There is absolutely no question that Obama desires to be a cult leader. He is very narcissistic so cult worship fills a void in his life. Further he requires a cult following who will simply trust him rather than analyze his actions; anyone who does the latter can see that he is a populist (i.e., a dictator) and will abandon him.
I notice you mentioned the American flag. Is Obama seriously thinking about adding his image to it?
Is Obamatology a cult?
Gracie - Proud Conservative
2012/09/20 21:45:56
It has been shown that people who don't believe in God will replace Him with something and they will worship something or some cause. Does Obama have a following, much like a cult? What would they be willing to give up for him and how far would they go to please him? Is anything sacred, such as the American flag?
Top Opinion
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STU~PWCM~JLA~POTL~AFCL 2012/09/23 22:49:04
Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism
Ethos Statement on Fundamentalism & Evangelicalism
To be an evangelical is to be centered upon the gospel. To be a Fundamentalist is, first, to believe that fundamental doctrines are definitive for Christian fellowship, second, to refuse Christian fellowship with all who deny fundamental doctrines (e.g., doctrines that are essential to the gospel), and third, to reject the leadership of Christians who form bonds of cooperation and fellowship with those who deny essential doctrines. We are both evangelicals and Fundamentalists according to these definitions. We all believe that, as ecclesial movements, both evangelicalism and Fundamentalism have drifted badly from their core commitments. In the case of evangelicalism, the drift began when self-identified neo-evangelicals began to extend Christian fellowship to those who clearly rejected fundamental doctrines. This extension of fellowship represented a dethroning of the gospel as the boundary of Christian fellowship. It was a grievous error, and it has led to the rapid erosion of evangelical theology within the evangelical movement. At the present moment, some versions of professing evangelicalism actually harbor denials of the gospel such as Open The...
Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism
Ethos Statement on Fundamentalism & Evangelicalism
To be an evangelical is to be centered upon the gospel. To be a Fundamentalist is, first, to believe that fundamental doctrines are definitive for Christian fellowship, second, to refuse Christian fellowship with all who deny fundamental doctrines (e.g., doctrines that are essential to the gospel), and third, to reject the leadership of Christians who form bonds of cooperation and fellowship with those who deny essential doctrines. We are both evangelicals and Fundamentalists according to these definitions. We all believe that, as ecclesial movements, both evangelicalism and Fundamentalism have drifted badly from their core commitments. In the case of evangelicalism, the drift began when self-identified neo-evangelicals began to extend Christian fellowship to those who clearly rejected fundamental doctrines. This extension of fellowship represented a dethroning of the gospel as the boundary of Christian fellowship. It was a grievous error, and it has led to the rapid erosion of evangelical theology within the evangelical movement. At the present moment, some versions of professing evangelicalism actually harbor denials of the gospel such as Open Theism or the New Perspective on Paul. We deny that the advocates of such positions can rightly be called evangelical.
On the other hand, we also believe that some Fundamentalists have attempted to add requirements to the canons of Christian fellowship. Sometimes these requirements have involved institutional or personal loyalties, resulting in abusive patterns of leadership. Other times they have involved organizational agendas. They have sometimes involved the elevation of relatively minor doctrines to a position of major importance. In some instances, they have involved the creation of doctrines nowhere taught in Scripture, such as the doctrine that salvation could not be secured until Jesus presented His material blood in the heavenly tabernacle. During recent years, the most notorious manifestation of this aberrant version of Fundamentalism is embodied in a movement that insists that only the King James version of the Bible (or, in some cases, its underlying Greek or Hebrew texts) ought be recognized as the perfectly preserved Word of God.
We regard both of these extremes as equally dangerous. The evangelicalism of the far Left removes the gospel as the boundary of Christian fellowship. The Fundamentalism of the far Right adds to the gospel as the boundary of Christian fellowship. Neither extreme is acceptable to us, but because we encounter the far Right more frequently, and because it claims the name of Fundamentalism, we regard it as a more immediate and insidious threat.
Another version of Fundamentalism that we repudiate is revivalistic and decisionistic. It typically rejects expository preaching in favor of manipulative exhortation. It bases spirituality upon crisis decisions rather than steady, incremental growth in grace. By design, its worship is shallow or non-existent. Its philosophy of leadership is highly authoritarian and its theology is vitriolic in its opposition to Calvinism. While this version of Fundamentalism has always been a significant aspect of the movement, we nevertheless see it as a threat to biblical Christianity.
We also reject the "new-image Fundamentalism" that absorbs the current culture, producing a worldly worship and a pragmatic ministry. These self-professed fundamentalists often follow the latest trends in ministry, disparage theological labels such as Baptist, and aggressively criticize any version of Fundamentalism not following their ministry style.
We oppose anti-separatist evangelicalism, hyper-fundamentalism, revivalism, and new-image Fundamentalism. We wish to reclaim authentic Fundamentalism, to rebuild it, and to strengthen it. For us that reclamation involves not only working against the philosophy of broad evangelicalism (which assaults us from outside), but also working against those versions of Fundamentalism that subvert the Christian faith.
On the other hand, these positions do not exhaust the evangelical options. Conservative evangelicals have reacted against the current erosion of evangelicalism by refocusing attention upon the gospel, including its importance as a boundary for Christian fellowship. These conservative evangelicals have become important spokespersons against current denials of the gospel, and they have also spoken out against trends that remove the gospel from its place of power in transforming lives (e.g., the church growth and church marketing movements).
Certain differences do still exist between historic Fundamentalists and conservative evangelicals. Fundamentalists, in contrast to Conservative evangelicals, tend to align more with dispensationalism and cessationism. Fundamentalists tend to react against contemporary popular culture, while many conservative evangelicals embrace it. Perhaps most importantly, Fundamentalists make a clean break with the leadership of anti-separatist evangelicals, while conservative evangelicals continue to accommodate (or at least refuse to challenge) their leadership.
Because of these differences, we do not believe that complete cooperation with conservative evangelicalism is desirable. Nevertheless, we find that we have much more in common with conservative evangelicals (who are slightly to our Left) than we do with hyper-Fundamentalists (who are considerably to our Right), or even with revivalistic Fundamentalists (who are often in our back yard). In conservative evangelicals we find allies who are willing to challenge not only the compromise of the gospel on the Left, but also the pragmatic approach to Christianity that typifies so many evangelicals and Fundamentalists. For this reason, we believe that careful, limited forms of fellowship are possible.
We wish to be used to restate, refine, and strengthen biblical Fundamentalism. The process of restatement includes not only defining what a thing is, but also saying what it is not. We find that we must point to many versions of professing Fundamentalism and say, "That is not biblical Christianity." We do not believe that the process of refinement and definition can occur without such denials. The only way to strengthen Fundamentalism is to speak out against some self-identified Fundamentalists.
We also see a need to speak out against the abandonment of the gospel by the evangelical Left, the reducing of the gospel's importance by the heirs of the New Evangelicalism, and the huckstering of the gospel by pragmatists, whether evangelicals or Fundamentalists. On the other hand, while we may express disagreement with aspects of conservative evangelicalism (just as we may express disagreement with one another), we wish to affirm and to strengthen the activity of conservative evangelicals in restoring the gospel to its rightful place.
The marks of a strong Fundamentalism will include the following:
1.A recommitment to the primacy and proclamation of the gospel.
2.An understanding that the fundamentals of the gospel are the boundary of Christian fellowship.
3.A focus on the importance of preaching as biblical exposition.
4.An emphasis upon progressive sanctification understood as incremental spiritual growth.
5.An elevation of the importance of ordinate Christian affections, expressed partly by sober worship that is concerned with the exaltation and magnification of God.
6.An understanding of Christian leadership primarily as teaching and serving.
7.A commitment to teaching and transmitting the whole system of faith and practice.
8.An exaltation of the centrality of the local congregation in God's work.
These are features of an authentic Fundamentalism that we all feel is worth saving. These features describe the kind of Fundamentalism that we wish to build. Their absence in either Fundamentalism or other branches of evangelicalism constitutes a debasing of Christianity that we intend to oppose.
Central Baptist Theological Seminary | 900 Forestview Lane North Plymouth, Minnesota 55441 | (763) 417-8250 | info@centralseminary.edu
Top 20 Bible Passages to Use Against Fundamentalists
who would all disagree with what you say in a heart beat
That, is my religion. My father, his father, his brother, my mother's father, and brother were and are Lutheran ministers
I've got more experience and education on the matter than you do, as well as my family and their faith. Some college??? Did you drop out because you realized a closed mind can never learn?
By Delmer Chilton on September 24, 2012 4:35 AM | 1 Comment
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www.livinglutheran.com
What is your downfall?
Lectionary Blog for Sept. 30, 2012
19th Sunday after Pentecost
Texts: Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29;
James 5:13-20; Mark 9:38-50
When I went to seminary, back when students used electric typewriters and libraries instead of laptops and the Internet, we had courses in Practical Theology. Now I think they call it Contextual Education or something like that.
I always liked the term “practical theology.” It reminded me that our theology, our talk about God, really comes alive when we put it into practice. Our three Scripture readings for today contain lessons in doing what we say we believe about God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit; about loving God and loving each other. In particular, these readings teach us about inviting divine healing into our bodies, souls and communities.
In the first lesson in Numbers we read about a time when, in the midst of community dysfunction, the Israelites turned on their leader, Moses, who then proceeded to blame everything on God.
God responded with a plan that moved the community from an authoritarian, charismatic leader model to a “spirit dispersed on the people” style of decision making by bestowing the Spirit upon the 70 wh...
By Delmer Chilton on September 24, 2012 4:35 AM | 1 Comment
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www.livinglutheran.com
What is your downfall?
Lectionary Blog for Sept. 30, 2012
19th Sunday after Pentecost
Texts: Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29;
James 5:13-20; Mark 9:38-50
When I went to seminary, back when students used electric typewriters and libraries instead of laptops and the Internet, we had courses in Practical Theology. Now I think they call it Contextual Education or something like that.
I always liked the term “practical theology.” It reminded me that our theology, our talk about God, really comes alive when we put it into practice. Our three Scripture readings for today contain lessons in doing what we say we believe about God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit; about loving God and loving each other. In particular, these readings teach us about inviting divine healing into our bodies, souls and communities.
In the first lesson in Numbers we read about a time when, in the midst of community dysfunction, the Israelites turned on their leader, Moses, who then proceeded to blame everything on God.
God responded with a plan that moved the community from an authoritarian, charismatic leader model to a “spirit dispersed on the people” style of decision making by bestowing the Spirit upon the 70 who had been selected by the people. The community was able to bring a halt to the “blame the leader” syndrome and move into a healthier “share the responsibility” model of life together.
One of the interesting sidelights of this story is the bestowal of the Spirit on Eldad and Medad, who were not in the 70 picked by the people. This seems to be a reminder that the wind of the Spirit still blows where it wills and, though structures are good for us, God’s activity in the world is not limited by them.
While the reading from James is about physical and spiritual healing, it is less about the charismatic gift of healing (which I have witnessed and do not deny) than it is about our call to take care of each other.
This passage is about community and compassion, especially as it moves into language about the reconciliation of sinners. James is reminding us that healing is both physical and emotional; it’s not only about our bodies, it’s also about our souls and our relationships.
The first part of the reading from Mark brings to mind the Numbers episode about Eldad and Medad, and the bestowal of the Spirit on those outside the camp. Then it moves quickly into really scary language about drowning one’s self and cutting off body parts and tearing eyes out of their sockets.
Of course, this is all hyperbole, exaggeration for the sake of emphasis, designed to bring us up short and get us to pay attention to the fact that this cross-bearing, following Jesus, stuff is serious business.
The question we need to ask ourselves is, “What do I need to cut out of my life? What am I doing that is keeping me from being the complete and whole person God made me to be and means for me to be?”
My late mother-in-law was always on a diet. And she was always cheating on it, eating things she knew she shouldn’t. When her daughter or her husband would find a wrapper from a drive-thru breakfast hidden in her purse, she would sigh and say, in her soft, sweet, eastern North Carolina accent, “Ah, biscuits, thems my downfall.”
An empty package of cookies in the trash? “Ah, Oreos, thems my downfall!”
A takeout plate from Wilber’s Barbecue under the car seat? “Ah, ribs, thems my downfall!”
Sisters and brothers in Christ, what’s your downfall?
We all have good intentions of living a life close to God. We all want to be better people than we are. We all want our congregations to be communities that are full of love and compassion, capable of healing and transforming one another and the world.
What’s stopping us? What is our downfall?
Again, all three of these lessons turn on questions of practice: “What does it take to heal us, to make us whole, to turn us into the people God made us to be, wants us to be, calls us to be?”
And the answers all have to do with doing things God’s way in the holy community instead of stubbornly clinging to our own individual way.
In community we are called to let go of power and embrace the spirit of God speaking in the community; even sometimes speaking to us through voices outside the community. (Numbers)
In community, we are called to heal and be healed by reaching out to one another in humility and compassion, loving the community and trusting the community to love us back. (James)
In community we are called to take the welfare of others, their faith and their life, so seriously that we are willing to sacrifice things that are good for us rather than injure or harm them. (Mark)
In the Christian faith, the way forward is always through the cross, putting aside our yearnings for power and control to follow Jesus along the way of sacrifice, death to self and rebirth in the image of Christ.
Amen and amen.
Talkback:
What is your downfall?
What do you need to cut out of your life?
Delmer Chilton is an assistant to the bishop of the Southeastern Synod of the ELCA, with responsibility for eastern and central Tennessee, northern Alabama and northern Georgia. Ordained in 1977, he has served parishes in North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee.
You might also want to read:
Just be quiet and follow
Shaped by community
Called into community
Categories: Pastor, Theology
Tags: Blogs, Book of James, Book of Numbers, Community, God, Gospel of Mark, Moses, Spirit of God
1 Comment
Karen V. | September 24, 2012 11:03 AM | Reply | Report
"Two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad and the other named Medad, and the spirit rested on them; they were among those registered...." (Numbers 11:26)
Eldad and Medad, even though they happened to be away from the tent, were "registered" -- this means they were enrolled, written, inscribed, representatives of the community. This is a model of the Church. The Hebrew people, wandering in the desert after the Exodus, are a model, a fore-shadowing of the Church. Yes, the Spirit moves freely where it wills, but in this case, it is operating within structure: the men were officially "registered." The names of the two men are interesting, also. They have to do with God's love, and the casting about of love.
Another detail is the two numbers: 70 and 72. This may partly explain, spiritually, an apparent discrepancy in the New Testament....
Back to Africa
Liberia
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Home » Who We Are » Our Three Expressions » Churchwide Ministries » Global Mission » Where We Work » Africa » Liberia
Liberia
The Lutheran Church in Liberia
LCL Women's Annual Meeting
Who is the Lutheran Church in Liberia and what are its ministries?
The Lutheran Church in Liberia (LCL), a member of the Lutheran World Federation, has more than 71,000 members in 46 parishes with over 385 congregations and 330 preaching points scattered in twelve of the 15 political subdivisions of Liberia. There are 70 ordained pastors, 110 ordained deacons and deaconesses, and more than 300 evangelists spread out over eight church districts.
As Liberia suffered greatly throughout its 14-year civil war (1989-2003), so did the LCL. Church leaders estimate that for 90% of churches their properties were either looted or completely in need of reconstruction. Since the war ended, the LCL has focused on rebuilding its institutions, strengthening church structures, and revitalizing its faithful service, both within its own membership and to the entire country through its ministries of preaching, teaching and healing.
In preparation for its 150th annive...
Back to Africa
Liberia
Mission History
Arts and Crafts
Recipes
Map
Home » Who We Are » Our Three Expressions » Churchwide Ministries » Global Mission » Where We Work » Africa » Liberia
Liberia
The Lutheran Church in Liberia
LCL Women's Annual Meeting
Who is the Lutheran Church in Liberia and what are its ministries?
The Lutheran Church in Liberia (LCL), a member of the Lutheran World Federation, has more than 71,000 members in 46 parishes with over 385 congregations and 330 preaching points scattered in twelve of the 15 political subdivisions of Liberia. There are 70 ordained pastors, 110 ordained deacons and deaconesses, and more than 300 evangelists spread out over eight church districts.
As Liberia suffered greatly throughout its 14-year civil war (1989-2003), so did the LCL. Church leaders estimate that for 90% of churches their properties were either looted or completely in need of reconstruction. Since the war ended, the LCL has focused on rebuilding its institutions, strengthening church structures, and revitalizing its faithful service, both within its own membership and to the entire country through its ministries of preaching, teaching and healing.
In preparation for its 150th anniversary on April 28, 2010, the Lutheran Church in Liberia is preparing for its next 150 years of ministry with a five-year strategic planning process that analyzes the church's work in the post-war period and beyond.
Curran health care staff visit remote Lofa County village in Northern Liberia
Clinic morning
Word and sacrament, health care, and education are the LCL’s strongest ministries. The LCL has a strong word and sacrament ministry that responds to new challenges and invitations to preach the Gospel in Liberia and beyond. Because many LCL members found themselves displaced in other countries during the civil war, the LCL’s outreach evangelism beyond the borders of Liberia was strengthened even during the conflict. The LCL established a mission presence in the country of Guinea in 2005, where an LCL missionary pastor serves and several congregations have already been started that may one day constitute a new Lutheran Church in Guinea.
The Lutheran Church in Liberia is also well known for its health care ministries. Lutherans were the first denomination to build a hospital in Liberia. Phebe Hospital opened in 1921 and the Phebe School of Nursing was the first nursing school in the country. Curran Lutheran Hospital, approximately 225 miles north of Monrovia, has provided health care to surrounding districts and residents from neighboring towns of Guinea for 80 years. In spite of being attacked and looted, Phebe Hospital never stopped offering services during the war. Curran Hospital was destroyed twice, but continued to offer a mobile clinic.
The LCL also operates a health center (and recently revitalized agriculture program) at Pallipo Parish in rural southeastern Liberia, and clinics at Degei and Nyor parishes. In addition, in 1975, the LCL helped found in 1975 the Christian Health Association of Liberia (CHAL), a consortium of Christian health ministries that collaborate in providing services and procuring health care supplies.
The Lutheran Church in Liberia offers counseling, testing and support for individuals affected by HIV and AIDS. It is the only church institution in Liberia training counselors to work with HIV-positive persons, providing both a rigorous counselor training workshop over a period of six months, as well as shorter awareness and education workshops for health workers, students and teachers, commercial sex workers, police officers and members of the armed forces.
Students at St Stephens School
The LCL’s education ministry is also strong. At one time, the LCL operated 90 schools. By the end of the war, only 20 schools were open. Today, almost 40 high schools, junior high and elementary schools are operating. The LCL's Christian Education Department is drafting four levels of Sunday school curriculum and bringing Under the Tree (UTT), a peace and recreation program begun during the war to provide safe places for at-risk children living in large displacement camps, to rural areas.
The Lutheran Training Institute, formerly an LCL boarding high school, offers vocational training to Liberians–many of them who were combatants during the war–who need skills-training and rehabilitation.
LCL pastors receive their training at the Gbarnga School of Theology, a non-denominational institution training pastors for Lutheran, Methodist, and Anglican Churches in Liberia. The Louis T. Bowers Lay Leaders and Ministry Training Center (LTB-LLMTC) provides programs specifically designed for lay leaders to increase the effectiveness of their ministry.
How do the Lutheran Church in Liberia and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America accompany one another in ministry?
Through the churchwide ELCA Global Mission unit, the ELCA relates to and is in bilateral relationship with over 80 companion churches and institutions. The ELCA Global Mission unit stewards a church-to-church relationship with the Lutheran Church in Liberia. This relationship is deepened and extended by the ELCM’s relationship, through the ELCA Companion Synods program, with the ELCA Upper Susquehanna Synod.
Churchwide funding through the ELCA Global Mission unit supports key priorities identified by the LCL, including leadership development and capacity building for the development of effective programs and ministries, sustainable development in the areas of health care, education, and water resources. In addition, the ELCA provides grant support to the Lutheran World Federation/World Service program in Liberia. Three ELCA mission personnel serve in Liberia in health care, education, and leadership development.
Through its companion relationship with the LCL, the ELCA Upper Susquehanna Synod has been a stalwart supporter for many years. Alongside hundreds of Liberians, volunteers from the synod were involved in the cleanup and restoration of Phebe Hospital and the renovation of Curran Hospital. With Global Health Ministries, the Synod has provided equipment and furnishings for the Curran Hospital operating room.
The ELCA also funds significant work in Liberia through the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), a global communion of 140 churches (including the ELCA) and 68 million people that is grounded in a common Lutheran faith. The LWF provides space for Lutherans from around the world to share joys, challenges, and expertise as they seek the healing of the world. ELCA World Hunger funds help support the Department for World Service (DWS), the LWF’s relief and development arm, and the Department for Mission and Development (DMD), which focuses on holistic ministries through which the church participates in God’s mission to all creation.
In Liberia, ELCA World Hunger funds support the LWF's Department for World Service Liberia country program which focuses on programs such as:
Emergency Preparedness
Agriculture and Food Security
Community Rehabilitation and Development
Water and Sanitation
Infrastructure Rehabilitation
Rural Industry
Microfinance
Trauma Healing, Peace Building and Reconciliation
Advocacy
Liberia: the context in which the Lutheran Church in Liberia serves
Lay Ministry Training
Market day
The Republic of Liberia, the second oldest independent country in Africa after Ethiopia, was established in 1847 by former slaves sent to West Africa in the early 1800s, even though the area was already inhabited by various indigenous ethnic groups who had occupied the region for centuries. Today the country’s 3.2 million people speak English and over 20 tribal languages. Ethnically Liberia is 95% comprised of indigenous tribes, 2.5 % Americo-Liberians, descendants of former U.S. slaves, 2.5% Congo People, descendants of Caribbean slaves. The religions of Liberia are indigenous beliefs (40%), Christian (40%) and Muslim (20%).
In 1980, the government was overturned in a military coup. During the 15-year civil war that began in 1989, some 200,000 people were killed, another 750,000 fled the country as refugees, and 1.2 million were internally displaced. After Liberia's president Charles Taylor was forced to resign and flee the country, a peace accord was signed, leading to a transitional government in late 2003. Democratic elections held in 2005 elected president Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, a Harvard-trained economist, and Africa's first elected female head of state.
In the aftermath of the war, Liberia’s economy and social infrastructure all but collapsed, and basic services such as water and electricity, telephone, etc., are being restored at a slow pace. Approximately 85% of the physical infrastructure was completely destroyed, looted, or abandoned without maintenance for the entire period of the war. Every town and village, including the capital city was damaged by the war, and there is widespread need of shelter, water and sanitation, protection and health care.
According to LCL Bishop Sumoward Harris, President Johnson-Sirleaf has passionately led the country in major efforts of government restructuring and national rehabilitation. She has appealed for the cancellation of Liberia’s debt in her international travels and insisted Liberia will not be used by any neighboring country or internal group to wage war or subversive activities against another. She is visiting every sub-political division in the country to assess resources, plan investment, encourage the population, and underscore the primacy of national security. President Johnson-Sirleaf has taken steps to reduce corruption, build support from international donors, and encourage private investment. Her challenges include rebuilding the economy with 80% of the population living under the poverty level, an 85% unemployment rate, homelessness for much of the population, and destruction of much of the infrastructure, especially in and around Monrovia.