Directions is sent quarterly to all state federations, local chapters, Life Ministry Coordinators (LMCs), and Life Advocates (LAs). Each issue of Directions features articles of special interest to LFL’s grassroots. Articles are divided into five categories: Bible Study, Leadership, Faith in Action, Fundraising, Facts and Stats.
This edition of LifeDate focuses on the 2012 Life Sunday theme “Trust God! – Choose Life!”
As I reviewed Bible verses for LFL’s 2012 Life Sunday theme of “Trust God! – Choose Life!” I was reminded of a writing workshop that I took in the late 1980’s at Concordia College in Seward, Nebraska. One of the things the teachers encouraged us to do is to spend lots of time writing. So I did.
“I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live” (Deuteronomy 30:19). Just saying, “Choose life!” can stir things up because it is associated with abortion. But this verse is not about abortion. It is about what we as God’s people base our choices upon. We base our choices upon who has chosen us.
Between the years of 1904 and 1909, archaeological excavations at Gezer (once known as the Canaanite region) revealed the ruins of a temple. This temple, or “high place” was built to worship Ashtoreth, the “wife” of the idol named Baal. Great numbers of jars were discovered under the debris of the temple. These jars contained the remains of children who had been sacrificed to Baal and Ashtoreth. The whole area (an enclosure 150 feet by 120 feet) proved to be a cemetery for babies.
I love teaching children about their “lifeday,” the day they began to grow inside their moms. They calculate their lifedays by counting backward nine months from their birthdays. (The mathematical whizzes, count ahead three months from their birthdays!) It helps the children understand that they existed as a real little person known and loved by God before they were actually born. The kids love doing this too, especially once I tell them that a lifeday gives opportunity to celebrate by having a lifeday cake and a lifeday party and maybe even lifeday presents!
“Dr. Carhart is a Hero!” I’ll never forget the day I read these words which had been painted on an unfurled bed sheet being carried by pro-choice activists. On January 23, 2011, over five hundred pro-life demonstrators, including the Northern VA chapter of Lutherans for Life, gathered near Dr. Leroy Carhart’s abortion clinic in Germantown, Maryland, to protest the late-term abortions being performed there. Only twenty defenders of abortion rights showed up in response.
With roughly one million charities operating in the United States it’s no wonder that you receive letters from many of them. It seems like everyone is asking you for support. You may wonder at times how some of these charities got your name. Adding to this is that your telephone seems to ring often now with requests for gifts. “Please help us meet our financial crisis!” “We will have to close our doors if we can’t pay our bills!” “Children will starve if you don’t give.” It’s downright confusing—and irritating. As you consider the charities that you want to support we hope you will consider at least five things about Lutherans For Life.
The “power of prayer” is a term used frequently among Christians. It is something we say to someone going through a difficult time, or in need of encouragement. It is something we say to bring hope and comfort. But do we truly understand how powerful prayer is?
I hear and see so many of our LFL supporters working hard to proclaim God’s love, that wonderful free gift, to educate people about life issues, and to help the weak. The weak can be those who are at the end of life and need help to get to the doctor’s appointment or their chemo treatment or it can be the young single pregnant woman who has no job and doesn’t know how she can keep the baby growing inside her.