Pastor says Minneapolis tornado serves as warning against approving sin [View All]

[The Straight Story]

Pastor says Minneapolis tornado serves as warning against approving sin

MINNEAPOLIS - A blog post by John Piper, a Minneapolis pastor, called Wednesday's tornado in Minneapolis "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. Reaffirm the great Lutheran heritage of allegiance to the truth and authority of Scripture. Turn back from distorting the grace of God into sensuality."

MINNEAPOLIS - A blog post by John Piper, a Minneapolis pastor, called Wednesday's tornado in Minneapolis "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. Reaffirm the great Lutheran heritage of allegiance to the truth and authority of Scripture. Turn back from distorting the grace of God into sensuality."

The post references the human sexuality social statement that the Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Church in America considered Wednesday, and states that "The issue is whether practicing homosexuality is a behavior that should disqualify a person from the pastoral ministry." The sexuality statement does address same-gender relationships, but Piper may have confused the social statement, which was voted on yesterday, with the ministry recommendations, which addresses the issue of non-celibate gays and the ministry and will likely be up for vote tomorrow. Some have, however, seen the social statement as being soft on the issue of homosexuality.

Piper is the pastor for preaching at Bethlehem Baptist Church. The blog appeared on the desiringGod Web site, which features resources from Piper's ministry. VirtueOnline, an orthodox Anglican Web site, also posted the blog.

Afternoon storming that may have produced a tornado yesterday, damaged the roof of the Minneapolis Convention Center where the ELCA is holding its Churchwide Assembly through Sunday.

http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/250394/group//