A Note from Pastor

The following is from Gene Edward Veith’s blog:
“On Monday the trial began in Finland for Lutheran Bishop Juhana Pohjola and Member of Parliament Dr. Päivi Räsänen, charged with hate crimes for teaching what the Bible says about homosexuality.
    Long before Finland legalized same sex marriage in 2017, Dr. Räsänen, a medical doctor and former Minister of the Interior, wrote a 24-page booklet on the Bible’s teachings about sexuality, including a section on homosexuality.  Bishop Pohjola’s church, now in fellowship with the LCMS, published it.  [However] Instead of focusing on the two defendants, who could be sentenced to a fine of 10,000 euros and two years in prison, the prosecutors, in effect, put on trial the Bible itself.  Finnish prosecutors described quotations from the Bible as “hate speech.” Finland’s top prosecutor’s office essentially put the Bible on trial, an unprecedented move for a secular court.
    The prosecutors then interrogated the two about their theology, which became an occasion for them both to proclaim the Gospel!
“The booklet stands on the Christian understanding of human being,” Bishop Pohjola said in court. [Adding] “Sin affects every human being to the core. But the grace of God is also universal. He wants to forgive the sins of every human being.”
    Remember Pr. Pohjola and Dr. Räsänen, in your prayers and that we are to “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.”