World Lutheran News Digest From Kfuo Radio

Guest Meagan Weber, And Then There Were None spokeswoman and client manager, joins us to talk about this wonderful organization and how it helps abortion workers leave the industry. Watch their video below and learn more about the organzation at abortionworker.com. Since the infamous Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion, nearly 60 million pregnancies have been ended. Abortion takes a terrible toll. A child is always lost, and a woman is left knowing that she literally threw away her baby. A family will never know the child. Society will never benefit from what the child might have become. But there are other victims as well, victims we often don’t think about when discussing abortion’s toll: the abortion workers themselves. Just imagine working in that industry, seeing daily what it does, watching the lives lost and ruined. In 2009, a Planned Parenthood clinic director Abby Johnson cried, "Enough!" and she quit. She started the organization "And Then There Were None," which reaches out to other abortion

Sermon notes are subpoenaed. Christians are being forced to participate in gay marriage ceremony preparation. School children are told they can’t mention Jesus. A high school football coach is fired for silently praying on an athletic field. These are just a few of the increasingly frequent incidents of hostility to religion in American society. The past 5 years, First Liberty Institute has tracked these instances and released its findings annually in a report titled "Undeniable." First Liberty recently released its 2017 "Undeniable" report. The findings are discouraging. The number of documented incidents increased by 15% from the past year, and a whopping 133% since the first Undeniable report was released in 2011. Today’s guest is Justin Butterfield, Esq., Senior Counsel and Director of Research and Education for First Liberty Institute. Find more about First Liberty Institute at firstliberty.org.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has high praise for religious organizations that help communities in times of disaster. Churches provide shelter, food, and relief distribution to the community. Some even serve as FEMA response bases, distributing food, clothing, and hygiene products, as well as providing warehouse facilities for emergency relief supplies. Yet, FEMA will not allow churches to apply for disaster grants to repair their own damage. This, despite the fact that FEMA actively encourages secular nonprofits to apply. Three Texas churches are taking FEMA to court. They’re represented by Becket Law, a nonprofit public-interest legal institute that protects religious rights. Today’s guest, Becket attorney Diana Verm, discusses why these churches are taking action and what the outlook is for the case.

LCMS Disaster Response teams traveled immediately to the twin disasters of Hurricanes Harvey in Texas and Irma in Florida. Traveling with them were members of the LCMS Communications Department. Their role was to document the situation and relay to the public how the LCMS was responding to the situation in those areas. People were able to follow the ongoing efforts on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media, thanks to the LCMS communicators who went with the Disaster Response Team. Deaconess Pam Nielsen and Rev. Kevin Armbrust speak about their experiences responding to these disasters and the stories they were able to share.

Tim Hetzner, President and CEO, Lutheran Church Charities discusses the deployment of LCC K-9 Comfort Dogs to hurricane survivors in Texas.

Hurricane Harvey struck the Gulf Coast of the United States twelve years after Hurricane Katrina brought disaster to some of the same gulf communities. Rev. Kurtis D. Schultz, President, Southern District of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod reflects on the acts of mercy of many following Katrina and the lessons learned in past disaster response.

We witnessed one of God’s marvels this week, with a total eclipse of the sun. This rare event has often been associated with end times theology, especially in the early church. But for some in Islam, an eclipse can have a very special meaning. Many Sufi and Shia Muslims believe that a lunar eclipse on the first day of Islamic month of Ramadan, followed by a solar eclipse in the middle of the month, will signal the reign of the twelfth, or hidden, Imam, the one who will establish a worldwide Islamic rule. Those two eclipses will actually happen in the year 2027. Dr. Timothy Furnish, expert in Islamic history, speaks to these beliefs on today’s episode.

Pro-life Christians in Missouri have reason to celebrate. The legislature passed, and the governor signed, SB5, a new law placing common sense regulations in place for abortion clinics. Some of the new provisions are that doctors must explain potential medical risks to women 72 hours before an abortion. Other provisions include unannounced annual inspection, whistle-blower protection, and requirements that facilities meet certain health and safety standards. It also prevents local governments from forcing alternative-to-abortion agencies from promoting or referring patients to abortion clinics. Further, it repeals the City of St. Louis’s abortion sanctuary city ordinance. It also empowers the State Attorney General to prosecute wrongdoing, should the local prosecutor decline to get involved. SB5 marks a clear victory for pro-lifers, but the battle is far from over. Guest Diane Albers, President of Lutherans for Life of Missouri, speaks about the implications of Missouri SB5 for women in Missouri.

Words have power. How we speak and how we’re spoken to impacts our lives. This is especially true of mass media, which is our window on the world around us. Most news media, newspapers, magazines, broadcast new media, use what’s called the Associated Press Stylebook in Writing. It’s been around since 1953, and it’s designed to provide a uniformity of writing style. It’s mostly concerned with grammar and other language conventions. Every year, the Stylebook is updated to reflect changes in language uses. But this year’s changes are problematic. Instead of listing when to use numerals instead of spelling out numbers, or proper use of commas, or when to use abbreviations, the latest changes seem to reflect an agenda. As examples, the phrase "pro-life" is no longer used. Instead, it’s "anti-abortion." And the word "abortionist" is also discouraged, with the phrase "abortion provider" being recommended instead. Rachel Alexander, senior editor of The Stream, talks about why this is happening and what it means for j

If you have the feeling that hostility to religion is on the rise, the facts back you up. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom’s 2017 report states, "The state of affairs in international religious freedom is worsening in both depth and breadth of violations." Now certainly we’ve seen this, particularly in the Middle East. But what about here in the U.S., where freedom of religion is enshrined in our Constitution and Bill of Rights? In 2014, the Family Research Council (FRC) issued a report titled, "Hostility to Religion: The Growing Threat to Religious Liberty in the United States." The FRC recently published a 2017 update, and that update states that since the original report 3 years ago, the number of domestic religious freedom violations increased by 76%. Guest Travis Weber, Director of the Center for Religious Liberty at the Family Research Council, discusses these findings. Learn more about the FRC at frc.org.

Guest Michael P. Farris, president of Alliance Defending Freedom, discusses the implications of the Supreme Court case Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia v. Comer. On June 26, 2017, the Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in favor of Trinity Lutheran in what is being called a landmark religious freedom case. In 2012, Trinity Lutheran applied for a grant with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources that would allow reimbursement for resurfacing their playground, which was open to the public, with recycled tires. Despite being ranked 5th out of 44 applicants for 14 available grants, Trinity was disqualified for the grant solely because the playground is owned by a religious organization. Alliance Defending Freedom sued on behalf of Trinity, and after losing the case in district court and appeal, the Supreme Court was asked to hear the case. Learn more about this case at playgroundcase.org.

The board of directors for the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod’s new Lutheran Center for Religious Liberty has received a letter from the Rev. Dr. Gregory P. Seltz, who has been the speaker of the Lutheran Hour since 2011, and he’s officially accepting his call to be the LCRL’s first Executive Director. The LCRL provides input, education, advice, and resources to the areas of marriage, life issues, and religious liberties. It also seeks to actively engage in discussions and establish partnerships as appropriate with individuals and groups in Washington, D.C. After a transition period at Lutheran Hour Ministries and orientation for his new position with the Synod, Dr. Seltz will relocate from St. Louis to head the LCRL office. It’s been 17 years since the Synod last had an office and staff in the nation’s capital. Rev. Dr. Gregory P. Seltz and Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison join us to talk about this new venture!

The nation’s largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, released its 2015-2016 Annual Report 6 months late. The report lists its activities, income, and other information. One of the most interesting aspects of the report is that Planned Parenthood has reduced all non-abortion related health services to women. What did increase was the number abortions performed. It’s now at 328,348 per year. It’s total revenue also increased to $1.354 billion dollars. That’s the highest in its history. And it also recorded profits of $77 million, an increase of $19 million from the prior year. The report also renounced the Center for Medial Progress’s undercover video reports as being heavily edited and "widely discredited," this despite the fact that the videos were authenticated by two separate forensic investigations, including one by Planned Parenthood itself. Guest Jeanne Mancini, president of March for Life, takes a closer look at Planned Parenthood’s Annual Report on today’s WLN Digest.

Sadly, there are children in every state in need of a new home, or a foster family. State agencies often work with outside faith-based agencies to place children in loving homes. Unfortunately, this process is becoming politicized in some states. This is particularly true in the state of Illinois. In 2011, the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services announced it would no longer contract with agencies that refused to place children with same-sex couples, effectively banning Lutheran and Catholic agencies. Just this month Illinois went even further. A new directive states that the department, in their words, "Will not tolerate exposing LGBTQ children and youth to staff providers who are not supportive of children and youth's right to self-determination of sexual gender identity." It further warns staff members that their personal and professional opinions don't matter. Guest Mary Hasson, Fellow with the Ethics and Public Policy Center and author of "Illinois Purges Social Workers and Foster Families

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom Issued its Annual Report on the status of religious freedom worldwide. According to the report, "The state of affairs for International religious freedom is worsening in both the depth and breadth of violations." Commission Chairman Rev. Thomas Reese, S.J., is today's guest on World Lutheran New Digest. Learn more about the USCIRF at uscirf.gov.

Religious nonprofit organization in Missouri have their tax status protected. However, a regulation from the Missouri Human Rights Commission and a Supreme Court ruling put that in jeopardy. It may well have been an oversight rather than intentional effort to strip the tax exempt status, but it was on the books. Some state legislators saw the danger, and they worked quietly behind the scenes to correct the situation. Senate Bill 43 passed the legislature and is awaiting the Governor's signature. State Senator Bob Dickson was one of the legislators that saw the danger to religious nonprofits, and took action. Senator Dickson is today's guest on WLND.

On May the 4th, President Trump signed an executive order designed to protect religious liberty. Reaction was immediate, with the ACLU announcing that it would allow bigotry and discrimination. But criticism is also coming in from conservative religious organizations. Although the president pledged to protect religious freedoms that have come under attack from secular forces, the executive order itself was vague. Guest Travis S. Weber, Director of the Center for Religious Liberty at the Family Research Council, discuses what the order does and doesn’t do, and what it needs to do.

We like to think that slavery ended in this country in 1865. But human trafficking is a real problem affecting millions of people in the U.S. and abroad. Host Kip Allen speaks with the Rev. Bart Day, Executive Director of the LCMS Office of National Mission, about recognizing and combating this horror. Find resources on human trafficking at lcms.org/social-issues/human-trafficking.

Tax reform is a major issue this year, and the Trump administration and the Republican Congress have pledged tax reform. Many complain about the current tax system, and tax reform will be a complicated process. The more complicated the process, the bigger the unintended consequences, including possible major impacts on charitable giving. The Faith in Giving Coalition is keeping a close eye on tax reform proposals, and guest attorney Brain Walsh from the Faith in Giving Coalition is our guest today on WLND.

Foster care and adoption services exist for the benefit of children. States often partner with private foster care and adoption agencies to help place children with loving families. Many of these private agencies are faith-based. But this system has come under fire, especially since the Supreme Court’s Obergefell decision legalizing gay marriage. Secular and LGBT interests have passed legislation in some areas stating that all private foster care and adoption agencies must be willing to place children with same-sex couples. Religious agencies that adhere to the Biblical teaching that marriage is between one man and one woman are faced with the choice of abandoning their beliefs or losing state contracts to place children. Fortunately, some states are taking a stand for religious freedom by passing legislation protecting such faith-based agencies. Guest Peter Sprigg, Senior Fellow for Policy Studies with the Family Research Council. Learn more about FRC’s work at frc.org.