Some wonder, ‘Where do our Deaconess students come from?’ And the simple answer to that question is ‘everywhere!’ From Texas to North Dakota, California to Rhode Island, and many states and regions in between, there is no area scarce of women seeking to serve. Further, international deaconess students from Europe, Asia and Africa, [just to name a few continents] have also matriculated to Concordia Theological Seminary.

Learning about and demonstrating Christ’s mercy as representatives of the Church, is precisely what deaconess students are trained to do.  As we know, the Body of Christ lives on throughout the world, and in many contexts.  So, it seems only appropriate that women throughout the world come and receive the tools and training to be able to articulate the faith in a meaningful way to various cultures, to demonstrate Christ’s compassion, and be examples of the ‘Bride of Christ,’ the Church  [Eph. 5:25], as God has called His children to be, wherever He places them to serve.

So, a long answer to a short question.  Deaconesses come from AND serve everywhere. Since the Church is alive throughout the world, it desires to recieve the good gifts from its bridegroom, Jesus Christ, who is also very alive. Deaconesses beckon the lost and struggling to recieve these unchanging, relevant gifts of Word and Sacrament so they may come to know, be refreshed and renewed-in the Gospel.

I’m still feeling the post-Olympic sports withdrawal. It’s hard to fill my days with excitement that can rival handball or synchronized swimming.

Last week I was given a little boost.

Lloy Ball visited the school where my wife teaches and he brought his gold medal with him! I never thought I would see a gold medal in person, let alone hold it. It was heavy and beautiful. There is a ring of white jade on one side that is really cool. It was incredible to come in contact with an Olympic champion and see him proudly display his medal.

Lloy is the setter for the US Men’s Volleyball team that won the gold medal after defeating Brazil. He’s a Missouri Synod Lutheran from Indiana and graduated from Central Lutheran School in New Haven, just outside of Fort Wayne. He attended Woodlan Jr./Sr. High School in rural Woodburn, Indiana and gave up the chance to play basketball at Indiana University with none other than Bobby Knight. He didn’t want to play basketball, he wanted to play volleyball for his dad, Arnie Ball, who still coaches the volleyball team at Indiana University, Purdue University, Fort Wayne (IPFW).

After his last three Olympic appearances Lloy came and gave an assembly for the kids at Central Lutheran, encouraging them to strive for their dreams, never give up, and be thankful for the gifts God has given you. This time, he was able to tell them that your dreams can come true. He had dreamed and worked hard to win a gold medal and he and his teammates accomplished this amazing feat.

St. Paul talked about athletes and prizes in his first letter to the Corinthians.

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified” (1Cor 9:24-27).

Athletes work hard, train, and control every aspect of their life so that they can win the race, the game, or the match. They do it for a medal or a trophy which will pass away. So, what about our spiritual lives, the discipline, running, and boxing that St. Paul talks about? He exhorts us to discipline our bodies against sin and for the things of God so that we would not be disqualified. Not just so that we wouldn’t loose but so that we wouldn’t be disqualified, thrown out of the race. Sin isn’t a loss, it is disqualification. Sins aren’t boo boos or errors, they are death and disobedience deserving of disqualification.

So our new life in Christ is one of training up for good works and holiness, running, boxing, and disciplining our lives in light of forgiveness, life, and salvation. St. Paul does not say that the discipline leads to victory but that undisciplined living will disqualify. Where then is our victory? He writes in the same letter to the Corinthian church

“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1Cor. 15:55-57).

Is a modern art sculpture portraying a crucified green frog holding a beer mug and an egg art or blasphemy? Pope Benedict has an opinion, does it agree with yours? http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26435994/

For Immediate Release
August 12, 2008

Concordia Theological Seminary to Offer Pre-Sem Greek Course Online: “Students Can Study Greek According to Their Schedule”

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (CTS) — “I plan to come to the seminary, but I will not be ready to make the move for at least another year,” say many prospective future pastors. Not to worry: Concordia Theological Seminary is coming to you. Biblical Greek online will be offered beginning this fall. The online version of Greek will allow students to study according to their schedule. “If they want to study Biblical Greek at midnight, or early in the morning, or during their lunch breaks—whatever fits into their schedule—they can do so in this program,” commented Dr. Douglas Rutt, Dean for Distance Learning. The objective of offering Greek online is so that students can begin the process of their seminary education before actually moving to Fort Wayne.

Dr. John Nordling, Associate Professor of Exegetical Theology, will be the teacher. “He is eminently qualified as a professor of Greek. Besides his seminary training, he has achieved two degrees in the classical languages, a Master of Arts from Washington University, St. Louis, and a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Wisconsin, Madison,” remarked Dr. Douglas Rutt, Dean of Distance Learning at Concordia. 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.

The course will begin with the regular academic year on September 8, 2008, and continue for three quarters, ending May 22, 2009. It will be taught online using Concordia Theological Seminary’s learning management system and interactive multimedia learning objects as well as more traditional means of instruction. “Greek lends itself well to new ways of teaching online,” says Rev. William Johnson, Educational Technologist at the seminary. “Because we’re able to offer it over the course of three quarters, we can also slow down the pace and make it easier for the student to keep up.” It will mirror the Biblical Greek course on campus and meet Greek language requirements for study at the seminary.

“Our purpose at Concordia Theological Seminary is to support the church by forming servants in Jesus Christ. We hope that offering Biblical Greek online will make it possible for more people to identify and make use of their talents and gifts for serving in God’s kingdom,” comments Academic Dean Dr. Lawrence Rast. The course is open to anyone, men and women, who have adequate academic preparation to carry out the studies and are planning on or considering church work.

To see more about the course and view a sample lesson go to http://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 by e-mail at registrar@ctsfw.edu.

###
For information about becoming a pastor, please contact the Office of Admission at 1-800-481-2155. To learn more about Christ Academy, a unique program for high school and college men, please call 1-800-481-2155. To help support CTS and its students through a financial contribution, please call the Office for Institutional Advancement toll-free at 1-877-287-4338.
To receive electronic versions of news releases from Concordia Theological Seminary, send an e-mail message to CTSNews-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. To discontinue receiving electronic versions, send an e-mail message to CTSNews-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com.

“Oh, if you’d study the Northern part of Indiana, you’d discover how necessary it is to send a true shepherd to us. The harvest is great, but, alas, there are no workers! But if it isn’t possible to send us a preacher, then send us a circuit rider in spite of this. We are hungry and thirsty for God’s Word!”– Adam Wesel, Elder of St. Paul Lutheran Church, Fort Wayne, Indiana. 4 June 1838.

One Hundred Seventy years ago, during the Summer of 1838, tragedy struck the frontier town of Fort Wayne. Jesse Hoover, the young pastor of the newly founded St. Paul’s Lutheran Church had died suddenly of a heart attack. Grief-stricken and worried, the people of St Paul’s called out to Lutherans in the east for help.

Across the states of Indiana and Michigan virgin forests covered the richest farmland in the world. The brand new Wabash and Erie Canal brought German settlers by the thousands to settle the land. As they scattered among old growth trees, swamp and prairie, they found few congregations and fewer pastors to preach God’s Word and offer His sacraments in their native language. Pastor Hoover was one of them. His untimely death left no Lutheran pastor between central Ohio and Eastern Michigan, St. Louis and Indianapolis.

Adam Wesel put the pleas of his congregation into words. His open letter likely reached the hands of the Pennsylvania Ministerium’s mission society through newspaper editor C. E. Schmidt of Pittsburgh. They had no one to send. There were very few candidates in their seminaries that could speak German and English. They had to be content to send survey missionaries to the west. These men would ride from Western Pennsylvania to Missouri, Illinois and Indiana, preaching and teaching wherever Germans could gather. In one or two days, they would baptise, marry, confirm and commune dozens. Facing tears as they left, they would promise to send others — a promise they rarely could keep. In 1838, in a economic depression, only one candidate was available to serve. When he became ill, there was no one to go.

While all this unfolded, two young men arrived in the port of Baltimore. They were newly-ordained C. Wolf and F. C. D. Wyneken. Both men came to answer the call of God to care for His orphaned German Lutherans in America.