September 10, 2015

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Were you surprised? I was not as surprised as many seemed to be. I’m talking about reactions to the ever-increasing number of videos showing Planned Parenthood officials discussing obtaining and selling body parts from aborted babies. Why was I not surprised? This is consistent with their mindset that denies the humanity and value of the unborn. When you treat an unborn child as a “product of conception,” then it naturally follows that you have a “product” to sell. The real horror behind these videos is the devaluing of human life. The evil of putting a price on the body parts of unborn children flows from the greater evil of their denial that the unborn are children.

Lutherans For Life (LFL) also puts a price on unborn children. Well, actually we point to the price God puts on the unborn and all humanity. “You were bought at a price” (1 Corinthians 6:20a). In Acts, Paul talks to the Ephesians pastors about that price: “Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood” (Acts 20:28b). The price God paid for the sins of humanity was His own blood! God shed His blood in the person of Jesus for every single human being. Not all know that, of course, and our task as His church is to share it. But the fact remains that this paid-in-full price bestows value on every human being, including the unborn.

While LFL is doing plenty to make people aware of the atrocities committed by the nation’s largest abortion provider, our greater task is to address the root problem that gives rise to such atrocities—the devaluing of human life. And do we ever have a message that gives value to life! Every life for which Jesus paid the price of His shed blood is also a life created by the hands of God, knit together in the womb (Psalm 139:13). And every life created by God and bought by the blood of Jesus is a life God wants to call into an eternal relationship with Him (1 Timothy 2:4).

If we can equip more and more Lutherans to understand this God-given value, they will become voices for all the unborn and the vulnerable. When we share a Gospel-based message, lives are changed, lives are saved, and we may even influence our culture.

I have been receiving many appeals for funds from various worthy and life-affirming groups to help them “Battle Planned Parenthood” or “Defund Planned Parenthood.” Now I am appealing to you for funds, but not so much to “Battle Planned Parenthood.” We use our funds to get at the core of the problem and promote the God-given, blood-bought value of human life. This is the source of real and lasting change.

If you believe that this is the true heart of the issue, then I ask that you please consider sending us a financial gift of whatever you are able to give). Indeed, any sized gift would be greatly appreciated, and I promise it will be used for the purposes intended.

A Life Saved and Lives Touched
One of the things we do with gifts from people like you is to set up displays at various Lutheran conventions and conferences. We have been to many this past summer. Now that may not seem too exciting, but you should hear what we hear and see what we see at these events! Some stories:

Our displays almost always center around a set of Touch of Life fetal models, those very life-like babies at various stages of development. People of all ages love to pick them up and hold them. Recently we learned that a young woman who saw these babies at our LFL display changed her mind about aborting her baby! Praise God for working through these little babies to save a little baby. And thank you, because your gifts help make things like this happen.

A woman who had a miscarriage years ago finally found an opportunity to grieve publicly as she wept while holding our 12-week model. She received comfort from an LFL staff member and was given our devotional booklet for those who grieve a miscarriage, “Into His Loving Care.” She later wrote how thankful she was for our ministry, and I, in turn, thank you.

At a youth event, a young person picked up one of our wristbands imprinted with the words, “Created – Redeemed – Called.” I explained that this was the real source of our value and that nothing else mattered. I told him that if he ever started feeling down about himself to look at his wrist. This young man came back the next day and shared how he had used the bracelet and its message of our God-given value when he talked with a depressed friend who had mentioned suicide. He was able to help his friend not only feel better but seek the help he needed.

From a teacher who stopped by a display: “I use your materials all the time in the classroom. They’re great.” From a pastor: “Your end-of-life brochures really helped a family in my congregation get through a very difficult decision.”

So, you see, your gift does more than help us print brochures and display at conferences. It helps save and touch lives.

A Word of Hope for the Wounded
Back to those Planned Parenthood videos. While they may call people’s attention to the tragedy of abortion, think what they stir up in the hearts of those who have had an abortion or who have participated in an abortion decision. Those who counsel post-abortive women and men talk of “trigger events,” things like the sound of a vacuum cleaner that remind them of the suction aspirator they heard during their abortion. The anniversary of the abortion or the due date of an aborted child can also cause pain. Seeing these videos, hearing others talk about them, and reading news reports that describe them can be triggering great regret and guilt in the hearts of many across our country.

That is why we are making an effort to do more to publicize LFL’s post-abortion hotline, Word of Hope. It is the only Lutheran post-abortion hotline in the country and is completely funded by LFL. We receive around 250 calls each month. Callers receive professional, confidential, Gospel-based counseling.

One woman who received such help wanted others to know about Word of Hope. She wrote, “If you are suffering from the memory of a past abortion, be assured that you are forgiven. But also know the Lord wants you to be whole, and you can find the sources for help in the Word of Hope ministry. Your call will be confidential, and you will be referred to someone who will treat you with love and acceptance. There you will find no judgment or condemnation, only God’s promise for restoration and healing.”

Another woman wrote: “I went through counseling for my abortion and second pregnancy with Word of Hope. I will never forget talking to the director, Grace, for the first time. She loved me unconditionally, and with her help I accepted the reality of what I had done and began to accept God’s forgiveness for my sin of abortion. Grace helped me grieve for my child.”

Your gift can can help Grace and the others at Word of Hope share God’s grace with hundreds of others. Please say a prayer for those hurting from a past abortion and then consider a gift to LFL. You can help bring a Word of Hope to wounded hearts.

Perhaps you can help promote Word of Hope in your congregation by publishing Word of Hope’s toll free number and website (888.217.8679; www.word-of-hope.org) regularly in bulletins, newsletters, and on your congregation’s website. You can also order the free Word of Hope brochures (Abortion: Item LFL404T; Abuse: Item LFL909T) from Concordia Publishing House (www.cph.org) and make them available in your church. (At the congregation where I am a member, we put brochures in both the women’s and men’s bathroom stalls.)

So Much More to Share
God is giving LFL many opportunities to share His powerful, life-affirming message. But I do not want this letter to get much longer, so here are some highlights.

Frontline
Gifts to LFL help equip and maintain what we call our “Frontline” ministry. Life Chapters and Life Teams serving congregations and communities help translate our life-affirming theology into life-affirming reality! These people carry out educational events, planning and hosting seminars and workshops that offer real, practical help in dealing with end-of-life issues, for example. I could not begin to count the thousands and thousands of diapers collected across the country to be given to local pregnancy resources centers. One of our Life Teams recently helped open a pregnancy center in a former Planned Parenthood facility! Some groups collect items needed in care centers—lap robes, clothing protectors, etc. I just wish I could share the hundreds of reports we get from these groups across the nation and all the life-affirming activity that is going on. Your gift will help it continue and grow.

Y4Life
Y4Life
is our focus on the younger generation. This generation offers so much enthusiasm, energy, and joy to what LFL does. Life Teams are forming on Lutheran high school campuses, universities, and seminaries. Students are being engaged and equipped. They boldly take a stand for life and compassionately put their convictions into action through a variety of LFL-sponsored servant events—sidewalk counseling, visiting the homebound and elderly, volunteering at pregnancy resource centers, organizing trips to the March for Life in Washington D.C., and much, much more. Your gift will help us continue to tap into this vast resource of excited and Gospel-driven young people.

Your Gift Helps with It All
LFL’s impact and equipping opportunities grow and grow every day. The Lord places before us such wonderful opportunities to get at the root of the atrocities we see committed against life by promoting what He has done that gives value to life. He places before us ever-increasing opportunities to show Christian compassion, care, and healing.

Please help us take advantage of each and every one of them. Fill out, tear off, and send in the enclosed form today. Your gift will help change and save lives.

Pray. I saved the most important for last. Please, please, please—whether you are able to give or not—keep the ministry of LFL in your prayers. Petition the Lord of Life to continue to work through Lutherans For Life, accomplishing His will and sharing the truth and grace of His Word as it speaks to these matters of life and death.