fearful of what will happen if their financial resources run out.  They do not like the idea of being dependent upon others, and they wonder if there will be someone to depend upon if they do become dependent upon others.  Many are deeply concerned about health issues – their own health issues and the health issues of those whom they love.   

We all have plenty of reasons to be fearful for our country and our culture when the federal government honors the Transgender Day of Visibility instead of Easter and will not allow any religious symbols in its celebration of Easter.

For those who are afraid of the future Jesus gives unmistakable evidence of His resurrection.  In Luke 24: 39-43 He showed them His hands and His feet and then took a piece of broiled fish and ate it in their presence.  In the words of the one Gospel song, “Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.”

2. Afraid of the past

Second, many are afraid of the past.  We all have many reasons to be afraid of the past. 

For those who are afraid of the past Jesus gives the promise of forgiveness of sins.  In Luke 24: 44-48 He opened their minds to understand the scriptures and then said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations.”  Repentance and forgiveness of sins.  Repent is what we need to do.  Forgiveness is what we need to receive. 

In contrast, a friend and colleague from the synod in which I was rostered before I retired shared with me a brilliant theological analysis of critical race theory and DEIA ideology.  As the apostle Paul stated in 2 Corinthians 3:6, “The law kills, but the Spirit gives life.”  The demands of the law will always be relentless.  You can never do enough.  In the same way, no matter how much I grovel and repent of my own racism and the racism of my ancestors and no matter how much I try to compensate for all past offenses, grievances, and injustices, it is never enough. 

Paul also wrote in Romans 7: 24, “O wretched man that I am!  Who can deliver me from this body of death?”   If you are white – or even worse, if you are a white male – or worst of all, if you are an older, heterosexual, cisgender, Christian white male – nothing can deliver you.  You are hopelessly racist.  No matter how hard you may try and no matter what you may do, you will always be racist.  You cannot not be racist.  The systems that privilege and empower you must be dismantled.  All power and privilege must be taken away from you.

I recently attended a memorial service where we sang the hymn, “When Peace like a River.”  I was struck by the words of the third verse –

“He lives – oh, the bliss of this glorious thought;

My sin, not in part, but the whole,

Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more.

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!”

With critical race theory and DEIA ideology, there is no possibility of grace, forgiveness, deliverance, and release.  There is only constant confession, repentance, guilt, failure, not measuring up, not doing enough, and groveling.  With critical race theory and DEIA ideology, you will never be able to say, “It is well with my soul.”

How sad and how serious it is that critical race theory and DEIA ideology sell people out to a taskmaster that will never be satisfied.  They imprison people in a system from which there is no escape.

How much better what Jesus said in Luke 24: 47 – “Repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations.”  It is only in and through Jesus that we can and will find hope, grace, peace, forgiveness, and reconciliation.  It is only through Jesus that we can say with the apostle Paul in Romans 7: 25, “Thanks be to God!”    

3. Powerless in the present

Third, many feel powerless in the present.  We all have many reasons to feel powerless in the present.  For those who feel powerless in the present Jesus promises power from on high.

In verse 49 He said to the disciples, “See, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”  Power from on high is what we all need.  And power from on high is exactly what the disciples received on the Day of Pentecost.

In contrast, as I read the resolution that led to the creation of the ELCA’s Commission for a Renewed Lutheran Church as well as minutes of their meetings, it is painfully obvious that they are building a church that is based not upon the Scriptures but upon critical race theory and DEIA ideology.  The 2022 ELCA Churchwide Assembly – as well as the Commission – are making the main mission of the church not to fulfill Christ’s Great Commission but to dismantle systemic racism.  They are making the main mission of the church not what we have been commanded and empowered to do, but instead they are taking on an impossibly huge task with merely human resources.

How could they feel anything other than overwhelmed and hopeless?  I often wonder, if people’s main mission in life is to dismantle systemic racism, why would they focus their efforts in the church?  No wonder there is and will continue to be a huge shortage of pastors.

Because everything is at stake and in the Name of the One who gives hope for the future, release from the past, and power in the present,  

Dennis D Nelson
Executive Director
dennisdnelsonaz@yahoo.com

April 2024

Dear Friends in the Risen Lord –

We – along with others who have contributed to the articles in our newsletter – have written extensively about ways in which a dangerous, secular, non-Biblical agenda continues to gain strength and momentum within a segment of the church.  We will continue to monitor and keep you informed about such thing as –

• The keynote speakers for the ELCA youth and young adult gathering this summer. We find it amazing that the time to register is nearly completed but the keynote speakers have not yet been announced.  We shudder to think of who they might be – how much worse it might be than at the last gathering in 2018 when 31,000 young people were led in rejecting traditional views as a lie and transgenderism and gender confusion were promoted and celebrated.
• The way in which the work of the ELCA’s Commission for a Renewed Lutheran Church is informed, based upon, and motivated not by the Scriptures but by a secular philosophy that ultimately is destructive – critical race theory and DEIA ideology.
• Specific ways in which the DEIA agenda will impact congregations. It will get harder and harder for traditionally minded congregations to believe that this will not impact them as they read and reflect upon the recommendations (which could become requirements) for congregations in the report from the law firm that did a DEIA audit of the ELCA’s governing documents.
• Examples of when synods have used a provision in the ELCA model constitution for synods to move in on and take over congregations and grab their property.
• Ways in which the buildup has started to eliminate the provision for bound conscience in the ELCA’s human sexuality social statement, even though the ELCA says that the results of the work of the task force are not pre-determined.

In the midst of all this Jesus said, “I will build My church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.”  No matter how much an individual church body may stray from Biblical truth, and no matter what happens to individual congregations, Jesus will build His church, and the gates of hell will not prevail.

I am deeply grateful for all of the messages I receive from people who tell me that they value and appreciate the work of Lutheran CORE and they support us in prayer.  It is your fervent prayers and faithful and generous financial support that enable us to continue to do our work of being a Voice for Biblical Truth and a Network for Confessing Lutherans.  I have listed above some of the major ways in which we will continue to be a Voice for Biblical Truth in 2024.  We will also continue to provide such things as the following as a Network for Confessing Lutherans. 

• Resources on our website, including daily devotions, worship aids, Bible studies, and videos on books and topics of interest and importance.
• Support to orthodox seminarians, young adults planning on attending seminary, and the NEXUS program of Grand View University – a week of Bible study, theological reflection, fellowship, and vocational discernment for high schoolers.
• Sponsorship of local and cross-country, intergenerational and multi-denominational mission trips organized and held by River’s Edge Ministries in Mt. Airy, Maryland.
• Support and guidance for congregations that are between pastors or will soon be losing their pastor, as well as for smaller and/or more remote congregations that are facing the real possibility that there might not be a seminary-trained pastor available for them.

Please find below a link to a form which you can use to give a gift towards our regular operating expenses as we work to be a Voice for Biblical Truth and a Network for Confessing Lutherans.  Please also let us know how we can be praying for you.  Thank you for your partnership in the Gospel, as we thank Jesus that He is building His church, and the gates of hell will not prevail.

In the love of the cross and the power of the empty tomb,

Dennis D. Nelson
Executive Director of Lutheran CORE
P.O. Box 1741
Wausau WI 54402-1741
dennisnelsonaz@yahoo.com

I am very grateful for the recent invitation to have a zoom conversation with the director and associate director of the ELCA’s Reconsiderations process.  This is the task force that has been appointed by the ELCA Church Council to review the 2009 human sexuality social statement and reconsider the provision for “bound conscience.”  I am glad that I was able to share very openly and that they listened respectfully. 

I appreciate the fact that they had read quite a number of articles on our website.  One of their initial questions was what hopes I had for the process.  I told them that I have no hopes for the process.  My understanding is that the concept of bound conscience was first used to justify and defend revisionist views, but over time it came to be used in an effort to calm down and reassure those with traditional views in an attempt to minimize the number of pastors and congregations that would leave.  However, there have been many loud and prominent voices that have been intent all along on eliminating bound conscience.  They sensed at the 2022 Churchwide Assembly that the time had come.  They had enough votes to begin the process that would eventually lead to the elimination of bound conscience.  And they were right. 

They then asked me what concerns I had for the process.  I told them that what is at stake is the question of whether the ELCA can be trusted.  If the ELCA cannot be trusted to keep its promise here – to continue to honor bound conscience – then it cannot be trusted to keep any promise anywhere.  I also said that we all should know that no matter what is stated, included, decided, and approved in a reconsidered social statement now, the ELCA is not going to stay there.

I then went through a history of specific times and ways in which ELCA leaders have ignored communication from traditional voices, not remained within the boundaries of what was actually voted on and approved in 2009, and favored revisionist views, such as in the makeup of the Commission for a Renewed Lutheran Church and ReconcilingWorks’ being given a non-voting position on the ELCA Church Council.

They asked me to communicate to our constituency (and I said I would) the fact that the vote on the social statement will actually occur in two phases.  The first vote, which they call Reconsideration # 1, will take place in 2025.  They describe the matters that will be voted on then as “editorial” – “small, clarifying word changes only” – brought about by the fact that “civil law governing same-sex marriages, public acceptance of such marriages, and diversity of family configurations have changed dramatically since 2009.”

The second vote, which they call Reconsideration # 2, will take place in 2028.  They describe the matters that will be voted on then as “substantive,” namely “examining the coexistence in the 2009 statement of four different but valid convictions that Lutherans can faithfully hold about same-gender relationships.” 

They are still saying that the resolution at the 2022 Churchwide Assembly set in motion a process – “a reconsideration of these ideas but does not determine the outcome.”  But we all know that the empowered and preferred voices will work relentlessly until they have achieved their goal of eliminating bound conscience.  We will keep you posted. 

Many thanks to Kevin Haug for his very insightful article about the DEIA audit which the ELCA recently commissioned a law firm to do of its governing documents.  I hate to think of how many of your benevolence dollars the ELCA spent on this effort.  You will find Kevin’s article in this issue of CORE Voice.  It is a word of warning to all in the ELCA.  You do not need to take my word for it that these recommendations actually are being given as part of this audit.  You can check it out for yourself at DEIA_Report_Part_2.pdf (elca.org)

I am an ELCA pastor who has been retired for nearly ten years.  When I read these recommendations, my first thought was, “I am glad to be retired.”  The immediate response of one ELCA pastor in his early 60’s when I shared these recommendations with him was, “How soon can I retire?”

I thought of the strong, negative response I am certain I would have received if and when I would have shared these recommendations with the congregation council of the church where I was the pastor.  I then thought, “We are already facing the challenge of trying to do everything that we are currently doing.  How am I now supposed to get everyone on board, enthusiastic about, and actively engaged in fulfilling these recommendations?”  And what will be the consequences for us in our synod if these recommendations become requirements and we do not meet them?  If congregations that are DEIA-compliant are rewarded with such things as having extra voting members at synod assemblies and greater access to grants and other financial resources, how will congregations that are not DEIA-compliant be punished?  For example, will they not be given any names of possible candidates for call if the congregation is looking for a pastor? 

Here is just a sampling of the audit’s Recommended Minimum DEIA Standards for Congregations.  A question for all ELCA pastors and congregational leaders is this:  Is this what you want to spend a considerable amount of your time, energy, and resources on? 

1. Upgrade all personnel policies to reflect DEIA values.

2. Require annual DEIA training for all pastors, church staff, and lay leaders, using an Approved (approved by whom?) Provider.  At a minimum this training will cover the following topics:

a.  How does DEIA advance the values of the Kingdom of God?

b.  Is this particular congregation perceived as hostile or unresponsive to members of historically marginalized groups, and if so, how might this congregation reverse that perception?

The ELCA defines “historically marginalized groups” as groups that have for some significant period of history been excluded from participation or leadership in the church on the basis of certain characteristics.  They include racial and ethnic minorities, persons whose primary language is other than English, low income persons, persons with disabilities, gender non-conforming persons, and members of the LGBTQIA+ community.  (I have asked ELCA leaders who are so concerned for “historically marginalized groups,” what about “currently marginalized groups”?  Which I would say includes older, white, cisgender, heterosexual males with traditional views.) 

This mandatory, annual DEIA training is also to consider such questions as these –

a.  What additional initiatives can this congregation pursue to promote DEIA values?

b.  What financial resources does our congregation commit to promoting DEIA values and programs, and should we commit more and if so can we do so on an annual basis?

c.  What is Christian White Nationalism, what causes people to adhere to it, and is it consistent with Jesus’ teachings?  How might members of historically marginalized groups be offended by Christian White Nationalism?

d.  What is Black Lives Matter, is it consistent with Jesus’ teachings, why are people drawn to it, what human needs does it address, and can the church do a better job at meeting those needs?

3.  In addition, each congregation is to identify at least one other congregation with opposite or at least very different demographic characteristics and commit to starting at least a one-year relationship with them.  This relationship is to include the following:

a. Periodic meetings between the pastors to discuss ways in which the congregations can get to know each other better and plan joint activities to strengthen mutual understanding on DEIA issues.  These activities may include joint DEIA training sessions with an Approved (again, approved by whom?) Provider and joint Bible Studies or Biblically based book studies on DEIA topics.

b.  Monthly meetings between the lay leaders to plan and administer activities, joint discussions, and ministries.

c.  At least six joint worship experiences, followed by a fellowship social hour.

At best these recommendations will be time and energy consuming.  At worst they will be one more way in which the ELCA is relentlessly being pushed to the extreme left – in the direction of critical race theory and DEIA ideology.

RUNAWAY TRAIN

A pastor colleague recently wrote to me regarding the ELCA – “The question remains as to whether this progressive freight train has any brakes at all.”  I replied, “Absolutely not. The ELCA has no brakes and feels no need for brakes.  The ELCA is bound and determined to go – at an ever-increasing speed – in the direction in which it is going – no matter what.

The ELCA reminds me of the 1976 film “Silver Streak.”  Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor star in this story of a murder on a train traveling from Los Angeles to Chicago.  After the engineer is killed and a toolbox is placed on the dead-man switch to keep the engine running, the Silver Streak becomes a runaway train.  The back part of the train is uncoupled in an effort to trigger the brakes, but the front part retains enough momentum due to the locomotive’s being at high throttle.  The film ends with the Silver Streak’s roaring into Chicago’s Central Station (is the city of location mere coincidence?), destroying everything in its path until the brakes finally take hold. 

With the appointing of a Commission for a Renewed Lutheran Church (CRLC), combined with the recommendations of the DEIA (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility) audit which the ELCA spent who knows how much money on, the ELCA is like a runaway train.

An article by ELCA pastor Kevin Haug in the March issue of CORE Voice will tell more about the DEIA audit and what pastors, lay leaders, and congregations can expect.  Here I will present my review of the latest report from the Commission for a Renewed Lutheran Church.   I will be analyzing the Summary statement from the Commission’s November 30-December 2 in person meeting.  A copy of that Summary can be found HERE.

I would like to begin by thanking ELCA pastor Ryan Cordle for his article regarding Critical Race Theory and the Commission.  A link to his article, which appeared in the January issue of CORE Voice, can be found HERE.  What he wrote helped me tremendously in formulating and clarifying my thinking.

On January 16 the ELCA’s Grand Canyon Synod (the synod in which I am rostered) hosted a Listening Session where two members of the Commission gave a summary of their work followed by an opportunity for those attending to share concerns and ask questions.  During the session I made the comment that based upon the language of the resolution from the 2022 Churchwide Assembly which directed the Church Council to create the Commission and upon the fact that twenty percent of the members of the Commission – seven out of thirty-five – are Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion leaders and/or officers at their place of employment and/or influence, I am convinced that the purpose and intent in creating the Commission is to re-structure the church according to the principles of critical race theory and diversity, equity, and inclusion ideology.  I was told by one of the members of the Commission that there is no pre-determined outcome for the work of the Commission.

After reviewing the summary of the November 30-December 2 meeting of the Commission, which is available on the ELCA website, I then wrote to the two members of the Commission, stating that I did not see how they could make the claim that there is no pre-determined outcome.  I included the Bishop of my Synod among those who received my email.  After thanking them for providing the Listening Session, I wrote, “I would say that the resolution that led to the formation of the Commission as well as the summary of the meeting of the Commission are literally saturated with critical race theory and diversity, equity, and inclusion ideology.”

I then wrote the following to support my point.

* * * * * * 

I will begin with the resolution.  This resolution includes the words, “being particularly attentive to our shared commitment to dismantle racism.”  Those are very significant words.  They reflect the position that racism is not just something that some people think and do.  Rather imbedded into the very nature of our society are structures that privilege and empower certain races (white people) and disempower, victimize, and marginalize all other races (BIPOC people).  The ELCA is therefore saying that it is not enough to just be non-racist – to not use racist language.  We must be anti-racist.  We must break down the structures that empower some and dis-empower everyone else.  The report of the “Dismantling Racism” internal committee on Day 1 takes this concept even further.  According to that committee, it is important that all of the work of the Commission “is completed through an intersectional lens of dismantling racism.”  Those also are very significant words.  According to the concept of intersectionality, the various systems that privilege and empower some and victimize and disempower everyone else are so intertwined and interconnected that all of these systems need to be dismantled, whether they be white supremacy, male dominance, agism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, heteronormativity, or whatever.

The only specific instruction that has been given to the Commission is to “dismantle racism.”  Nothing else is of prime importance.  The new church is to be structured not first and foremost so as to position it to fulfill the Great Commission.  Rather it is to be structured first and foremost so as to position it to dismantle racism – as well as every other system of oppression that is interconnected with racism.  The summary of the three-day meeting shows how this top priority of dismantling racism is being pursued and implemented.

• On Day 1 Judith Roberts presented on the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Status survey responses from all ELCA synods. I did not see any other area where responses were sought for and/or obtained from all synods. 
• On Day 1 the Commission “voted on and passed language that clarifies the mandate of the CRLC as being focused on governance.” At the Listening Session that I attended several people expressed deep concern for their congregation’s long-term viability.  You did say that the focus of the Commission is on governance.  I wonder how many members of ELCA congregations, once they hear and understand that, will feel that the ELCA is not concerned about the issues that are important to them.    
• On Day 1 the “Why and What” internal committee reviewed the completed DEIA (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility) audit and discussed “how the recommended edits affect the current purpose statements.” Again, as with the DEI status survey responses from all synods, no other survey responses were solicited and received and no other audit was completed.  All of which shows what is important and what is not.
• I have already mentioned the great significance of the “intersectional lens of dismantling racism” language of the report from the “Dismantling Racism” internal committee on Day 1. This same committee has also analyzed “how racism is embedded within the current structures of the ELCA.”  If systemic racism needs to be dismantled – along with all the other systems of oppression that are interconnected with systemic racism – and systemic racism exists throughout the ELCA, then we should not be surprised if in the end the Commission will recommend dismantling the entire ELCA.
• On Day 2 Judith Roberts was back to present the executive summary from the Task Force for Strategic Authentic Diversity. With all that is being said, I assume that the belief is that Strategic Authentic Diversity will never be achieved by the method that the ELCA has been using from the beginning – having and requiring quotas.  Rather Strategic Authentic Diversity will be achieved only by dismantling all interconnected systems of power imbalance and oppression. 
• On Day 2 three people presented on the ELCA Churchwide Office’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility audit. As I remember from the Listening Session, the ELCA is so proud of itself for being the first of its kind of organization to complete a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility audit.
• On Day 2 Vance Blackfox’s presentation on marginalized leadership movements and racial equity in the ELCA again shows the concerns, values, and priorities of the Commission.

So what are we to make of all of this?  I can see only one possible conclusion.  There is a pre-determined outcome to the work of the Commission – and that is to create a whole new church that will be structured according to the principles of critical race theory and diversity, equity, and inclusion ideology.  The Commission has been appointed to create a whole new church that will be positioned not to fulfill the Great Commission but to be in the forefront of a massive cultural movement to create a whole new society based upon (dare I say it?) Marxist ideology.

* * * * * *

I then ended by thanking them for hearing my concerns.  I sent this email on Friday, January 26.  I have received a very gracious response from my bishop.  As of February 4 – nine days after sending the email – I have heard nothing from the members of the Commission – not even the courtesy of an email like, “Thank you for attending the Listening Session and sharing your concerns.” 

* * * * * * *

Many thanks to Ken Coughlan, Media Director, Director of International Programs, and Staff Counsel for Trinity Lutheran Church and School in Joppa, Maryland (NALC) for his review of The Blackwell Companion to Natural Theology, edited by William Lane Craig and J.P. Moreland.  A link to Ken’s video review can be found HERE.  A link to our You Tube channel, which contains reviews of nearly three dozen books as well as a dozen CORE Convictions videos on various topics related to the Christian faith and life, can be found HERE. 

According to Ken, this volume is an almost 700-page collection of essays from the brightest minds in the field on the subject. However, for any Lutheran the first question we have to answer is whether Natural Theology has a place in the Lutheran tradition in light of Luther’s views on the limitations of human reason.

In this review, Christian apologist Ken Coughlan first gives a brief outline of the specifically Lutheran question to help you decide whether further exploration of the book is in line with your theological convictions. He then describes the book’s approach as a whole and gives a summary of the pros and cons for particular audiences. This work is not for everyone, but it can be a valuable resource for its intended audience.

For more material from Ken, please check out his website – kencoughlan.org

* * * * * *

May the Lord bless you as you begin your Lenten journey.

Dennis D. Nelson

Executive Director Lutheran Core

“PASTORAL HELMANSHIP: A PASTOR’S GUIDE TO CHURCH ADMINISTRATION”

Many thanks to Aaron Heilman for this review.  Aaron is Worship Leader for Pointe of Hope Church in Blue Springs, Missouri (LCMS).  A link to Aaron’s video can be found here.  A link to our You Tube channel, which contains nearly four dozen videos, can be found here.

Pastoral Helmsmanship is a collaborative effort between three well credentialed authors.

In summary, a large part of administrative work is preparing and planning for storms. A ship’s helmsman is second-in command to the captain. In a church, the pastor is the helmsman. The captain is Jesus. The helmsman’s primary role is to help navigate the ship through transitions.

There are several critical areas of a pastor’s call and life. First is the call to be the main vision caster of the church. Second is good time management. Third is balancing family and ministry. Fourth is a sober look at the occupational hazards of being a pastor. Lastly is a chapter on how to identify and handle troublemakers in the congregation.

The next section identifies key areas the pastor must tend to as an administrator. This book includes risk management and mitigation as well as approaches to working with and leading people. The final section provides resources and book recommendations.

Based on Kenneth Haugk’s book, Antagonists in the Church, there are 21 different behaviors that are red flags to look for in church members, leaders, and oneself. The authors added two additional categories, unregenerate members and those who declined their call to ministry.

The only real criticism to offer is that the book is probably due for an update due to technological changes. Overall, this book is a great one-stop shop for ideas on church administration that can help a pastor see the scope and complexity of the call to administrate and then develop a plan to do that well.

We all remember with horror the ways in which traditional views on such matters as human sexuality were rejected and belittled at the 2018 ELCA Youth Gathering.  Here is a link to an article in the Summer 2018 issue of CORE Voice newsletter about that event, including the way in which ELCA public theologian Nadia Bolz-Weber led 32,000 young people in a chant rejecting Biblically faithful views as a lie from Satan. I think it is very interesting that as of the time of my writing this article, the website for this summer’s ELCA youth gathering – taking place in July in New Orleans – does not yet include the names of the keynote speakers.  However, in the information for churches that will be sending their youth, there are more than enough reasons for congregations that take the Bible and the historic Christian faith seriously to stay far away.

Here is a link to the information that has been prepared to help youth and youth leaders get ready for the gathering. The theme for the event is “Created to Be.”  The preparatory materials are divided into five sections with two sessions each.  We have been Created to Be Brave, Authentic, Free, and Disruptive Disciples.  Each of the ten sessions starts out with a land acknowledgment, stating who were the original inhabitants of the land on which the gathering will be held, and from whom the land was stolen.  Not only is the ELCA conditioning its young people to think and feel negatively about the country in which they live, they are also displaying their blatant and pompous hypocrisy.  The ELCA is totally ignoring ways in which synods are abusing power and misusing a constitutional provision to take over the property of congregations.  Also I am not aware of any situation where a synod has returned the proceeds from the sale of the property of a closed congregation to the original inhabitants of the land.  Rather synods use this income to fund their radical-left agenda as their congregations, number of congregations, and the income from congregations continue to diminish.

The preparatory materials are filled with examples of ways in which the ELCA is indoctrinating its young people.  For example, the “Go Deeper” section of Session 2 of Unit 5 (Disciples) makes the statement, “Many of our young people have experienced Christians who do harm, speak hatefully, and work for laws that hurt our neighbors.”  The youth are then asked, “What negative words come to mind when you think of Christians or disciples?  What harm have you seen people do in Jesus’ name?”  In contrast, in the “Go Deeper” section of Session 1 of Unit 5 the young people are asked, “Is your church a Reconciling in Christ congregation?  If so, how long did your church take to make that commitment and adopt a welcome statement?  If not, what would it mean for you if your congregation became a Reconciling in Christ congregation?”  Any pastor who does not want the congregation to become Reconciling in Christ – and/or does not want the issue to be raised within the congregation – needs to be forewarned.  Also, the implication is that people with traditional views do harm, speak hatefully, and work for laws that hurt people, while congregations that are Reconciling in Christ are accepting, loving, and wonderful. 

And how does the ELCA indoctrinate the people who work with its young people?  Information regarding the general session speakers for the ELCA’s Youth Ministry Network Extravaganza being held this month also in New Orleans is available.  Here is a link to the website for this gathering for leaders in youth ministry.

Looking at the bios for the general session speakers, you will see that the overwhelming emphasis is on LGBTQ+ ideology as well as diversity, equity, and inclusion.  Here is information regarding three of the five general session speakers.  If you want your ministry to and with your young people to be anything other than that, you need to look elsewhere.  

• Jamie Bruesehoff is listed as an “award-winning LGBTQ+” advocate.  Jamie and her at-the-time pre-adolescent transgender child spoke at the 2018 youth gathering.  She describes her experiences raising a transgender child as “rooted in her queer identity.”  She is the author of Raising Kids beyond the Binary: Celebrating God’s Transgender and Gender-Diverse Children.
• The Rev. Carla Christopher (she/they) is co-chair of the ELCA’s Commission for a Renewed Lutheran Church and chaplain for Proclaim, which her bio describes as “an ELCA ministry that supports LGBTQIA2S+ seminarians and rostered leaders.”  She serves as Assistant to the Bishop for Justice Ministries in two ELCA synods and is a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Consultant for multiple synods and faith-based organizations.
• Deacon Ross Murray is director of the Naming Project.  The website for that organization describes their goal as to “provide a safe and sacred space where youth of all sexual orientations and gender identities are named and claimed by a loving God.”  They also work to “advocate for systemic change in church and society.” 

If that is what you want your congregation’s youth ministry to be all about, more power to you.  If that is not what you want, stay far away from both gatherings and from any potential youth worker who attends or who would promote either or both gatherings. 

YOU ARE IMPORTANT TO GOD

This Christmas season we hear again what the angel said to the shepherds, “Behold, I bring you good news of great joy for all people: To you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”  The fact that God would make an announcement like that to some shepherds helps us understand the true meaning of Christmas.  For no one thought much of shepherds.  Shepherds lived out in the fields – with animals.  Shepherds had no power and no prestige.  And yet God’s messenger-angel came with the greatest of announcements to some shepherds.  

A Savior was born for some shepherds.  The announcement of His birth was first given to shepherds.  What can that mean for us today?  I can think of three things.

1. YOU MATTER

The fact that the good news of the birth of Jesus was first given to some shepherds means that no matter how insignificant you may feel and think you are, still you matter to God.  All throughout the Bible we see God’s honoring and blessing and using people whom the world would overlook and ignore.

For example, five thousand men, plus women and children, had stayed all day to listen to Jesus.  At the end of the day they were hungry, but no one had thought to bring any food, except for one young boy who had five small rolls and two small fish.  It was not much, but it was enough.  Jesus took that small amount and from that small amount fed the many.  And God is always doing that, isn’t He?  He takes what we give to Him and then makes it into more than enough.

When God wanted a mother for His Son, He went to a small, insignificant village called Nazareth where he found a young peasant girl.  And when God’s Son was born, He was born not in one of the best of hospitals, surrounded by a team of the best medical professionals.  Rather He was born in a cave.  And then He was wrapped in swaddling cloths and laid in a manger.

And when God made His birth announcement, it was first made to some shepherds.  Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “If God cares about sparrows and lilies, then He certainly cares about you.”  If God values shepherds, then He certainly values you.

And we need to hear that, don’t we?  That God cares about us and values us.  That we matter to God.  People who are lonely and/or depressed during this holiday season need to hear that they matter to God.  People who are spending their first Christmas alone – without a certain loved one – need to hear that they matter to God.

We all need to hear that we matter to God, for we all have known feelings of rejection.  We all have experienced being put down and left out.  But at Christmas time God says, “I made My announcement to some shepherds, and I make My announcement to you.  A Savior is born for you because you matter.”

2. LIFE MATTERS

I can imagine those shepherds sitting around their campfire many nights wondering if their lives mattered and were worth anything.  “What difference does it make,” they might have asked themselves and each other many times, “whether we take care of our sheep or not?”

And maybe you also wonder, “What difference does it make whether I get up in the morning and go to work every day and/or do the things I do every day?”  Do you feel like your life is just one endless cycle of things that really do not matter?  Do you wonder whether your life is really worth living?

But when God comes and makes His announcement to some shepherds, He is also saying to you, “Life matters; your life matters; your life is My gift to you.”  Therefore, live every moment of it to the fullest.  Your life does matter to God.

And every life matters to God.  It is impossible to live – even for a few moments on this earth – and not influence somebody in one way or another.  We are all always influencing somebody – either for good or for bad. 

Life matters.  Your life matters.  Lives of kings and lives of shepherds all matter.  We all matter and are important to God.

3. FAITH MATTERS

I believe that these shepherds were men of faith.  In fact, I believe that they had a deeper faith than many of the religious leaders of the day who went to the synagogue or to the Temple every day.  I believe that these shepherds believed in and were looking forward to the coming of the Messiah. 

When things got especially tough.  During times of poverty, enslavement, trial, and exile, I believe that these shepherds, along with many others in Israel, would think about the Messiah and would remember God’s promise that some day the Messiah would come.

And so they would pray over and over again, “God, may the Messiah come, and may he come today.”  They prayed that prayer for hundreds of years.  And many times they must have wondered, “Is our faith really worth anything?  Does God really hear our prayers?  Does God remember and keep His promises?  Is the Messiah ever going to come?”

Down through the years there must have been some who quit praying, who quit believing.  But when the announcement of the angels came to some shepherds, God was saying, “Faith matters.  Your faith is not in vain.  I am a God who hears and remembers and keeps His promises.  And now the Messiah has come.  I have kept My promise.”

And how about us?  Sometimes we grow weary.  Sometimes we wonder if it is worth it to go to church and to work so hard in the work of the church.  Especially when so many others, including many members of our own family and many of our friends and neighbors, do not go to and are not involved in church.

But then we think of the faith of the shepherds, and the faith of so many others of God’s people down through the ages and at the time of Jesus’ birth, and with them we say, “Amen, come, Lord Jesus.”

Yes, you matter, life matters, and faith matters.  The announcement of the angels tells us that, like the shepherds, we are important to God.  Hark, can you hear the angels sing? 

* * * * * *

VIDEO MINISTRY

VIDEO BOOK REVIEW – “THE SURPRISING REBIRTH OF BELIEF IN GOD”

BY JUSTIN BRIERLEY  

Many thanks to ELCA pastor Kevin Haug for his review of Justin Brierley’s book, “The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God.”  Every day we are reminded of all of the chaos in our world and of the total inability of the human race to live in peace, so this video is a most needed and appropriate review for December, when we celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace.  A link to Kevin’s video can be found HERE.  A link to our YouTube channel, which contains nearly four dozen videos, can be found HERE.

 Kevin writes – Host of the Unbelievable podcast on YouTube, Justin has noticed a change in those whom he invites on his show.  Very few militant atheists engage anymore, and they have been replaced with atheist/agnostics who are very sympathetic towards the Christian faith.  Not only that, many of them argue that the Christian worldview provides the basic foundation for Western Civilization.  Some have even converted to the Christian faith. These include scientists, artists, journalists, and scholars.  Brierley wonders if the outgoing tide of Christianity is about to change – that people will start returning to the church because it has the capability to provide what secular culture cannot: meaning, purpose, and a comprehensive view of reality.  Brierley ends with some pertinent advice for the church.

* * * * * *

May the Lord bless you with His hope, love, peace, and joy during this Christmas season.

Dennis D. Nelson

Executive Director of Lutheran CORE

dennisdnelsonaz@yahoo.com

Dear Friend in the Savior-King:

For me one of the most inspiring, encouraging, and strength-giving passages of Scripture is John’s vision of heaven in Revelation 7: 9-17, which was the First Reading for All Saints Sunday. There are five elements in John’s depiction of the Church as having survived – as having “come out of the great ordeal” (verse 14). In the words of the beloved hymn, “Great Is Thy Faithfulness,” these elements give “strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow.”

1. A gathered throng
John writes in verse 9, “After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages.” They are “robed in white, with palm branches in their hands.” We all are concerned about aging and diminishing congregations. We are all alarmed over the pastoral shortage crisis. But here John describes the church not just as having survived, but as celebrating.

2. An occupied throne
Verse 9 – That multi-racial, multi-ethnic church is “standing before the throne.” They have not been deserted. They are not spiritually orphaned. Rather the God who is with them at the end has also been with them all the way through.

3. A slain lamb
Also in verse 9 – The church is “standing before the Lamb.” The contemporary Christian group Casting Crowns has a song entitled “Scars in Heaven.” It is about a loved one who has died after going through many painful experiences in life. Some of the words are as follows –
“I know you’re in a place where all your wounds have been erased,
And knowing yours are healed is healing mine. . . .
The only scars in heaven are on the hands that hold you now.”
The church is standing before the Lamb, who bore all our pain, died for our sins, is with us through all our suffering, and who overcame what frightens and threatens us the most.

4. Worshipping angels
Verse 11 – “And all the angels stood around the throne . . . they fell on their faces . . . and worshiped God.” The angels have seen it all – the rebellion of Satan, the fall of the human race, the rejection of the prophets, the death of Jesus, the suffering of the church. They have seen it all, and now they see how it will end. So, in the words of verse 15, “They are before the throne of God and worship him day and night.”

5. Springs of living water
Verses 16-17 – “They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat; for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” We all need relief from the things that strike us down. We all need the refreshment of living water and someone to wipe away our tears.

Yes, knowing how it will end – knowing the outcome – gives us strength and courage in the meantime.

But for me it is so sad when I see, hear, and read of so many pastors and congregations who do not give God’s people “strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow.” Rather they merely lay on the people the heavy burdens of what they need to do – whether it be more and more deeds of compassion or relentless demands to become more involved in the latest issues of social justice activism.

Everything is at stake. We will continue to keep you posted on the work of the ELCA’s Commission for a Renewed Lutheran Church. As we have written in previous communications, because we know the makeup of the Commission, we can be certain of the outcome of their work – social justice activism as the prime purpose and mission of the church, LGBTQ+ ideology, and diversity, equity, and inclusion as the primary value system of the new church. On the day I am writing this letter I saw the first posting regarding follow up to another action taken by the ELCA’s 2022 Churchwide Assembly – reviewing the 2009 human sexuality social statement. The ELCA is now in the process of forming the task force that will reconsider the whole issue of bound conscience – which is ELCA language for eliminating the provision by which traditional views have a place of dignity and respect within the church. Again we will keep you posted on what will certainly lead to a massive breach of trust and the ELCA’s saying to those with traditional Biblical views, “You are not welcome here.” We will also keep you posted when the list of keynote speakers for the 2024 ELCA Youth Gathering becomes available.

During 2024 we will continue our work of providing such things as –

• Warnings regarding ways in which the historic Christian faith is being rejected by and within the Church
• Resources such as suggested prayers of the church, daily devotionals, and weekly lectionary based Bible studies
• A support group for young adults, including seminarians
• Support for the NEXUS program at Grand View University (Bible study, theological reflection, and vocational discernment for high schoolers); cross-generational, inter-denominational mission trips; and our Spanish-language/bi-lingual ministries Encuentro
• Video reviews of books of interest and importance and videos on topics related to Biblical studies, Lutheran theology, ministry, and the Christian life

Please select a button below to designate a year-end gift towards our regular operating expenses as we work to be a Voice for Biblical Truth and a Network for Confessing Lutherans. Please also let us know how we can be praying for you. Thank you for your partnership in the Gospel, especially at this critical time when everything is at stake.

In Christ,

Dennis D. Nelson
Executive Director of Lutheran CORE