Gay ELCA Pastor Restored to the Roster - Arrested for Child Porn. Links to the History of the Lavender Mafia, Which Is Not Exclusive to ELCA. No Public Absolution So Far - He Is Not WELS

 Steven P. Sabin

 Pastor Steven P. Sabin

Bishop Guy Erwin was the professor of Lutheran Confessions before his rapid promotion to the pastorate and the fish hat.

Sunset District church pastor among men arrested in child porn stings

By Michael Barba on November 20, 2018 3:52 pm

The pastor of a Lutheran church in the Sunset District is among the five men who have been arrested in San Francisco for allegedly having or distributing child pornography since last month, police announced Tuesday.

Rev. Steven Sabin, a 59-year-old pastor at Christ Church Lutheran at Quintara Street and 20th Avenue, was arrested last Thursday on suspicion of having hundreds of pictures and videos of children being sexually assaulted.

Since October, the Internet Crimes Against Children Unit has arrested Nicholas Fong, 24, a resident of North Beach; Donald Wright, 58, a San Francisco resident and information technology specialist; Elihu Hernandez, 43, a resident of the Tenderloin; and Trevor Schlesinger, 37, a Marina District resident.

 The San Francisco Police Department said the men were booked into County Jail on suspicion of child pornography-related charges, but it is not immediately clear whether the District Attorney’s Office filed criminal charges against them.

Sabin was arrested after investigators looking into child pornography posts on social media conducted a search warrant at his home on Market Street between Ninth and Tenth streets and allegedly found child pornography on his cellphone and on a cloud storage device.

No one answered the phone Wednesday at the Christ Church Lutheran where Sabin serves as senior pastor. Sabin previously made headlines in 1998 when he was dismissed from the Lutheran Church in America for being gay.

Lutheranism has numerous sects, each with different teachings on homosexuality and same-sex unions. Sabin joined Christ Church Lutheran in 2001, according to a biography for him on the church website. In 2010, Ecumenical News reported that Sabin was reinstated to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, considered to be the most pro-LGBT segment within the overall denomination.
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About Us > Rev. Steven P. Sabin
Senior Pastor

The Rev. Steven P. Sabin was ordained to Word and Sacrament ministry by the Lutheran Church in America in June 1985. Before coming to CCL in April 2001, Pastor Steve was the Pastor of Lord of Life Lutheran Church in Ames, Iowa for 16 years. In addition to his parish responsibilities, Pastor Steve has served as a national leader in ecumenical relations and has extensive experience in social advocacy and community development.

Pastor Steve graduated from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago with a Master of Divinity degree. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology with a minor in Classics from the University of Iowa. Pastor Steve took his chaplaincy training at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Hospital and Medical School in Chicago, and did an internship at Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Manchester, Connecticut.

When he accepted the call to be Senior Pastor at Christ Church, Pastor Steve described his ministry in these words:

"You call me to be your pastor, a word that means shepherd. I know that only Christ is the Good Shepherd. I am the Shepherd's dog to seek the lost, bring aid to the injured, and sound the alarm at danger.

"You call me to preside at the Eucharist. The table belongs to the Lord and I am the waiter at his meal. I will baptize in your midst, but it is God who gives new life and makes us sisters and brothers together in Christ. I will preach to you, but will proclaim only Christ, and him crucified. I will speak to you the words of absolution to remind you that God forgives our sins and loves us unconditionally."

Contact Pastor Steve: pastor@christchurchlutheran.org

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ELCA Removed Sabin from the ministerium.





More about Sabin and his California bishop.

Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries approved Sabin for reinstatement. I ran this story at the time.

This link contains quite a complete history of regress in ELCA, and LCMS-WELS-ELS are happy to work with them on many different religious projects.

Working with Liz Eaton while she calls the shots - no problem! These are bought men.

 The LCMS published a Book of Concord jointly with ELCA,
the other editor being Timothy Wengert, ELCA gay activist, another expert on the Confessions. Quia?

Thanksgiving Day - Sassy Stayed with Ranger Bob. We Traveled North for a Festive Meal with Team Jackson

Long ago, in Bella Vista, Alex added a humorous touch to raking leaves, trying not to smile

Ranger Bob and his brother Mike offered to take Sassy for any holiday gathering we had, so we set her up for an overnight.

We have had monthly gatherings since moving here, based on the Walmart Saturday meetings. In fact, I am a legend in the technology group for always attending them with LI when I did not have to. (Salaried staff were known to complain about these legendary meetings.) The total is more than 90 meetings until WM changed to a quarterly system. Each month, I picked up LI in the limo and we arrived very early for a wide variety of entertainment, sports, and political leaders, mixed with the business reports. The question was not, "Have we seen Shaq, basketball star, MBA from UOP," but how many times?" Ditto Pioneer Woman, Tom Cruise, and Hugh Jackman.

After the meetings, I warmed up the BBQ grill and we had various kinds of grilled meat, including the bacon that was burnt to ashes, mentioned monthly by Alex. Naturally we did not get any of that bacon, but we still laugh about it and regular speech on the topic.

It is a lot of fun to remember these regular family events and to correct dyspeptic ELDONA, a cult suffering from the ill effects of embracing UOJ for so long. I could correct one of their slanders against another person, but that would not serve any purpose. ELDONA should check out their facts - if that even matters to them - before risking legal jeopardy in an easy to prove libel suite.

As Tokien noted in Lord of the Rings, having a great time does not generate much copy in a story. We had a gourmet Thanksgiving meal with the clan, including a future addition by marriage: brined turkey, potatoes white and sweet, cranberry sauce, and a perfect apple pie.

Sassy stayed over with Ranger Bob and Mike. When we got home again, we watched "Life with Father" for the 8th time. Sassy is back with us on Friday.

Why Has a Short Post on Creation Been Viewed 1650 Times In Less Than a Month?H. C. Leupold on the Six-Day Creation

Herbert Carl Leupold on the Historicity of the Creation account in Genesis:

We are utterly out of sympathy with such an attitude; for it does not conform to the facts of the case. Nothing in the book warrants such an approach. It is rather a straightforward, strictly historical account, rising, indeed, to heights of poetic beauty of expression in the Creation account, in the Flood story, in the record of Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac, in Judah’s plea before Joseph, and the like. But the writer uses no more of figurative language than any gifted historian might, who merely adorns a strictly literal account with the ordinary run of current figures of speech, grammatical and rhetorical.

Leupold. Exposition of Genesis. 1942. Introduction

***

John 1:3 is also a burden for the delicate nerves of the
Barth/Kirschbaum fans at Fuller and other Lutheran seminaries.

GJ - I wonder if the 1650 views are connected to the LCMS abandoning the doctrine and calling its critics "slanderers" of the esteemed, apostate St. Louis Seminary?

I would rather they focused on Creation by the Word, because the same power which fashioned the universe in six 24-hour days also justifies those who believe in the Savior. 

Crab-walking away from the Creation is simply another symptom of the dominant Universal Justification snake oil salesmen abandoning the efficacy of the Word in the Means of Grace.

Requested - Is the New KJV No Better Than the Apostate NIV?

 Graphic by Norma A. Boeckler

One person recently claimed, "The New KJV is no better than the NIV, so you might as well use the NIV."

That is patently false, because all King James Versions - note the plural - use the traditional text. However, the NIV uses the Butcher Commission of the International Bible Sorority, blackballing the verses they do not like. They erase the verses by dropping them into the footnotes, based on the hyperbolic lying of Tischendorf, Westcott, and Hort.

Regarding the New Testament text, which should matter to Lutherans, any King James is better than the NIV. In fact, the NIV should not be used at all, but there is big money in it for the synods.

Secondly, the New KJV does have translation errors in it, because it was marketed for the Babtists who liked the KJV but did not want the olde English in it. However, it is far closer to the precise translation of the KJV, maintaining that approach while the NIV uses the "dynamic equivalence" baloney of Nida.

When I have done comparisons, the KJV agrees with the old Luther translation. That is no shock because Tyndale's translation became the KJV.

The Great Commission, 

Teach or Manufacture?

KJV

Matthew 28: 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

NKJV

28:18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

Apostate NIV

Matthew 28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

The apostate Lutherans love "make disciples" because they learned from Fuller, Cho, and other fraud machines that cell groups make disciples that make disciples that make disciples. The synods that fell for this are collapsing. The underlined verb in Greek means "teach nations" so nations are the object of the verb. It does not say "manufacture disciples." The New KJV was aimed at the Baptists so they like the distortion.

Holy Communion or Just a Symbolic Ordinance?

KJV

1 Corinthians 10:16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?

NKJV

1 Corinthians 10:16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?

Apostate NIV

1 Corinthians 10:16 Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? 

WELS and LCMS are so gushy with the anti-Lutherans that they have no problem with the rejection of the Real Presence. 

Baptism Saves or It Is Just a Symbolic...Wait, I'm Lost

KJV

1 Peter 3:21 The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:

NKJV

1 Peter 3:21 There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

Apostate NIV

1 Peter 3:21 and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 

No shock, the Babtist New KJV backs away from "baptism now saves us." The NIV is completely allergic to the Sacraments, but when The CORE starts with no communion - no shock!

Is the Savior Locked in Heaven? 

Then no Real Presence

KJV

Acts 3:21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.

NKJV

Acts 3: 21 whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since [e]the world began.

Apostate NIV

Acts 3:21 Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets.

New Living Translation
For he must remain in heaven until the time for the final restoration of all things, as God promised long ago through his holy prophets.

I think the NIV had "must remain in heaven" in the earlier version, but that is gone, gone, forgotten, gone.

WELS-LCMS Certifies Their Anti-Christian Stance with

the NIV Universalism Addition

KJV

Romans 3:22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

NKJV

Romans 3:21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 

Apostate NIV

Romans 3:21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

Two parts here - 

1) The Greek says "faith of Jesus Christ" not faith in Jesus Christ. The second construction is common but "faith of Jesus" is used by Paul three or more times. Nevertheless, though the KJV is precise on this, the others are not.

The reliably apostate NIV has everyone on earth justified. That sounds like all the modern theologians  like Barth - and just like the apostate leaders of WELS-ELS-LCMS. Does ELCA teach this? Of course.

Count on the ever-changing NIV to get more feminism into the New Testament.

Thanksgiving Eve, 2018

  Norma A. Boeckler books

Thanksgiving Eve, 2018

Pastor Gregory L. Jackson

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/bethany-lutheran-worship

Bethany Lutheran Worship, 7 PM Central Standard Time 

The Hymn #574            Come Ye Thankful     
The Order of Vespers p. 41
The Psalmody Psalm 100 p. 144
The First Lection 1 Timothy 2:1-8
The Second Lection Luke 17:11-19 

The Sermon Hymn #361      O Jesus King 


The Real Political Message of the Bible

The Prayers and Lord’s Prayer p. 44
The Collect for Peace p. 45
The Benediction p. 45
The Hymn #558     All Praise to Thee - Gounod

 
KJV 1 Timothy 2:1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; 2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; 4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. 7 Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity. 8 I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.

KJV Luke 17:11 And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. 12 And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: 13 And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. 14 And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. 15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, 16 And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. 17 And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? 18 There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. 19 And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.


Background for Sermon
The Social Gospel Movement is extremely important for our country, because a tiny group of people met to form a brotherhood to promote their political goals for the denominations in America. This Brotherhood of the Kingdom was made up of liberals who redefined the doctrines of the Bible according to German rationalism, which is what CFW Walther grew up in - his father a rationalist pastor. Walter Rauschenbusch is the most famous figure in this movement, though Emerson Fosdick was also well known in his time.

The goals of this Brotherhood of the Kingdom became the agenda of the Federal Council of Churches, renamed the National Council of Churches. The mainline denominations adopted these goals, which became the platform of President Franklin Roosevelt. Naturally, these people were fond of socialism and many thought the real deal was Marxism. In the olden days one could easily identify a liberal activist Lutheran because he published something very positive about Rauschenbusch and the Social Gospel.

I wrote my dissertation on this topic, so I will try to be brief. This movement turned the Gospel upside-down, making it pure works. The Parable of the Good Samaritan was not about Jesus as the Samaritan caring for us, but about making the road to Jericho safe! Jesus died to show His solidarity with the poor! Therefore, the purpose of the Christian Church (they imagine) is to change society by passing laws to control our behavior. The Left-wing activism in today's churches is an outgrowth of this Social Gospel Movement with the addition of various kinds of radicalism.

In the LCA this worked by polarizing congregations about various issues, welcoming the exit of those backward people considered conservatives, but called rednecks, Birchers, Fundamentalists. A smaller, smarter church and shrinking but better synod were desirable outcomes.

The Social Gospel Movement combined a rewriting of Christian doctrine to match its political activism.

  Norma A. Boeckler books

The Real Political Message of the Bible

KJV 1 Timothy 2:1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; 2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.

As we know from other topics (infant faith, the Means of Grace, Justification by Faith), people simply ignore passages that do not support their hobby-horses. Therefore, they ride them forever. These two verses show that Christianity in the Apostolic Age was quietistic, a phrase used by one of the top scholars of Greek language and culture for that era (A. Mahlherbe). Quietistic means the opposite of activist, engaging in politics, using the church as an instrument to make political points and pass laws governing others. We know that theocratic governments, with the church in control, have been abusive, controlling, and corrupt. The papal states in Italy, owned and poorly governed by the Roman Church, were corrupt and lax.

Quietistic means the Christians were not exhorted to overturn the government or rebel against them. The ultimate tool to remove social evil is the Gospel, which will be shown as an example on Sunday, when we discuss an entire book of the Bible in one session. That solution has worked its way through Western culture over the centuries. Britain, through the influence of Evangelicals like Wilberforce, ended slavery without a civil war.

Instead of church in political action, Paul urged them to pray for all men, for kings and those in authority - the political leaders. That is why Christianity has flourished in all political systems and has grown under persecution.

Zwingli and other ministers fought on the battlefield, and he died wearing armor.

What we see in America is the Social Gospel starting in a rejection of the basic doctrines of Christianity and making an agenda the religion. Once that was achieved in the New Deal, there was agitation for more. Religious agencies dropped the pretext and simply became political action groups using Christianity as a front. I saw this happen in Roman Catholicism too, when the properly social action types wanted to conquer all church leadership and openly despised basic Christian doctrine.

3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; 4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

It is good to remember that the Word is more powerful than any empire. There was nothing like the Roman Empire during the public ministry of Christ, and yet the gold, wealth, and majesty of Rome was no barrier to the Christian Faith. It grew from the bottom up, among slaves and criminals, the bottom of society. And yet when they were tortured and killed in huge stadiums, their peace at the time of death rattled and disturbed the pagan Romans. Slowly the faith worked its way up. Rome was knocked into the dustbin of history, as Luther observed, conquered by the One God they could not tolerate in their pantheon.

Opposition has never quashed Christianity. Earthly power means nothing, as Jesus declared, "My Kingdom is not of this world." A local ruler could not comprehend this, and yet Jesus disturbed people by His death and His resurrection.

The secret of Christianity is that the Word grows and takes over in  a quiet, subtle, but powerful way. When people are occupied with spiritual truths, their hearts do not have much room for error, for the death-traps (scandalon, literally the trigger of the trap) that plunge people into error and destruction. 

The irony is that mankind trusts its own power and wisdom and disdains the power and wisdom of the Gospel. Nobody can even predict what the Word can do among believers or how it calls out the faithful from among the mass of people today. While many scorn the simple Word of the Gospel. others who have been fed the lentil soup of earthly wisdom say - "This is the feast of God's grace and forgiveness." Their hunger and thirst is satisfied, not by Zen but by the Good Shepherd.

5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

5 εις γαρ θεος εις και μεσιτης θεου και ανθρωπων ανθρωπος χριστος ιησους

6 ο δους εαυτον αντιλυτρον υπερ παντων το μαρτυριον καιροις ιδιοις

This is a beautiful confession of faith, likely one they memorized. I let a young group loose once and they painted this on the wall. I thought I was in trouble for letting that happen - it was a surprise to me. And no one had any qualms about it. What can they say to the Gospel in a few words? So it was displayed for a long time.

This is poetic - (for) big break.
One God and One Mediator of God and men, (There is - understood)
The man Jesus Christ.
Who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

"In the work of providing salvation for all men the ransoming was 
assumed by the second person. Paul states the mighty facts; theologians have devised their theories about the atonement because they were not satisfied with the facts as they stand." Lenski p. 549.

This confession emphasizes the humanity of God, or we might say - the Incarnation, the Two Natures. The ransom for all means He died for the sins of all (the Atonement). This Atonement is the Gospel, which we witness to all people.

7 Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity. 8 I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.

Thus Paul witnesses to the truth and wishes that everyone would also be confident in this truth and not prone to quarreling and doubting among themselves.

 Norma A. Boeckler books