Pastors

Not sure if I've mentioned this before but I don't think I've ever had a pastor or a spiritual resource (I take that back kind of / my husband I guess is who I ask about stuff / let's say, an outside spiritual resource?).  My mom's first thought when I pointed out a new website was to ask her advisor, ie. her church's pastor, what his notes were on their statement of faith.  It is great but I just had to note that it's foreign to me.
For all you ELS people though, this is one minister's thoughtful take on it... THANK YOU MOM

We agree with their position on the Word of God.
a) We believe the Bible to be the inspired, infallible, authoritative Word of God We also would describe the Bible as "inerrant." This is close in meaning to "infallible" but more precise in that it means not only that it cannot err but also that it contains no errs.
We agree with what they say about the persons of the Holy Trinity and the person of Christ. (b & c) We would agree with statement (d) with the caveat that it is an incomplete confession. It does not say how regeneration occurs. We believe the new birth by the Holy Spirit occurs through the means of grace, the Word and Baptism, and that it occurs without any human effort or cooperation.
d) We believe that for the salvation of lost and sinful man, belief in Jesus as Savior and regeneration by the Holy Spirit are absolutely essential.
We would agree with this statement, since the Holy Spirit is the sanctifier, the one who makes us holy and helps us live a holy life. We would add that the Holy Spirit is the one who gives us faith.
e) We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life.
We agree with this. f) We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; they that are saved will be raised to everlasting life with the Lord, and they that are lost will be raised to everlasting separation from Him.
g) We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.  We too confess this "spiritual unity." This is what we mean when we confess "one, holy Christian and apostolic church." We, however, do not practice church fellowship- joint altar and communion fellowship- on this basis, but on the basis of full unity in doctrine (teaching and confession of faith).
The resources available on this website look good and helpful. The Keil/Delitzch commentary included on this site is a classic conservative Old Testament commentary. This is a site that would be useful to me as I look at texts for preaching and teaching.
In Christ,
Pastor