Because I am teaching the adult Sunday school for the next three weeks, there will not be further updates to the Story of King David until March. Writing three class studies per week is just a bit too much with everything else I have to do. I apologize for the inconvenience, but we will pick up again right where we left off in March.
Delay in the Story of King David
Living an Ecumenical Life 
First,
Thanks for commenting on my blog.
Secondly, I want to encourage you to repent of your sins and believe the gospel if you have not done so already. I am not a Lutheran, but I have been studying the different kinds of churches in my area recently, and I have noticed a distinct difference between WELS, LCMS, and ELCA. Of the three my least favorable impressions have always been from ELCA (sorry 🙂 ). I get the impression that many ELCA pastors don’t actually believe the Bible. They seem to recognize that the gospel message has some value as a “placebo” to get people to do good things for one another, but many of them don’t really believe that God wil punish sin that has not been repented of, or that Jesus bodily rose from the dead.
The doctrine of sin and the doctrine of the ressurrection are not disposable. Both of them are important for accepting the everlasting salvation that God offers.
Please, do not fall for the teaching that says “nice people do not talk about hell.” Nice people do talk about hell, in a spirit of humility and love. If we love each other we will warn each other to repent of our sins. The Bible says:
“Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.” Proverbs 27:6
And concerning the ressurrection, the apostle Paul said: “if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and our faith is also empty.” (I Corinthians 15:13).
Reading over some of your sermons I sense that you are not really sure what to do with Scripture. At times you seem to apologize for it. I can assure you that scripture can be taken at face value. The Bible is one of God’s greatest gifts for us. It is a blessing if we believe in it, a curse if we don’t.
Anyway,
Take care.
-Daniel
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“Reading over some of your sermons I sense that you are not really sure what to do with Scripture. At times you seem to apologize for it.”
Well, to be honest, sometimes I do get a scripture reading and think, “Now what I am going to do with this?” Other times, I come across something and think, “Wow, bingo!” All depends on the luck of the draw or how hard I get hit with divine inspiration.
I can’t argue that there are many pastors out there who aren’t the best preachers or teachers. I can say pretty well for certain though that the doctrine of the resurrection is absolutely central to Lutheran theology, even in the ELCA. We are grace people, and that grace only exists because of the resurrection. If I met an ELCA pastor who denied the resurrection, I’d be just as shocked as you are, and wonder how they got to be a pastor.
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