Presentation Description:
Abortion. It can certainly be a controversial topic. But knowing the truth about what happens in an abortion and why it’s harmful to women gives us the opportunity to respond to the issue with grace. This session will speak to the realities of abortion as well as provide motivation to engage in Gospel-motivated conversations with others.
Biography:
Michelle served 21 years as a Lutheran educator before joining the Lutherans for Life team in June 2019. Currently serving as Director of Y4Life, Michelle helps high school and college students learn about life issues and how to address them from a Gospel-motivated perspective. She also supports the building and maintaining of Y4Life Teams on high school and college campuses across the nation. When not presenting, writing, or creating social media posts for Y4Life, Michelle loves gardening, taking long walks, traveling, cooking, and spending quality time with her husband and sons.
Presentation Description:
“What about . . . Marriage and Family?”
The beauty, strength, and blessing of Christian marriage is anchored in Christ. He is our bridegroom sent from heaven. He is the consummate husband for His bride the Church, and He is our ever loving and compassionate spiritual father. Every aspect of our identity, self-worth, and fulfillment in marriage and family is anchored in Him. What we have to offer a world that hates and attacks the Biblical portrait of marriage and family is something far better than the false promises and hopes of our age.
Biography:
Pastor Peter Bender has served as a pastor in The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod for nearly 35 years. His first four years in the ministry he served a dual parish in central Iowa, St. Paul and Trinity Lutheran Churches in Boone and Dayton. He has served as the Senior Pastor of Peace Lutheran Church, Sussex, Wisconsin since September of 1991. During his three decades at Peace, he has specialized in catechesis, and the life of the Christian marriage and family. Pastor Bender is the founder and director of the Concordia Catechetical Academy, dedicated to promoting Luther’s Small Catechism and faithful Lutheran catechesis in the church-at-large. He is the principal author and general editor of the Lutheran Catechesis Series, and is a regular guest on Issues Etc. Pastor Bender is a graduate of Concordia University, Chicago and Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana. He is married to Beth. They have four married sons and eight grandchildren.
Presentation Description:
What about…Life?
Current cultural conversations about life issues often revolve around autonomy, equality, and rights. But what makes any human life precious? What gives a person worth and purpose? Whose works, labors, and activities decide our identity? We’ll uncover the direct connections between the sanctity of life and the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and we’ll explore how gift, privilege, and responsibility prepare us to speak truth and show love for every neighbor.
Biography:
Pastor Salemink has served Lutherans For Life since 2015. His prior parish experience includes a decade at a large congregation with a vibrant day school and lots of catechism classes, chapel services, and Bible studies. A father of three boys, fan of sports and music, and avid runner, he writes regularly and speaks nationwide - including youth gatherings and teachers' conferences - equipping Lutherans and their neighbors to be Gospel-motivated voices For Life.
Presentation Description:
How to recognize signs and evidence of Human Trafficking; a travesty among us every day.
Biography:
Scott grew up in New Ulm, Minnesota, and was raised in the Wisconsin Synod. He graduated from Martin Luther Preparatory School, Northwestern College (the WELS pastor-training college), and attended Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary for a short time. In 2005, he earned an MBA and a Master of Science in Information Systems from Iowa State University. Scott worked in the corporate world for 30 years before combining his business and theological education and experience at Lutherans For Life beginning in 2012. Scott satisfied the requirements and was ordained in the Lutheran Congregations in Mission to Christ (LCMC) in 2014. In addition to his service at Lutherans For Life, he serves as pastor of Shepherd of the Prairie Lutheran Church in Huxley, Iowa—a congregation rostered with the LCMC and the North American Lutheran Church (NALC). Scott has an adult daughter in the Des Moines area and a daughter, son-in-law, and two grandsons near Colfax, Iowa. He and his wife, Sue, live near Huxley, Iowa, with three horses. Sue also has three adult daughters. Scott says, “There is never a lack of things to do, and I give thanks for how richly God has blessed me. I enjoy serving Him through the mission of Lutherans For Life, and I would ask for your prayers as we continue to ‘equip Lutherans to be Gospel-motivated voices For Life.’”
Presentation Description:
In this session, we will be exploring the possibility of Christians partnering with Muslims to advocate on issues of life. In so doing, we will explore Islamic approaches to abortion, euthanasia, suicide, capital punishment, end-of-life decision-making, and contraception. The goal will be to determine how far a faithful Christian witness might coincide with Islamic ethics such that Christians and Muslims could join together with integrity to take a stand in support of life in the public square
Biography:
Rev. Dr. Scott Yakimow arrived at Concordia University Ann Arbor as a Professor of Theology after spending five years as a mechanical engineer working in hydraulics, another four as a missionary in both East Africa and Morocco, and five years as an Associate Professor at Concordia - Portland. His academic interests cover the areas of philosophical theology and comparative religion. Most specifically, he is interested in scriptural logics, particularly those exhibited by pre-modern Christian exegesis, contemporary Lutheran theology, and medieval Islamic tafsir, analyzing them through the thought of the American philosopher, Charles S. Peirce, and the contemporary Jewish philosopher, Peter Ochs, who served as his doctoral advisor at the University of Virginia. This interest leads him to investigate such diverse areas such as Lutheran confessional theology, pragmatic philosophy, ethics, scriptural exegesis, and Islam. Islam, in fact, has been a long interest of his since he began studying it in the 1990's at the graduate level and visited Pakistan to research his Master's thesis, and his year in Morocco was spent studying Modern Standard Arabic, the language of the Qur'an. Scott is married to Miriam, and they have five children together. His interests include enjoying his family, mountain biking, hiking, reading, and traveling."
