The following is from page 10 of the Spring 2009 edition of Caring, from LCMS World Relief:

Free Resource Explores Clergy and Depression LCMS World Relief and Human Care’s newest resource reflects Rev. Todd Peperkorn’s personal journey through depression, I Trust When Dark My Road: A Lutheran View of Depression. LCMS WR-HC Executive Director Rev. Matthew Harrison recommends the book to all associated with professional church work: “This book offers a path to hope, and a future through Christ.” Dr. Beverly K. Yahnke, a licensed clinical psychologist, writes in the book’s forward: “When one’s mind and soul journey across the ghastly landscape of clinical depression, the adventure may challenge faith, hope, and life itself. … Peperkorn invites us into the world of a depressed Christian who remains reliant upon God’s grace.” The book is expected to be available in mid-June. To request your complimentary copy, call 800-248-1930, ext. 1380.

Pastor Todd Peperkorn is a 1996 alum of CTS, served in the Admission Office from 1996-1999, and also taught at Christ Academy in 1999 and 2008. He has a long history with our school, and his words are worth reading for anyone who is either in the pastoral office, or is considering it.   Pr. Peperkorn also had a chapter in our book “Formation: Essays for Future Pastors.”

“Luther goes so far as to say that vocation is a mask of God. That is, God hides himself in the workplace, the family, the Church, and the seemingly secular society. To speak of God being hidden is a way of describing His presence, as when a child hiding in the room is there, just not seen.” (Veith, p. 24)

This exerpt led me to think about the correlation of the doctrine of vocation and diakonia (service, a response/reaction to God’s Gifts of Word with Sacrament) that has been having major surges globally within our Lutheran Community and Christians worldwide in the last two centuries, and especially in the last few decades. In uncertain economic times, a political society that undermines the value of life, and the intrinsic suffering we all endure, it seems that diaconia is the temporal answer to the eternal questions. This is not simply a Golden Rule tactic. But, as Veith’s title indicates, it is God Himself at work in and through each vocation, compelling them to diakonia. Veith concludes;

“To realize that the mundane activities that take up most of our lives…are hiding places for God can be a revelation in itself. Most people seek God in mystical experiences, spectacular miracles, and extraordinary acts they have to do. To find Him in vocation brings Him, literally, down to earth, makes us see how close He really is to us, and tranfigures everyday life.” (Vieth, p.24)

Remember the Tom Cruise flick, Minority Report?  It was based on the classic story by Philip K. Dick.   Set in the near future, the police were able to detect future crimes and stop them from happening.  The BBC will soon air a new series with a similar premise called Paradox. It actually sounds quite promising.

The lead director of the series, Simon Cellan Jones, said the series “will leave the audience asking themselves dark, complicated questions about fate, the future and who controls it.”

Read the BBC story here.

Who controls the future?  That is a very penetrating question.  All people are anxious about what tomorrow brings.  There is only One who is worthy to open the seal to the future.  And that is the Lamb who was slain (Rev. 5).  We can rest knowing our future days are in God’s hand.

Originally published at Burr in the Burgh.

Such an “evil” thought has entered the mind of many a man considering seminary! Men who are excited about coming to prepare for the pastoral office often have their enthusiasm tempered by the reality that the first class they must take before formally beginning their seminary studies is New Testament Greek. They fear that they may not do very well because they do not like foreign languages or—even more frightening—they may fail the class and end their seminary studies before they have really begun.

As one of the professors who teaches Greek, I want to assure you that almost all of our students pass Greek and many do quite well. Moreover, most of our students find studying Holy Scripture in the original languages to be an exciting and rewarding experience, opening up a deeper and richer understanding of God’s Word. They come to realize why Martin Luther valued the Hebrew and Greek text of the Bible and urged the faithful use of these languages: “In proportion as we value the gospel let us hold to the languages. We will not long preserve the gospel without the languages. They are the sheath in which this sword of the Spirit is contained; they are the casket in which this jewel is enshrined.”

Luther’s words remind us of a very strong motivating factor that has helped many students of Greek. We do not learn Greek for the sake of having another language on our resumé. We learn this language because it is the particular language used to reveal the very salvific words and deeds of our Lord Jesus, especially his sacrificial death and victorious resurrection for all sinners of all time. As we read the New Testament in Greek, we are reading the Spirit-inspired words of men who were eyewitnesses of Jesus. These life-giving words are the foundation of the faithful preaching and teaching done by pastors.

There is a familiar saying in education: “Repetition is the mother of all learning.” This is especially true of learning a language. It is not purely IQ that dictates how well students learn Greek, but how disciplined one is in repeating vocabulary, verb paradigms, and noun declensions. A very important element in taking an intensive course like our ten-week Greek class is that you simplify your life so that you can devote your time to learning the language. In fact, once Greek is over, you will probably no longer want to avoid Greek, but will be anxious to take an exegetical class and put your knowledge to work!

So, the bottom line to the question posted above is: no, but who would want to pass up this opportunity?

From Volume 2, Issue 3, May/June 1998

Professor of Rhetoric and Director of Debate at Patrick Henry College, presented a Fireside Chat on the subject of

“Excellence in Theological Disputation:

What Lutherans Can Learn from Aristotle’s Topica

(with examples from Monty Python)”

+  +  +

Part 1:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Part 2:

Click here to view the embedded video.

This interactive discussion will help you to identify premises and presuppositions  in conversation, argument and debate.

Dr. James Tallmon is Professor of Rhetoric and Director of Debate at Patrick Henry College in Purcellville, Virginia since 2007. Previously Dr. Tallmon was Professor of Rhetoric and Director of the Theodore Roosevelt Honors Leadership Program at Dickinson State University in North Dakota.  He earned his Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Ethics from the University of Washington in 1993.  Dr. Tallmon enjoys teaching students to apply classical theory to the resolution of contemporary problems.  He contributes regularly to classical liberal arts education conferences, and his “Rhetoric Ring”(www.phc.edu/rr_ring_d.php) provides online resources especially dedicated to helping classical educators successfully teach the arts of eloquence.

Dr. Tallmon is published in the areas of rhetorical theory, reason, casuistry and pedagogy, ethics, argumentation, debate, first amendment jurisprudence, and broadcast regulation.  He is currently at work on a series of handbooks on Rhetoric (Public Speaking, Advanced Public Speaking, Argumentation & Debate, and Oral Interpretation of Literature) for high school students being classically educated.  This series will also critically engage the cultural phenomenon of teens growing up in America with their “second lives” online. 

Dr. Tallmon serves as Associate Editor for The Classical Education Quarterly and as Executive Board Secretary and Chairman of the Technology Committee for the Consortium for Classical and Lutheran Education (CCLE).  Tallmon also consults in Total Quality Management. 

Dr. Tallmon and his wife of 29 years, Bonnie, live in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. They are members of Our Savior Lutheran Church in Winchester, Virginia, where Jim serves as Elder and High School Sunday School Teacher.  In his spare time he volunteers for the Vector Speech and Debate Club for junior- and senior-high homeschool students in Purcellville, Virginia.

In this issue:

Direct link: ePilgrimage May 2009

Click here to view the embedded video.

Direct Link: HQ – iPod

Concordia Theological Seminary is in an excellent position to develop pastors who will bring the gifts of God to the people of God. Through daily prayer, intensive study and experience, the seminarian is formed into a man of God and steward of His mysteries. We are here to serve you as you prepare for a life of making Christ known to those in need of the friendship of God.

In the wake of this outbreak, reports are surfacing almost by the hour of school closings and church cancellations (including a very small number involving LCMS congregations) as well as restrictions on business and other forms of travel.  At the time of the writing of this memorandum, cases of swine flu have been confirmed in 10 states-a number that seems likely to grow.  And there has been a death on U.S. soil-a Mexican child seeking treatment in Texas.
Congregations, agencies, professional church workers, and lay leaders of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod are urged to remain alert regarding the status of the outbreak and to follow the guidelines provided by local, state, and federal public-health officials. In addition, disaster coordinators in each LCMS district have been provided with guidelines to assist congregations in dealing with a potential flu pandemic.  Further, LCMS World Relief and Human Care offers an assortment of resources-congregational planning procedures for a possible pandemic, a preparedness checklist, and links to information from the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization-at www.lcms.org/?15119.

Above all, in the midst of any potential or actual calamitous event, as Christians we cling to and communicate the comfort of our loving God, who says to us: “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth” (Psalm 46:10).  So with the psalmist we boldly declare, “The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress” (Psalm 46:11). God’s grace, mercy, and peace be with us all!

“Allowing students to begin their course of studies at any time will make it even more accessible for a greater number of people interested in learning to read the New Testament in the original Greek, especially if they are interested in coming to the seminary eventually,” said Dr. Douglas Rutt, dean for distance learning.

The Biblical Greek course is taught by Dr. John Nordling, eminently qualified as a professor of Greek.  Besides his seminary training, he has achieved a Master of Arts from Washington University, St. Louis, and a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.  Dr. Nordling taught in the Department of Foreign Languages at Valparaiso University and the Department of Classics at Baylor University before coming to Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, in 2006. Rev. Mark Braden, former Greek instructor at the seminary, is the course tutor, who personally assists each student with questions, further explanation, grades quizzes and tests, and monitors progress through e-mail, the Internet and the phone.

“The response has been really incredible,”  commented Rev. William Johnson, who was responsible for preparing the course for online teaching.  “We’ve seen students who have invested the time in the course consistently doing well on the same benchmarks we use for our residential Greek students.”

Dr. Lawrence Rast, academic dean at the Fort Wayne seminary, observed: “Our purpose at Concordia Theological Seminary is to support the church by forming servants in Jesus Christ.  We are developing new approaches to accomplish that mission.  We hope that offering Biblical Greek online in this flexible way will make it possible for more people to identify and make use of their talents and gifts for serving in God’s kingdom as pastors and missionaries.”

The course is open to anyone, men and women, who have adequate academic preparation to do the course work and are planning on or considering church work, or who simply want to learn the read the New Testament in its original language.

An online demonstration is available at www.ctsfw.edu/greekdemo.  For more information contact Rev. William Johnson at (260) 452-3202 or william.johnson@ctsfw.edu.  To inquire about registering for the course contact Mrs. Barbara Wegman at (260) 452-2153 or registrar@ctsfw.edu.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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What a Way!
… to make a difference!
… to serve the Lord!
… to serve others!
… to use your gifts!
… to go to work!
… to live your life!

These phrases really sum up the spirit and purpose of What a Way. But read on to learn what we mean.

The mission of the LCMS is “to vigorously make known the love of Christ by Word and deed within our churches, communities and the world.”

The What a Way initiative in our church is one way we are trying to get at this mission.

What a Way has a dual focus:
To rebuild active recruitment and retention of church workers as an integrated part of the LCMS culture and lifestyle at the local congregation level.

It is hard to overestimate how important preaching the resurrection is to the mentally ill, including the clinically depressed. That’s the illness I know best, but I firmly believe that this holds true for anxiety, manic depression, schizophrenia and a host of other mental illnesses.

The reason is simple. For the mentally ill, you are trapped in your own mind and body. Your brain is not processing as it should, and so the chemical changes in your body interact in a very bad way with the sinful nature which infects us all. If your sickness is telling you that things are far, far worse than they really are, and your sinful nature is telling you that God hates you, put these two together and you have a recipe for personal and spiritual disaster.

Mental illness works as a magnifying glass and amplifier for so many of the doubts and fears which infect us all. Everyone has doubts about the future. Everyone has moments of despair. Everyone has fears about what they cannot control. Everyone questions their own worthiness before God and before their fellow human beings. We all go through these. But for the mentally ill, especially the clinically depressed, these feelings are all consuming. The physical illness can easily lead to anfectung, the struggle of the soul.

So why does preaching the resurrection matter to the clinically depressed? It matters because in the resurrection of the body, there is a future and a hope that is real, that is concrete, that will happen to matter what may be going on today or yesterday or tomorrow. St. Paul puts it best:

“If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.” (1Corinthians 15:19 KJV)

For the depressed, there is no tomorrow.

For the depressed, there is only thick darkness.

For the depressed, there is only more misery.
For the depressed, there is no escape except the grave.

But not so the Christian!

There is a tomorrow in Christ.
There is light that shines in the darkness.
There is joy in the body of Christ.
There is escape not in the grave but through the resurrection of the body.

So, my fellow preachers, give us the resurrection. It is my only hope out of the darkness. Give me Jesus Christ risen from the dead. Nothing, nothing else will ever satisfy.

Easter is coming. I can’t wait.

Originally posted on I Trust When Dark My Road

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CTS was pleased to have Dr. James Arne Nestingen as a visiting professor for a two-week intensive term course on “Luther and Walther on Law and Gospel” this January. Dr. Nestingen has distinguished himself with long service to the church as a parish pastor in Oregon and Canada, an editor at Augsburg Publishing House, and as a professor at Luther Seminary in St. Paul. Now retired, Dr. Nestingen is in demand as a speaker in the USA and abroad. He is leading voice of the confessional movement within the ELCA. Dr. Nestingen is the author of Martin Luther: A Life and co-editor with Robert Kolb of Sources and Context of the Book of Concord. While at CTS, Dr. Nestingen spoke on the significance of Luther’s On the Bondage of the Will for preaching and pastoral care at a fireside chat. We think that you will enjoy and be edified by his words.

Audio:

Download audio file (04Feb2009_Nestingen_audio.mp3)

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The schedule for the tour is:

Wednesday, April 15 Trinity Lutheran Church, Peoria, IL, 7:00 p.m.

Thursday, April 16 Zion Lutheran Church, Beecher, IL, 7:00 p.m.

Friday, April 17 Concordia University Chicago, Chapel Service: 11:00 a.m.

Friday, April 17 Apostles Lutheran Church, Melrose Park, IL, 7:00 p.m.

Saturday, April 18 Trinity Lutheran Church, Elkhart, IN, 4:00 p.m.

Sunday, April 19 St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Fort Wayne, IN, 8:30 and 11 a.m. worship services

Saturday, April 25 St. Paul Lutheran Church, Columbus, IN, 2:00 p.m. Dedication of the new sanctuary

Sunday, April 26 St. Paul Lutheran Church, Columbus, IN, 8:00 and 10:45 a.m. worship services

The Kantorei will also share Easter Choral Vespers in Kramer Chapel on the Concordia Theological Seminary campus at 4:00 p.m., on Sunday, April 19.

For additional information, please phone 260-452-2224.

In an increasingly pluralistic society, Concordia Theological Seminary recognizes the need for Christians to be able to defend the truthfulness of the Gospel in the public square. To that end, the seminary is pleased to offer a new retreat entitled “Contending for the Faith in the Twenty-First Century.”

Held on May 1–2, 2009, the seminar will offer several presentations on differing topics, such as atheism, Islam, and the historical and practical implications of a Christian witness. Featured speakers include:

Dr. Steve Mueller (Dean of Christ College, CUI)
Dr. Angus Menuge (Prof. of Philosophy, CUW)
Dr. Jeffrey Mallinson (Academic Dean, Trinity Lutheran College)
Rev. Dr. Robert Newton (President, California-Nevada-Hawaii District)
Rev. Dr. Steven Mueller (Concordia University Irvine)
Mr. Craig Parton (United States Director of the International Academy of Apologetics, Evangelism and Human Rights)
Mr. Sam Shamoun (Apologist and Islamic scholar, www.answeringislam.org)
Dr. Adam Francisco (Concordia Theological Seminary)

Their combined expertise on apologetics will give attendees a greater confidence and insight into Christian witness in the public arena and will give them the tools to “always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks for the reason for the hope among us” (1 Peter 3:15).

The cost of the retreat is $50.00 and includes lunch and refreshments. To register, call 260-452-2100, e-mail retreats@ctsfw.edu, or go to www.ctsfw.edu/retreats.