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NOTE: The Renewal For Life® site, is no longer password protected. However, if you are enrolled in Renewal For Life® you will need your username and password to access the FORUM. Also, Life Advocate training will only be accessible for RFL congregations. |
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2012 Lutherans For Life National Conference!
Encourage your congregation to attend too! You can download an insert version of the brochure to include in Sunday bulletins! Download 2012 LFL National Conference Bulletin Insert
Download 2012 LFL National Conference Bulletin Insert (black and white) The text from the 2012 National Conference Minute Man Talk, can be adapted to use in your congregation.
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FORUM: The event calendar will now be updated on a monthly basis with events that the national office will participate in. If you have a local event you would like added to the calendar, email jrichard@lutheransforlife.org for instructions. |
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| Life Team Training through Churches For Life: If your congregation is interested in participating in in-depth, Gospel-centered training, both for Life Advocates, and Life Teams, please contact jrichard@lutheransforlife.org for more information, or visit the Renewal For Life site at Life Advocate Training/Teaching Tools/ Life Team Training. | ||||||||
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Devotional Thoughts – Why Is the World So Dumb? by Rev. Dr. James I. Lamb
The youth group joined the adult Bible class I spoke to recently in South Dakota. They sat in the front row which impressed me as there was no indication their leader “forced” this upon them! After the study on the God-given value of human life, I handed these young people the fetal models I had used as illustrations. They seemed to enjoy touching them and passing them amongst themselves. After awhile nearly everyone left, except one girl. She’s the one who asked the question. She remained in her seat holding the twenty-week baby in her lap. Tears flowed down her cheeks. I sat down beside her to inquire what was wrong, but before I could speak she asked, “Why is the world so dumb?” Her sobs replenished the stream of tears. Here was a teenage girl angry at the world for its horrid treatment of the unborn. Here was a teenage girl, her tear drops falling on the baby she held, grieving for the unborn who would never be touched or held. I affirmed her right to be angry. I lauded her compassion. I tried to encourage her by the fact that God can use both her anger and compassion to instill in her a real passion for His gift of life and for upholding and defending it. Looking back I’m guessing He already had! I’m not sure how much my encouragement helped her. I am sure how much her encouragement helped me! How encouraging to see passion in this teen and so many others like her. I told this youth group, as I try to tell all the youth with whom I speak, that I am counting on them to translate their passion and energy for life into words and deeds that will influence our culture in a way my generation did not. I am convinced they will! After something like this you think of those things you wish you would have said! Psalm 37 comes to mind. “Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers!” (1) And then in verses 12-13, “The wicked plots against the righteous and gnashes his teeth at him, but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he sees that his day is coming.” We should be angry as the wicked of our age plot against the most vulnerable of lives. But we get nowhere if we just rage against the wicked and become preoccupied with attacking them. They are nothing but a “laugh” to God. He will handle them. The Holy Spirit, through David, offers a more positive approach in the intervening verses. For example, “Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday” (5-6). We at LFL will continue to equip Lutherans to be “Gospel-motivated voices For Life.” We will continue to help Lutherans apply the Gospel to the life issues and “trust in him, and he will act.” After all, the Gospel is the most powerful and positive life-affirming message in the universe! It changes hearts. It changes lives. It’s just what a dumb world needs! |
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Renewal For Life Resources |
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Brand New Resources! |
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Go to: rflonline.org/What is Renewal For Life/LifeAdvocate Training/Audio and Video
Also included is a Bible study guide. Extras include:
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Reflections on Motherhood – Mother’s Day Bulletin Insert
A Father’s Responsibility – Father’s Day Insert
The Handiwork of God – A Bible study DVD with Dr. Lamb
Also available: The Handiwork of God brochure |
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Other resource:
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Youth Projects Need some ideas on how to get the youth in your congregation involved in the life issues? Check out the booklet, “How You Can Speak” on the RFL site. Life Advocate training/teaching tools/how you can speak.
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Life Quotes and Life Thoughts can also be found on the Home page in the Renewal For Life library.
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To receive the latest and most up-to-date information on the life issues, visit the LFL Life Blog. The link can also be found on the main page of the RFL site. |
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| FORUM Prayer Wall: Do you have a special prayer request? You can post your requests in the FORUM by clicking on the group you are involved in (pastors or Life Advocates). Then click “Add Prayer” on the right-hand side of the page. You can add your own prayer request or encourage others with a verse or prayer thought. | ||||||||
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Past issues of the Paraclete can be found on the RFL site in the Life Advocate Training section. |
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RFL Team:
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April 20, 2012
