NOVEMBER 2015 BULLETIN
The Bunny Has Become the Canary
Canary in the Mine

If you worked in a mine and hated the sound of birds chirping, you may have felt a momentary happiness when the infernal tweeting stopped. This happiness vanished, though, when you realized that the canary had stopped because it was dead, and it was dead because toxic gas was leaking into the mine shaft.

The canary's death was a warning of increasing danger.

Playboy's recent decision to quit publishing nude photos might give those who appreciate the damaging effects of porn reason to rejoice, at least at first. CtC Chairman Mike Novotny would disagree - explaining why in a recent email to the CtC team:

Playboy is closing its doors...I mean, pages. Well, kind of. Did you all hear the news? Playboy magazine recently announced that it will stop publishing pictures of (completely) naked women.

Good news, right? Wrong.

Playboy spokesmen explained that the reason for the decisions was because of internet porn. In essence, they admitted, "You can get whatever sexual perversion you want for free online, so we can't keep this old magazine thing going anymore."

And just when you thought the news was good for God's people...

Friends, maybe this is just a reminder of the importance of our work. We live in a digital age where the most notable name in sexual impurity, Playboy, is surrendering to the onslaught of free porn. Therefore, what we are doing in equipping parents for "the talks" (plural!), shipping brochures to pastors, presenting to hundreds of high schoolers, connecting with teachers, creating CtC's mobile version, and everything else on our to-do list matters.

It matters because we are facing an enemy a billion times bigger than the magazine a 12 year-old used to find in dad's bottom drawer. It matters because we are sharing a Savior whose broom is always bigger than the mess porn makes.

So, let's finish 2015 strong and remember why we do what we do. Bodies and souls are at stake!

A fellow conqueror,
Mike


 
CtC booth
CtC at Wisconsin Lutheran State Teachers' Conference

On October 29th & 30th CtC's Pat Schlosser manned the CtC booth at WLSTC.

Pat talked to many people about our current and future projects over the course of those two days. She reports that people were very excited about the Parent Support Plan and would like to see those materials as soon as possible. People were also excited to hear about another Special Ministry project, Freedom for the Captives, which seeks to empower the Christian community to respond with excellence to the sin of child abuse.
Pat Schlosser
 
Pat Schlosser is very involved with WELS Special Ministries, where she is one of the founding members of Conquerors through Christ, the official WELS ministry to combat pornography. Pat is perhaps better known throughout the WELS for her work with the Care Committee for Called Workers, the WELS Nursing Association, and Christian Aid and Relief. Pat is a registered nurse who found her passion for mission work while doing disaster relief work in NYC after 9/11. In the past few years she has been kept busy doing humanitarian aid/medical mission work in Haiti, Dominican Republic, Grenada, St. Lucia, and Cambodia. Pat is the mother of 2 daughters and is a member of St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Menomonie, WI. 
 
 
Men of His Word, Rochester, MN "A Shelter From the Storm"

Dan Schoeffel, a member of the Conquerors through Christ ministry, presented to over 30 "men of His Word" at the first annual Minnesota Men of His Word Conference held in Rochester, Minnesota on Saturday, November 7, 2015.

His presentation established the very real and growing problem that pornography poses to God's people regardless of age or gender. For those tempted by or caught in pornography's trap, Dan stressed the need to admit and confess that one has a problem with porn and needs help to conquer it.

Dan went out on a limb, so to speak, with this presentation addressing in a dozen bullet points an oft avoided topic: masturbation. Dan advocates that masturbation is wrong for a number of reasons, chief of which is that it is contrary to God's design and purpose for marriage and sex. He asserted that God created marriage and sex to be "other-centered" and to provide "mutual gratification," whereas masturbation is "self-centered,"
"self-gratification." Additionally, masturbation is born of the lust within us, leads to spiritual enslavement and is contrary to the self-control God calls his people to have in their lives.

Throughout the presentation and most importantly, Dan repeatedly pointed everyone to the only power that can win the battle against porn temptations-the cross of Christ-pointing to the grace of God and the forgiveness that he freely offers to all.
Dan Schoeffel

Dan Schoeffel is Staff Minister at St. Paul's Lutheran Church and School (WELS) in Onalaska, Wisconsin. Dan grew up in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. He spent four years in the U.S. Coast Guard. After the Coast Guard, Dan went to school to become a WELS pastor. He served in five churches over sixteen years of pastoral ministry. In 2007, Dan joined the ministry at St. Paul's where, as Staff Minister, he handles all of the administrative responsibilities and a number of pastoral duties. Dan lives in La Crosse, Wisconsin with his wife, Elaine. They have five grown children and 11 grandchildren. Since 2012, Dan has served on a Synod Special Ministries subcommittee called Conquerors through Christ (CtC). Dan understands the powerful effect and impact porn has on people and he has a passion to help people escape and avoid this powerful temptation.
What Are We Looking Forward To?

 

Conquerors through Christ Featured in His Hands Fall Newsletter

 We will be featured in an article in the fall issue of His Hands, the Special Ministries newsletter. This article will also be featured on the front page of the Synod's website for several weeks. 
 
Mike Novotny at The Point of Grace

Mike is presenting "Killing Porn" for The Point of Grace, the WELS Campus Ministry in the Milwaukee area on 12/11/15.

"Despite its allure, porn is killing us. Ask the woman who just discovered her boyfriend's search history. Ask the college student who spent hours clicking and searching for the perfect video. Ask the Christian who went to church with last night's porn still on his mind. Both Jesus' teaching and secular research agree-Porn kills people. Porn kills trust, self-control, self-esteem and spiritual life. So, what should we do? Killing Porn is an interactive study of how to kill porn before it kills you. Be prepared for a safe, honest, spiritual discussion that will help you find something infinitely more exciting than anything porn has to offer." 

International Youth Rally 2016

 Mike Novotny (Pastor at The CORE in Appleton, WI and CtC Chairman) and Kent Reeder (Pastor at Illumine, Rock Hill, S.C. and Content Editor at CtC) will be presenting in Colorado next summer for the International Youth Rally. 
 
Conquerors through Christ website redesign

We're hoping to roll out our updated website within the next couple of months, which will be mobile friendly among other things.  
 
Please keep us in your prayers!

 

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