Pastor Joel Benson of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod cited the Archbishop of Canterbury’s reflections on General Convention. He paraphrased the archbishop’s reflections as establishing a category of “second-class Christians” for those churches that bless same-sex couples or ordain openly gay clergy.
David Olsen of the St. Paul Area Synod said the ELCA is in unity with the Lutheran World Federation, but “that unity is about to be dissolved” if the assembly approves the new ordination standards.
If the Holy Spirit is prompting the assembly to change its standards for ordaining clergy, asked Roy Gibbs of the Northwestern Ohio Synod, why is the Holy Spirit not inspiring Methodist, Eastern Orthodox, Presbyterian and Roman Catholic leaders to do likewise?
“Does the Spirit speak differently to different churches?” he asked.
There are some nice, colorful quotes in this TLC article. But nothing new. I think we’ve passed the point where “dialogue,” speeches, or arguments matter much. Forget the “Listening Process.” We’ve heard it all before.
All that matters now are actions. And the actions of the ELCA Churchwide Assembly have spoken loud and clear. They’ve chosen, willfully and stubbornly, to follow TEC, and the broader culture, in condoning the “gay is OK” delusion.
All that remains is paying the price for that fatal error.
David Handy+
[blockquote] “Does the Spirit speak differently to different churches?†he asked.[/blockquote]
No, but the spirit of Satan speaks differently. The elves probably don’t like the mention of Satan. How unbecoming. But what is happening to the Episcopal denomination is of the evil one.
David, “gay is ok” is not a delusion, but its benefits are illusory. It is not a delusion because its adherents are not mentally disordered. Nor are their arguments specious, iif you accept the argumentative ground on which they rest. We do not so acccept; accordingly, no argument is possible between them and us because there is no commonground. BUt the falsity of the benefits is demonstrable. Larry
“Does the Spirit speak differently to different churches?†he asked.
The Spirit speaks the same. Some churches are just listening.
The Zeitgeistian “churches” are listening to the same deceiving spirit that said “you shall be as god” and getting the same result that the first listeners to that spirit got, Susan. Some inherit it in the flesh, all in the soul, and the price is eternal.
SR (#4),
Yes, indeed, Susan. But [b]which[/b] churches are the ones that are listening to the Spirit?? That’s the question.
David Handy+
The ACNA most certainly is!
#4 Susan,
The Spirit spoke definitively on this topic thousands of years ago. Some people in some churches of late have chosen to ignore what He said, and now try to put words in His mouth He did not say, e.g. “Oh, THAT? I’ve changed my mind about that being an ‘abomination.’ I’ve come to see it’s now kosher okay, a standard of moral purity.”
w.w.
I read Siusan Russell’s remark with some interest. Can someone tell me how one can distinguish between the whispering of the Holy Spirit and the persuasions of the Evil One? Everyone – esp TEC and the INtegrities of the world – seem to be able to recognize the voice of the Holy Ghost as if it were sitting across the Starbucks table over a latte. But surely the Dark One speaks as surely and offers temptations as sweetly and as promisingly and the Holy Spirit?
All this certainty smells very bad indeed, I must say. What sweeter iced tea is there than self-deception?
No, I am not being merely sarcastic. I want to KNOW how one tells, for this certainty carries with it a great deal of potential power, qwhile the human capacithy for self-deception is almost bottomless. Larry
How do you reasserters know it’s not the Dark One whispering in your ears?
#10..The Deceiver speaks to all of us all the time, always looking for a crack in our faith, always seeking to turn us away from the Father.
But as Christ queried “How can Satan cast out Satan?” I ask how,
moreover why would the Holy Spirit call forth that which is contrary to Scripture which I believe was “God breathed”.
My humble, dense self presumes a wolf in sheep’s clothing utters that which we wish to hear and not what we already know.
Larry,
Test the whisperings against the scriptures. There you will find no positive acceptance of homosexual acts. The only way to accept such behavior is to abandon the plain statements that are found in the Bible and passed down by generations of fellow Christians.
It’s why the ELCA social statement did not include any of the Biblical verses about homosexual behavior and instead bent others to give us our new ELCA “bound conscience” language about differences.
When the Diocese of Georgia had a series of dialogues on GLBT issues, one of the rules was that scripture could not be cited. I thought that said a lot.