The ELCA Convention and the Wednesday Tornado

Thank you, Ed for providing the City Pages' article on the ELCA assembly's Wednesday vote in favor of the Social Statement on Human Sexuality, which approved a social statement that, among other things, acknowledges the validity of same-sex relationships that are "chaste, monogamous and lifelong." Here is why I think Pastor John Piper is correct when he says that the Wednesday afternoon tornado was a simple, yet clear message of God's displeasure. And you probably saw the news reports, yesterday they also approved allowing homosexuals in committed relationships (unrepentant) to be Pastors in ELCA Churches.

The ELCA assembly vote on the Social Statement came up on Wednesday, August 19^th at 2:00 p.m. Outside of the Convention Center, beer vendors in tents were selling their libations to the Convention attendees. And across the street of the Center is a liberal Lutheran Church called Central Lutheran Church. This is the Church where the homosexual assembly attendees would gather last week. At this time a "curious" tornado hit downtown Minneapolis. Here is the way one eyewitness described the storm:

This curious tornado touches down just south of downtown and follows 35W straight towards the city center. It crosses I94. It is now downtown.  

The time: 2PM.  

The first buildings on the downtown side of I94 are the Minneapolis Convention Center and Central Lutheran (Church). The tornado severely damages the convention center roof, shreds the tents, breaks off the steeple of Central Lutheran, splits what's left of the steeple in two...and then lifts.   

Central Lutheran Church is a liberal Lutheran Church, and the picture of the Cross that was torn down by the tornado, literally tearing it off of the steeple is mystifying. (See the picture at Pastor John Piper's Blog, entry for August 20, 2009 - http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/). The beer tents were shredded. And the roof of the Convention Center was severely damaged. And the 2:00 p.m. time of the storm was the same as that of the ELCA scheduled vote. The assembly passed the Social Statement by a single vote (two-thirds majority required – the vote was 676 to 338, 66.67%).

And so, Pastor John Piper said this tornado was God's condemnation of the ELCA assembly's approval of the Social Statement. Here is his statement: The tornado in Minneapolis was a gentle but firm warning to the ELCA and all of us: Turn from the approval of sin. Turn from the promotion of behaviors that lead to destruction…

So is Pastor Piper right? Was God sending a message to the ELCA because of its vote? Of course He was. It is nearly too obvious to provide support for, but allow me to connect the dots:

• The storm came out of nowhere. I don't know of any weather forecasters who called for severe storms on Wednesday;
  
• It was raining heavily on Wednesday. Tornados and rain don't go together;
  
• Tornado in a downtown area;
  
• It happened at the same time of the vote;
  
• Central Lutheran Church was also damaged. This Church was the meeting location for the homosexual leaders attending the convention;
  
• The Cross on the steeple of Central Lutheran Church was torn from the steeple;
  
• The tornado hit the Convention Center and the Central Lutheran Church, and then disappeared, as if it was directed to a single target;
  
• The beer seller's tents outside of the Convention Center were also destroyed.
  

And finally, why do I believe the tornado was sent by God? Because God's Word says so. Every calamity's message is the same, we are to repent and turn from sin (Luke 13:1-5).

ELCA Convention Starts Monday (and my prayer)

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is the largest Lutheran body in the United States with something near 5 million members. The next closest is the Missouri Synod (LCMS) with about 2.5 million American members. On Monday, August 17, 2009, a national churchwide assembly of ELCA leaders takes place here in town at the Minneapolis Convention Center. The Church I belong to is a member of the ELCA, and I fear for what is going to take place this week. Here are a few of the issues they will address:

1. This summer, the ELCA adopted a new hymnal. According to reports, their new worship book contains some very serious theological flaws. The chief concern I have read about is the increasing use of gender neutral language in reference to the Deity.
   
2. The second, and more widely publicized, issue has to do with homosexuality. Basically, there has been a movement to ordain practicing homosexuals and bless homosexual unions. One of the key phrases being used is the idea of having a "bound conscience" (the ELCA website makes reference to Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 8 - regarding the acceptability of eating meat that had been sacrificed to idols.)
   
3. The theme of the convention is "God's work. Our hands."
   
4. Recommendation of a Social Policy Statement entitled 'Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust.'
   

 

Being at least a second generation (possibly third?) ELCA member, I don't want to see my church go through what the Episcopal church is recently going through including the rapid decline in membership (you remember the name Bishop Eugene Peterson?) And I don't want the ELCA to call into question any issue of sin, nor permitting non-repentant leaders in the pulpit or as Bishops, nor do I want anything done at the ELCA to stain the name of Jesus Christ, the only way of salvation. And so, here is my small prayer for the ELCA convention:

Prayer: Heavenly Father, have mercy on us who are sinners saved only by Your Grace through faith in Jesus Christ, and His atoning sacrifice on the Cross. Bless all those who are attending the ELCA convention, and especially those who will vote with greater discernment of what is Your Will as is taught in Your Holy Word. I also pray for their Wisdom, and as Your Word teaches, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10). Send Your Holy Spirit and give us all teachable hearts. And if it is Your Will, protect the name of Jesus Christ and Your holiness at this convention. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Will you join me in this prayer, and add your own prayers? Thank you. In Christ, /s/Tom Wolff

 

Discerning Good from Evil

Here is a quick update on my job situation – I am now working at Machtig and Associates, which is a financial planning firm in Bloomington. The people there are great, and I have a nice office. The transition is going smoothly, and my old office is now closed with all of my old stuff removed. Thanks for your help and prayers.

 

Today, I wanted to start a two-part series on a spiritual gift given to some Christians – the gift of discernment of the spirits. Discernment is the ability to test and understand evil spiritual action versus action by God's spirit. Why am I writing about this? I am writing because Jesus thought enough about this subject that His one of His final warnings for those who fear God, was for us to be aware of Satan's most common tactic – the use of false teachers. Here is Jesus' warning: "See that you are not led astray." (Luke 218; Matthew 24:4). And those who would try and lead us astray are false-christs, false prophets and teachers. This means that as the last day approaches there is a growing danger of Satan inspired false teachers who try and destroy a Christian's faith. And here is what is at stake - an ominous warning is contained in Luke 18:8, which asks that when Jesus returns will He find faith? The implication is that a strong, passionate faith will be hard to find at Jesus' return, and so my hope is to help us be better informed of discerning truth from falsehood, protecting our faith, and to also help us know how to handle false teaching when it is near us.

In part 1 of my post, I will write generally about the gift of discernment, how we can help it to grow, and to write briefly about the enemies' tactics. Then in Part 2, I will write about God's voice, and how to have confidence in knowing when we hear God's voice versus Satan's lies and deception, or even knowing the difference between God's voice and our own inner voice. So let's get started!

The Gift of Discernment. 1 Corinthians Chapter 12 provides a partial list of spiritual gifts for those who are sealed by God's Holy Spirit. I count 14 different spiritual gifts provided in 1 Corinthians chapter 12 by the Apostle Paul. But the one I wanted to focus our attention upon is the gift of discernment described in verse 10:

A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other… He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. (NLT – 1 Cor. 12:7-10).

So every Christian has at least one spiritual gift, and one of the wonderful God-given gifts is the ability to discern between the Spirit of God and other spirits. Hebrews 5:14 provides some helpful information about this gift: "But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil." From this we can see that the gift of discernment is only for mature Christians, and that it takes training with "constant practice" And so, discernment means being able to rightly distinguish between good and evil. In the New Testament perfect discernment is shown by Jesus and His battles against Satan and demons; And two verses show discernment in action ("Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God…- 1 John 4:1), and ("Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said." - 1 Cor. 14:29.)

The gift of discernment might seem easy to understand and use. But let me suggest a couple of pitfalls that Christians may have in using their discernment. First, Satan is the great deceiver (John 8:44), and he uses others to attack Christians and the Church. This includes his use of false teachers, who may even be inside the Church (2 Cor. 11:15). And so, do not be fooled – everyone can be deceived.

Second, Christians may fall for the great temptation of judging others, instead of exercising "right judgment" (John 7:24). This is a big topic, and Pastor Greg Boyd has written an entire book on it ('Repenting of Religion'). For now, let me suggest that Christians may feel passionate anger against the ungodly and their actions. This is hard to challenge, but as the Apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians chapter 6 that our battle is not against other people. Instead, the real enemy is Satan and the unseen powers of darkness. And so, we may be either sinning or being used by Satan when we attack other people. So be careful!

So how do I reconcile teachings that tell us to love our enemies, and to 'turn the other cheek', with verses that tell us to contend (or argue) for the faith (Jude 3)? I think the difference is to recognize the nature of our opponent. If there is a false teacher, someone who is leading others away from the faith, or someone who is harming others, then Christians should use our sharpest attack against these people. But if the opponent is not a teacher, but is merely an ungodly person, then more restraint is called for. With the ungodly person, Christians should show gentleness and respect – these are the people we are trying to draw to Christ, after all. But to those who are false teachers, or harming others, we can look to King David as a model, who wrote against one of his enemies:

Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man? The steadfast love of God endures all the day.

     ²     Your tongue plots destruction, like a sharp razor, you worker of deceit.

     ³     You love evil more than good, and lying more than speaking what is right. Selah

     ⁴     You love all words that devour, O deceitful tongue. (ESV, Psalm 52:1-4)

To end, let me provide a quick summary of my points in this post. Discernment is a God-given gift, given to elders and those who are frequently studying the Bible. Discernment can grow through constant practice, and helps us to recognize the difference between good and evil. And it should be used to help the Church by exposing false teachers and doctrine. While we must be careful that we are not charging about against everyone who has a different opinion than us, we still must follow Jude's instruction to contend for the faith. Like King David we should feel comfortable in calling someone's actions evil, when they are hurting others. But more restraint is needed when a Christian is dealing with an ungodly person, and also our leaders. One final point – 1 Cor. 12:31 tells us we should earnestly desire more spiritual gifts. And with the battles our Church is facing today, we need more Christians crying out to God for discernment (Proverbs 2:3, NKJV). So my take away application is this – will you ask God for more discernment, so that you can help others in recognizing the difference between good and evil? If so, we need more people like you. May the Triune God bless you this week, in Jesus' name, Amen.