Emancipation
By Albert Quie
When discussing the future of the ELCA and its polity, I often try to make a point by making a hyperbolic statement." In twenty-one years in the Congress of the United States I never found anyone smart enough to tell me what to do." Does that sound arrogant – especially since there are people smarter than I am, both in and out of Washington? Of course, but my statement is made to point out that permitting the exercise of inappropriate authority over oneself is not responsible behavior.
We, who follow Jesus Christ, live in a kingdom and in a republic. In a kingdom the ruler exercises authority over the hearts and lives of his people. We accept this in the Kingdom of God. In a republic, the supreme authority rests in the body of citizens entitled to vote.
In worldly kingdoms, as Luther knew them, representatives of the ruler exercise the power of authority. In a republic, that power is exercised by representatives chosen by the citizens. In the Kingdom of God, different from either of these two, power is exercised by all that belong to it, since they were saved by the grace of God through faith in His risen Son, the Supreme authority. That is recognized as, and is called, "the priesthood of all believers." The question for us as members of the ELCA is, should power and authority be exercised in the ELCA with similarities to a republic of this world or to a monarchy of this world?
Christ as Lord
The difference is quite apparent. As we grow in Christ and grow in responsible maturity, we realize that Jesus never insists on obedience. Yet if we do not follow and obey Him, we move away from the recreating power of Jesus' redemption. So, letting Jesus tell us what to do is always liberating.
Obedience in the world's monarchies, however, is not always liberating. In them, the people lived in fear of the ruler and his representatives. When a man could say "You shall!" or "You must!" it could break the human spirit.
In a republic, by contrast, disobedience can sometimes be liberating. When I stood up against my own Party and my Caucus by supporting the Fair Employment Practices Act, it was liberating. When I stood up to the President of the United States and convinced the Congress to adopt my version of the Higher Education Academic Faculties Act instead of his, it was liberating. My version included support for Church-related colleges. Or this example: when Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of the bus, it was emancipating.
The problems we are encountering in the ELCA go back to one fact especially: when this church was established, we chose the wrong form of governing ourselves. It was like the pre-1776 polity of our country. When the U.S. constitution was carved out, it provided that its "highest legislative authority," i.e., the Congress, may propose amendments, which will only become valid if ratified by three fourths of the several States. The people must ratify state constitutional amendments. The reverse is true in the ELCA.
A congregation's constitutional amendments must be ratified by the Synod. Synod constitutional amendments must be ratified by the Church-wide organization. But nobody ratifies amendments to the Churchwide Constitution. So it stands that the Churchwide Assembly (CWA) can tell the Synods, congregations and people in the pews what to do. But the voting members at the CWA are instructed that they should vote as they desire, because they do not represent the people who elected them and sent them to the CWA.
ELCA's Polity Should Be Changed
I believe that the vision espoused by this nation when the republic was formed ought to direct our ELCA. "Government...deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed" means representative governance. "All... recreated equal" means equality in representation. Contrast the condition in the ELCA: one grouping of 46,000 members in the Minneapolis Area Synod elects 9 voting members to the Churchwide Assembly another 46,000 group gets to elect only 4 voting members).
To test to what extreme this has been carried in our church: members in the CWA are not allowed to place printed material at the seats of fellow members! That is not "freedom of speech". (Can you imagine if my colleagues in Congress tried that?)
The last point I want to make is that if the ELCA governed with the principles of a republic, it would necessitate better communication. Jesus commanded those in his kingdom to pray because he wants us to pay attention to Him. If we do that we will more likely listen to Him. By the same token if the ELCA governed "with the consent of the governed," there would be more oral and written interchange between those who exercise power and those who should have the authority granted in the priesthood of all believers. They are our fellow members of the Kingdom of God. They are fellow members of our congregations. Dealing with controversy and concepts of freedom and responsibility is hard work and painful. Certainly in the church, we should not have less confidence in people who regularly worship and listen to the Word of God with us, than does the secular government when it rests its ultimate authority in its citizens.
* Mr. Quie is the former Governor of Minnesota and an 11-terms member of Congress in the House of Representatives. He serves as one of the distinguished members of FOCL's Advisory Board.
ELCA Leadership Takes Sides in Study?
One of our FOCL-POINT READERS has addressed the moving letter to the members of the ELCA. We share it with all our readers. The author is widely recognized as the leading religion research scholar in the ELCA, and the author of numerous definitive studies on the faith and practices of the members of the major US Protestant denominations.
Dear Friends,
I think you should know how actively people In the ELCA office are promoting the gay agenda. At the Global Mission Event (held in July of this year) Michelle Miller, Director for Women in Leadership and Ministry and Emily Eastwood, newly installed executive of the Reconciling in Christ Program for Lutherans Concerned presented a session on "Daring to Welcome Gays and Lesbians'. The notebook which they made available at this session, entitled "Congregational Hospitality to Gay and Lesbian People" troubled me.
It reported that the Board for Outreach Ministry voted May 12,1996 "To encourage the staff of the Division for Outreach to engage in dialogue with our lesbian sisters and gay brothers to discuss and explore outreach options to the lesbian and gay communities. The staff will dialogue with groups such as leaders of Lutherans concerned and leaders and members of the congregational organization Spectrum of Augustana, Washington D.C."
Note how many of our church's Divisions and Commisions were represented on the committee established by the Division of Outreach for the Gay and Lesbian Hospitality Study. The committee includes: Joanne Chadwick, Executive Director, Commission for Women; Gary Mills, Mission Director NY Synod, ELCA; Leslie Weber, Associate Executive Director, Division for Church in Society; Kathryn Sime and Kenn Inskeep (advisor), Department for Research and Evaluation; Advisor, Richard Magnus, Division for Outreach.
The report they give on this Study makes it clear that being a welcoming congregation is (using their words), "a journey or a process rather than an '. . . the (ELCA) central office is actively promoting only one point of view and has been doing so for several years."
It then proceeds to identify some of the implications of becoming a welcoming congregation. Here is one of the implications which they identify in the loose-leaf notebook "Eventually {members of the congregation} engage in conversations about other gay and lesbian issues in the church such as performing blessing ceremonies and the question of the ordination of gay and lesbian people". What troubled me most was the Resource List. The 28 books which are presented as resources for these congregations promote the gay agenda. I did not see one that represents the traditional side. For instance, the recommended book "What Does the Bible Really Say About Homosexuality" carries this description: 'The Bible does not condemn gay sex as we understand it today". Another book "The Church and the Homosexual" says this: 'The Bible does not condemn homosexuality."
I am dumbfounded. I had understood that our church had asked its congregations to consider all sides of the issue before coming to a decision. Yet the central office is actively promoting only one point of view and has been doing so for several years. To me the issue we face in the church is greater than the issue of homosexuality – it is an issue of integrity.
I share this information because it underscores why we must be about the business of supplying information on the other side of the issue.
Greetings,
Dr. Merton Strommen
Reflections on the 23rd Psalm
By Herbert G. Schaefer, Ph.D.
In April, 1959, I visited Jerusalem for the first time. I had been reluctant to go to Jerusalem for I feared the many claims people would make about the various sites. 'Tradition says that..., or according to tradition, this is...," people would say. But I would think, "Why not this other hill, or why not another place?" But the first day of my stay there my guide said to me, "But why not this hill or this place? It all depends on your attitude, doesn't it?"
The third day of my stay at the St. Joseph's Cathedral Close (Anglican) I hired an Armenian taxi driver to take me and three other tourists to Jericho, the Dead Sea and Qum-ran. We had just passed what tradition says is the Good Samaritan Inn, when we came to a long-abandoned dirt road. Our taxi driver slowed down and turned to the left on it. Crossing a half fallen-in bridge, we bounced down the rain gutted surface until we came to a spot where a hill rose sharply to the left. Our driver stopped here and told us to get out and climb the hill.
The hills of Judea are God-forsaken and barren, where only insects, scorpions and snakes thrive in abundance. No grass grew on our hill; all was gravel and stone. The weather was hot. After climbing a few hundred feet we were perspiring and ready to return to our air conditioned taxi. But then we reached the top.
Suddenly, before us was a deep gorge with precipitous sides. Into the cliff walls on the other side were carved caves, each with a cross above, below or beside it. Our taxi driver said that hermits who had renounced the world, lived in the caves. Once or twice a week friends would bring food and water which they lowered by ropes to the caves' entrances.
The four of us were in a festive, yet cynical mood. The tourist spinster said that if she were to stay in a cave, it would have to be air conditioned. The other lady said that she could perhaps stand to live in a cave a day or so if she had an electric refrigerator that supplied her with cold water and ice cream. The seventeen year old girl added, "I would need a television as well."
One of us asked the taxi driver, "What place is this?" He answered, "Wadi el Kelt, the 'Valley of Death' or the 'Shadow of Death.'" This wadi or gorge runs from near Jericho to Jerusalem. It is the most direct route for shepherds to take their sheep from the Jordan valley to Jerusalem and back, although it is also the most dangerous for a neophyte shepherd.
Our mood changed. Before our eyes the Bible took on new meaning. Whereas we had always thought the 23rd Psalm was allegory, it actually spoke of a real place. We walked on, north along the west side cliffs, looking down into the Wadi el Kelt and recalling the words of the Psalm. The bottom of the gorge was about fifty to one hundred yards wide. Its floor was strewn with the bones of animals and people who had perished there. Our taxi driver said that the temperature at the bottom of the gorge ranged between 120 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit. No breeze penetrated the gorge.
As we walked along the top we saw many branches turning off to the right and the left. Some of these branches were as wide as the gorge itself. Yet, every one dead-ended after several miles. A neophyte shepherd who did not know the right way could easily get lost in the maze of branch valleys and perish, together with all his sheep. In the far distance we saw water spilling from a low spot in the opposite cliff. At this point there was a spring-fed pond of cool, clear water surrounded by lush, grassy meadows and containing many sheepfolds.
Starting in the morning before it was light, shepherds would bring their sheep to this spot. Here they would rest them for a day or so, using the sheepfolds for their protection. Refreshed, the next day they would go on to Jerusalem or Jericho. In the meantime, the sheep had plenty of water to drink and lush, green grass to eat. The 23rd Psalm took on new meaning for us.
The Lord is my shepherd – Not a neophyte shepherd with little experience, but our Lord Jesus Christ, The Lord of all creation, who has gone before us into death and arisen again for our salvation - He is our shepherd.
I shall not want – Jesus knows our every need, those that are legitimate and those that serve our selfish desires. Even as the shepherd meets the real needs of his sheep, so Jesus, our good shepherd, meets our real needs.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures – As the tired, hungry and thirsty sheep found peace and abundance at the oasis of Wadi el Kelt, so the Lord, when He is our shepherd, meets our every need. He brings us to places of abundance as we pass through the barren ways of our lives.
He leads me besides the still waters – The thirsty sheep find rest and comfort on the banks of the cool, placid waters of the spring-fed pool. So Jesus fills us with the life giving waters of life. In John 4:13, Jesus says, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
He restores my soul – When we are tired, hungry and thirsty, when we are beset with problems and indecisions, when everything seems to go against us, when we lose perspective and tend to focus on ourselves, feeling sorry for ourselves, we become anxious and depressed. But when the Lord is our shepherd, peace of mind and soul is restored to us. We go forward with confidence because we know that He leads us every step of the way j and He knows the way because He has been there before us.
He leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake – Righteousness is understood here as being right – right with the Lord and his will. In the bottom of the gorge there were many paths, but only one that was right. The rest led to death and destruction. So also in life; we are faced with having to make choices. There is always a right way and many wrong ways. The Lord, through His Spirit, leads us to make right choices, but, we have to follow Him. He must be our good shepherd.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death – In the life of sheep living in Palestine there comes a time when they have to leave the security and comfort of their home range to go to Jerusalem or the Jordan valley. So also there comes a time in each of our lives when we have to venture into the unknown. We may face physical, moral, ethical, social, death, but . . . I will fear no evil – Fear is an awesome thing. When properly handled it can be beneficial, but when it is allowed to consume us, it paralyzes us and causes us to yield to our enemies. In life we fear what people think, do, or say about us. We fear the temptations that come to us each day. For the sheep walking up or down the Valley of the Shadow of Death, there were many evils that could beset them. A sheep could stray from the flock, take a wrong turn and be lost. A sheep could fall into a hole and perish for lack of food or water. A wolf or wild animal could attack a sheep and kill it. Thieves could take over the entire flock. However, when the good shepherd was present and led the flock, these evils were prevented from happening.
For thou art with me – A child, alone in a large shopping mall, is terrified; so are we when we are alone in life. But when the child's hand is in the hand of his father or mother, the child walks with confidence and security and enjoys looking in the store windows. He is with father or mother; that knowledge is enough. Or sheep, when their shepherd is with them , fear nothing . When we walk through life and Christ is present we are no longer fearful. He (Christ) is with us.
Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me – The good shepherd leads the way. He directs his flock and each sheep in the flock. When a sheep reaches a branch valley and begins to turn away from the right path, the shepherd taps it on the side to turn it in the way it should go. If the sheep falls into a pit, the shepherd lifts it out with the crook that is on the end of his staff. The sheep proceeds in comfort and security. It does not get lost nor left behind. So with us. The Lord continually speaks to us by His Word and His Spirit, leading us in the way of Tightness.
Thou preparest the table before me in the presence of mine enemies – When sheep proceed up or down the Wadi el Kelt, they find no food or water. Not even a morsel of grass to chew on. Suddenly, before them is an oasis with lush, green grass to eat. So it is with us. As we walk through life there are times when we are without food or water. Everything seems to be against us. We see nothing to give us hope. But if we remain in the Lord and if, with Job, we continue to acknowledge Him as our Lord and Savior, we will suddenly experience the table He has prepared for us.
We enjoy plenty, even as our enemies are gathered about us. The meadows that surrounded the Wadi el Kelt oasis were a favorite haunt of predatory beasts, such as wolves, and of brigands who would steal the sheep from their shepherds. But the shepherd would put his sheep in a sheep-fold in which there was plenty of grass to eat while its heavy thorn walls kept all predators away. So the Lord protects those who remain faithful to [H]him.
Thou anointest my head with oil – then a sheep grazes, it does so with its head down. The hot sun of Palestine beats down on the back of the sheep's head and neck, causing sunstroke which is often fatal. Therefore, Palestinian shepherds carry a vial of oil, and before they allow the sheep to graze, they put the oil on the back of the sheep's head, thus anointing it against the sun's hot rays so that the sheep may eat without danger. Those that love the Lord experience His protection. In Psalm 91 we read that He sets his guardian angels to watch over us, lest we dash our foot against a stone. He anoints our head with oil.
My cup runneth over – Sheep are dumb animals. If allowed to come to water when they are thirsty, they drink themselves to death. They do not know when to stop drinking. Shepherds, therefore, carry with them a small basin which is called "cup." This cup or basin holds just the right amount of water a sheep needs. No more or no less. The shepherd fills this cup to overflowing and offers it to each sheep. We humans are like Palestinian sheep. The more we get the more we want. The Lord, our good shepherd, knows our every need and meets our every want in accordance with what is good and right for us. No more or no less.
Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life – The sheep do not know how long they will live. Maybe they are being taken to Jerusalem or Jericho to be slaughtered. But the sheep do not worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow is something hidden. It is enough for the sheep to know that so long as the shepherd leads the flock, no harm will befall them. Everything will be good; everything will be right. Mistaken wanderings of the sheep will be forgiven, even as the shepherd leads the sheep back from their folly with his rod and staff. So also those who love and follow Christ experience His blessing throughout their lives.
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever – The sheep know their shepherd's voice and follow it. It makes no difference where the sheep go. Where the shepherd is, there is his house. At night he leads them into a sheepfold to protect them against all danger. For the time being, that is His house. These words are an affirmation of final and complete blessedness. They are an affirmation of all those who love and follow Christ Jesus, our good shepherd. Thus, Psalm 23 closes with a shout of affirmation j an affirmation that rings through all eternity. I will live with Christ forever and ever! Amen!
* Dr. Schaefer is the president of the Followship of Confessional Lutherans, founder of the Mekane Yesus Lutheran Church of Ethiopia and former Secretary of Education for the Lutheran World Federation.
Now It's Praying To The Saints
As reported in Minneapolis' Metro Lutheran, the ELCA's Southeastern Minnesota Synod bishop, Harold L. Usgaard, and a few other pastors prayed to Mary and the Saints at St. John's Church in Northfietd during an ordination on March 24. They utilized the "Litany of the Saints," which petitions Mary, Mother of our Lord, St. Michael, Holy Angels of God, and apostles and other saints to "pray for us." The service bulletin stated: "Just as we ask for our pastors, families and friends, our present saints to pray for us, so we also ask all saints who have gone before us to pray for us..."
Responding to protests concerning these 'prayers,' the bishop and St. John's pastors published a letter dated April 16, in the May 2002 issue of "The Voice,11 the monthly newsletter of St. John's Lutheran Church. The letter included: "We regret the inclusion of this petition and apologize and ask forgiveness of God Almighty and of you our brothers and sisters. The Hoty Scriptures and Lutheran Confessions speak against the invocation of the saints and requesting of prayers from those who have died. The Confessions are concerned that such prayers may imply that anyone other than the Lord Jesus Christ is needed for our salvation. That was not the intent of those who planned the service. The Book of Concord, which contains the Lutheran Confessions, can be found in St. John's Library. We encourage you to read the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Article XXI, "Invocation of the Saints" in order to become acquainted with the basis for our Lutheran beliefs. We stand as Christians and Lutherans with the Apostles Peter and John when we declare, as they did, There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.' Acts 4:12"
READER RESPONSES
Dear Editor,
Good news comes to us in that we receive righteousness before God by grace, for Christ's sake, through faith, when we believe that Christ died and rose for us and that for his sake our sin is forgiven and righteousness and eternal life are given to us. For God will regard this faith as righteousness. That is no doctrine but good news given to us. It is good news for it makes us right with God. Christ has done it! That good news is given to us when it is proclaimed to us by friends or pastors. To "give up talking about divorce, abortion, and homosexuality" is not a sign of cowardice, as some are insisting. Instead, to preach on such subjects is cowardice. For such topics do not get to our inner core corruption. Our problem is not that we have an opinion one way or another about those topics. We are not judged by our opinions. Our problem is that we do not love and trust God most of all. That is the really bad news that is not being told to us. To talk about issues is to discuss morality. To say that having the right opinion is how we are right with God is a false gospel. [For Lutheran Theologian Walter Pannenberg] to write [as quoted by Dr. Ronad Yergey in Foci-Point v.12#2] that "A Church that allows itself to be pressured into regarding homosexual activity as no longer a departure from the Biblical norm... would no longer stand on the foundation of Scripture but rather in opposition to its unanimous witness; a church that takes such a step has thereby ceased to be an evangelical church in the tradition of the Lutheran Reformation," is to preach a false gospel. It is false because it bases being church or being in the Lutheran tradition on a moral opinion and not on Christ. It is false because it bases its opinion on Scripture (Biblical legalism) and not on Christ. Not only is faith in Christ disregarded, not only is the work of Christ neglected, but such writing troubles the consciences of people so that they do not have peace with God. The foundation of Scripture is not legalism, but Christ. The Bible "is the cradle of Christ." The Bible is the apostolic witness to Christ. To make the Bible a moral code is again cowardice. For the real news is that we are all without true fear of God. That is the bad news. But the good news witnessed to by the Bible is that Christ is for those without fear of God. In fact, those unfearing people who trust Christ are right with God. So says God by raising Christ from the dead! So if the Fellowship Of Confessional Lutherans wants to be confessional, let it proclaim boldly the bad news of our lack of faith and that Christ is for those without faith, so that faith in Christ can be given to them. That is what the church is for (Augsburg Confession, Articles 2,3,4, 5). Let us proclaim, not that morality makes us right with God, but that faith in Christ alone is regarded as righteousness!
Pastor Timothy Hoyer
gloriadei@alltel.net
Dear Editor
I am writing from Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Sacramento, CA, in hopes that we can gain permission to reprint the article "Christ's Scripture or Scripture's Christ" [FOCL-Point, v12 #3] in our upcoming monthly newsletter. Pastor Carlson greatly appreciates your thoughts on this material and wants to pass it on. If it is at all possible and permissible, will you send the text to me via email? (Sure saves all the typing!) Thank you
Lin Carlson, Church Secretary
[EDITOR'S NOTE: Requests for reprints for congregational distribution are regularly granted without charge. Send your request to the FOCL office (see back page.)]
FIRED ELCA NURSE
Nurse Jill Stanek was fired from Chicago's Christ hospital, according to her, on the grounds that she was a whistle-blower. Christ hospital used a late-term abortion procedure in which labor was induced weeks before the child is viable outside the womb. The nurse says, "I know of at least two deliveries in 2001 who were healthy." Mrs. Stanek first protested the hospital's policy in May 1999 after she discovered a boy weighing half a pound lying on a counter in a utility room. He was aborted because he had Down syndrome. The procedure is called "genetic termination." Mrs. Stanek is getting back at the hospital by running for office in Illinois' newly redrawn eighty-first state legislative district of southwest Chicago. Her efforts have led to the Born-Alive infants Protection Act of 2001, which passed both houses of congress, but is currently tied up in a conference committee. In response to all of this, Christ hospital, listed as an affiliate of the ELCA, has created a "comfort room" for those aborted infants who are still alive.
DOES LUTHERANISM HAVE A FUTURE?
Reporting Word Alone's Annual Meeting
by Dr. George Muedeking
Reflecting on the tasks ahead, 1000 members and visitors of the Word Alone Network (WAN) heard Dr. James Nestigen, eminent Luther Seminary professor of Church History, challenge them with the question, "Does Lutheranism in the U.S. have a future?" Meeting at Arden Hills, MN. for their annual convention, Nestigen told the assembly, "As a youthful and growing internet movement you have opened up in the ELCA a "forum for a confessional witness to the freedom of a Christian in the Gospel." He noted that WAN has made a cumulative protest against the strategy of ELCA leaders intending to exclude - in the name of inclusiveness - the congregations and members of the ELCA from considering and voting upon the prospect of "full communion" with other church bodies like the Episcopal, Reformed and the Roman Catholics. He said, "You have been a positive force for renewal in the church with your WAN vision that the Gospel must continue to be the center of the church's mission. You did it by matching critique with confession."
Nestigen laid out WAN's largest future task: to share responsibility toprovide a solution to the church's confused relation with the surrounding culture. He pointed out that the churches in the U.S. have inherited, built upon, and still assume their European origins of being acknowledged by society as the moral watchdog for the culture are in force. This function, however, has passed over to our secularized and pluralistic culture which itself claims the right to make the judgments of right and wrong for society. How then shall Jesus Christ best reassert the witness of His exclusive Lordship? That is the task before not only WAN, but the church in general in the U.S.
WAN also has ahead the task of reestablishing the commitment of the ELCA to "accountability," if workable internal and ecumenical cooperation is to become functional. Nestigen noted,
"Voting members at the ELCA synod and national assemblies have no accountability for their actions to anyone but themselves." Naming "delegates" from the congregations and synods, instead of "voting members" would change that irresponsibility, he observed. Meanwhile, said Dr. Nestigen, "It looks like we are being set up again with the proposals to ordain practicing homosexuals to the pastorates of the ELCA."
Dr. Michael Fox, leader of one of the ELCA's largest congregations, Prince of Peace, in Burnsville, MN, and Dr. Tiede, president of Luther Seminary, the ELCA's largest, gave respective addresses on the topics, "Discipleship, a Call to Renewal," and "Reform: The Repentance of the Church."
WAN convention attendees named Prof. Dr. Cynthia Jurgeson, Chicago Lutheran Theological Seminary, Prof. Dennis Bielfeldt, University of South Dakota, and
Pastor Paul Andell, to the board of directors, and they returned former Minnesota Governor Al Quie as chairman of the WAN board. Quie admonished the participants, "I hear of ELCA pastors who warn their members not to use the name of Jesus in their conversation because that name offends people." He urged, "Are you ready to speak His name, the 'only name by which we must be saved?'" He pointed out that in his present task of heading Minnesota's Prison System Interfaith Committee, he counsels the timid Christian representatives, "When we offer up our prayers in these committee meetings, you think you dare not pray 'in Jesus' Name,' because you want to show respect for the faiths of others. On the contrary, be sure, that by omitting Jesus' name, you are only showing disrespect, not respect for others. For what your omission says is that you think they are not capable of enough respect to respect your faith.
HUMAN CLONING
"This afternoon marks a momentous occasion in U.S. history because President Bush clearly drew a Fine in the sand in terms of the ethical argument on human cloning," said Charles Colson, founder of Prison Fellowship Ministries and the Wilberforce Forum, in response to President Bush's statement of support of S. 1899, the Brownback-Landrieu Human Cloning Prohibition Act. "Human cloning is the most critical issue the American people will have to lace. We need to decide if we are going to follow the God of the Bible as our creator, or are we going to become our own creator?," said Colson. "If we do the latter, we take a step toward what C. S. Lewis called 'the abolition of man." Former Nixon aide and Prison Fellowship Founder, Charles Colson joined Prison Fellowship President and former Virginia Attorney General Mark Eartey and Or. Nigel Cameron, Dean of the Christian world view think tank, The Wilberforce Forum, at a White House meeting, to speak out against human cloning. "Human cloning represents a profound moral issue for the world. We must follow the lead of President Bush and Senators Brownback and Undrieti in seeking a responsible policy framework that will protect and enhance human dignity," said Dr. Nigel Cameron, Dean of The Wilberforce Forum and an expert in bioethics.
Dear Friends in Christ:
For more than a dozen years, FOCL has been "encouraging Biblical, evangelical and confessional faithfulness to our Christian heritage."
That's good news. Good, because we are still fighting the good fight.
!! Our quarterly newsletter, FOCL Point, still proclaims Christ as the only way to the Heavenly Father.
!! We testify constantly that Holy Scripture (both Law and Gospel) is our only source and norm for Lutheran doctrine, faith and life.
!! We uphold our Lutheran Statements of Faith ("Confessions") as a true exposition of Christian faith delivered to His church.
We do our best to call our church, the ELCA, back to these fundamental truths of the Christian faith.
We continue in our efforts to be a "positive, pro-active and affirming presence within our Church," avoiding heresy and gossip in our reporting.
We're still standing firm for the Lutheran faith. That's the good news. j But it's troubling news too! Why should we have to?
Because the theological moorings of the ELCA continue to loosen j pulpits, college classrooms, and seminary podiums question the words of Jesus Christ: "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life – no one comes to the Father but by Me."
Because the indispensable foundation of society is brazenly questioned in the ELCA j the irrevocable patterns for family life (Mark 10:2-9), set by Jesus Himself, are openly defied by clergy and laity alike.
Because "cheap grace" has become the substituted norm for ELCA faith and life j the imperishable Laws of God are ignored in favor of cultural permissiveness, on the plea that a God of Love will never punish or hold humanity accountable for its deeds, no matter what the Bible says.
Because the precious Gospel that we are saved for eternal life only by the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, is down-played in favor of sweeping resolutions about governmental social changes deemed necessary j year by year the ELCA overseas mission staff has decreased; year by year the membership of the ELCA has declined. Evangelism is given lip-service, while lips that serve our world with the news about the forgiveness of sins in Christ Jesus remain silent.
So FOCL, with your support and prayers, continues to "stand in the breach:"
Reminding more than 20,000 readers of FOCL-POINT around the ELCA (at home and abroad) that "biblical, evangelical and confessional faithfulness to our Christian heritage" is the secret for a believer's spiritual health and the church's vitality.
Reporting on events in the ELCA and the nation that should be evaluated for their impact on our faith.
Providing SATIS EST SCHOLARSHIPS for graduate study for parish ELCA pastors who want to increase their knowledge of Scripture and the Confessions. This year two of these SATIS EST students finished their studies. Another grantee has already been approved for 2002.
Linking with other movements in the ELCA that want to stand with you in the breach, striving to reclaim the ELCA to its heritage and its constitutional confession of faith.
You, dear reader, can continue to be a vital part of this FOCL ministry. Join your fellow believers in daily prayer that God would bless His witness being shared through the Fellowship of Confessional Lutherans.
We know you agree also that fund raising must be integral to this ministry. As a sainted President of the American Lutheran Church once told us missionaries out on the field, "You do for us what we cannot do." With its efforts, FOCL pledges to help you fulfill your responsibility to guard and proclaim the treasure of the Church, the Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ the Savior.
This is your opportunity to identify yourself with the ministry of FOCL through your prayers and through your contribution to the printing and distribution of FOCL Point and our Satis Est scholarship program. All our FOCL workers are unsalaried and volunteer. But printing and postal costs continue to climb.
A thousand, five hundred, one hundred, fifty, or even thirty dollars are not too much to give toward this cause. We count on you! If you are concerned about the ELCA, join us in this ministry to our Church.
As ever in Christ,
The Rev. Dr. Herbert G. Schaefer, President,
The Rev. Dr. George Muedeking, Editor, FOCL Point
P.S: Yes, we're still fighting the good fight. Yes, we still stand firm in the faith. Yes, we want you to help us stand in the breach. Yes, the ELCA needs your supporting witness for faithfulness to the Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions. Join hands with us to encourage biblical, evangelical and confessional faithfulness to our Lutheran heritage.