Moral Statement or Moral Impact?

As I write this, seven members of the JFA team are heading towards airports to fly to Washington D.C. to participate with me in the March for Life (Friday, 1/21) and the National Pro-Life Summit (Saturday, 1/22). Since we’ll be marching in opposition to legal abortion, it makes sense that we’d reflect on a question I remember Greg Koukl (str.org) asking years ago that has always stuck with me: Do you want to make a moral statement or a moral impact?

The question is phrased in such a way that it could be seen as purely rhetorical: Obviously we want to make an impact. There isn’t much value to making a statement if in making it we fail to make an impact. Or worse, what if we make an impact contrary to the one we’re intending?

The question is not purely rhetorical, though, because many people are very satisfied with simply making a statement, and many have never reflected on how we might choose particular activities that are more likely to make an impact. Here’s how I reflect and respond:

Our team doesn’t march simply to make the appropriate statement against legal abortion. We are in DC to multiply our work of training a different kind of advocate to create a different kind of conversation that changes hearts and minds. Changing minds, after all, is essential to protecting unborn children in a democratic society, and protecting the unborn is the moral impact that all of the marchers long to see. Please pray with us, then, that through these events we’ll find and inspire potential interns who want to learn to train others, leaders who want us to train the people in their care, and individual pro-life activists who can make a greater impact with the tools we teach.

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Recent and Upcoming Events

1/13 Workshop: Young Adults Group (Lincoln, NE)

1/15 Seminar: Homeschool Group (Lincoln, NE)

1/15 San Diego Walk for Life (San Diego, CA)

1/21 March for Life Activities (Washington, DC)

1/21 Workshop: Various Groups (Washington, DC)

1/22 National Pro-Life Summit (Hosted by SFLA)

1/30 Seminar (Denton, TX)

2/13 Seminar (Near San Marcos, TX)

2/14-15 Outreach at Texas State (San Marcos, TX)

See www.jfaweb.org/calendar for more events!

Ministry Notes for December 2016

Additional Christmas Reflections

1

In my Christmas letter, "Clueless in the Face of a Great Gift?", I shared an image of a page from The Psalter of St. Louis (image nearby) with the comment that Herod's response to Jesus, to attempt to kill him, was not the "appropriate" response to such a magnificent gift as the incarnation of the Son of God.  This is a bit of an understatement, of course. 

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When Herod found that the magi had not returned to confirm for him the whereabouts of Jesus, he sent soldiers to kill all of the males in Bethlehem aged two and under (Matt. 2:16).  Could there be a greater rejection of God's great gift than to seek to kill this boy, and indeed, to kill a whole lot of other boys at the same time?  

Indeed, when women and men prepare to have their unborn children killed by abortion, they are sadly, in the same spirit as Herod, making the same great rejection of a great gift.  And when we are silent about the horror of abortion, aren’t we also, in some sense, rejecting that great gift? 

2

The challenge of giving any gift is how we will respond when it is rejected, misunderstood, or even maligned.  For some of us, perhaps, there is a challenge in giving with a spirit of charity, a kind-hearted desire for the other person's good.  I suspect, though, that the greater challenge for most of us is to choose a charitable attitude towards the person once the gift is received, but not as we intended.  What will our attitude be if the point is missed, or if the gift is even detestable to the person?  In my Christmas letter, I emphasized how patient God is with me when I fail to appreciate his gifts to me.  I want to be like him and be patient with those who fail me to appreciate my gifts to them.

3

Any act of conversation about abortion includes the same challenge of “charity after the charity.”  We set aside time to go talk to people.  Perhaps you have set aside time to participate in a JFA event or to engage someone in conversation using our “Learn at Home” program.  What’s perhaps hardest about those conversations, though, is getting them started when we know that those with whom we are speaking may not receive our gift of time, listening, well-chosen questions, and reasons to protect the unborn.  We fear the gift will instead be rejected.  So, should we simply not give the gift?  Clearly not.  The gift is worth giving because of the intrinsic value of both the gift and the recipient.  Should we mock the person who rejects it?  No.  This rejection should cause us to be sad, and sad enough that we pray that God would change the heart.

Recent and Upcoming Events

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• See the JFA Event Calendar for upcoming and recent events.
• See our October 2016 Ministry Notes, which gives a quick visual of our events in September and October.  Although this is a fairly good snapshot of the busiest period in JFA's fall, it doesn't include our large exhibit outreach at the University of Oklahoma in November, as well as a number of other events in November and December.  See those events here.
• See our Photos page for photos from our spring 2016 events (and previous).

Ministry Notes for October 2015

At JFA, everything we do is aimed at creating life-changing dialogue with pro-choice advocates and equipping pro-life advocates to change hearts and minds.  Here are a few things we’ve been up to lately:

JFA HAS A NEW WEBSITE

Check out JFA’s new website.  It’s packed with features that help pro-life advocates participate with JFA, learn from JFA online, and share JFA with friends, including:

• Our Passion – Why do we exist? 
• Stories – Read about saved lives and changed hearts.
• Our Team – Find new feature pages for each JFA trainer.
• Explore Resources – Find all of JFA’s online resources.
• Blog - You're there already!

JFA CONDUCTED 11 DAYS OF OUTREACH ON 9 CAMPUSES IN 4 STATES IN THE PAST 2 MONTHS

See pictures from JFA’s recent work on some of these nine campuses via the new JFA Blog (more pictures and updates coming soon): 

• Fresno City College and Fresno State University (CA) [with Right to Life of Central CA]
• Colorado State University (CO)
• University of Kansas and Wichita State University (KS)
• Georgia State University, Kennesaw State University, University of Georgia, and University of North Georgia (GA)

JFA IS BUILDING A NEW EXHIBIT

Pray for us as we work to print and construct at least one new large-scale campus outreach exhibit in November, for use in 2016.  If you’d like to talk to me about the specifics of the project or if you have an interest in contributing financially to make it a reality, please contact me using this form.