Adoration of the Magi Bartolomé Esteban Murillo 17th Century

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4 I have a son who works part-time in a hardware store. He reported that some members of the local Jehovah’s Witnesses church came into the store, looked at the Christmas season decorations for sale, and said to one another in words too loud not to be overheard, that the Bible does not command us to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Now if that means there is no, “You shall celebrate the birth of Jesus,” they are right. But the minute we ask what the angels in Luke 2 were doing, we know the answer: they were celebrating—with singing! And what of the shepherds? Of course, they were celebrating, also. “And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had To Be Announced! By Rev. Dr. Frederick W. Baltz Director of Evangelism and Missions heard and seen, as it had been told them (Luke 2:20). The birth of Jesus is to be celebrated! What part of “good news of great joy that will be to all the people” don’t some people understand? Just as the angels and the shepherds must be understood as celebrating, they must also be understood as announcing. As the angels appeared to tell the shepherds, the shepherds told others starting with Mary and Joseph, but not limited to them at all. The birth of Jesus is to be celebrated, and it is also to be announced. Meet One of Our Graduates Greg Longtin is a 2012 spring recipient of the Pastoral Ministry Certificate from the Institute of Lutheran Theology (ILT). He states, “I was able to take the information I used in class and immediately use it within the context of worship. I am very pleased with the quality of the education I was receiving at that level and glad that I chose ILT over other options available.” The self-described “hands-on” learner successfully employed the lessons of “Lutheran doctrine and emphasis on how you can use this as a pastor.” For many years a call to ministry had nagged at Greg, who is fifty-one. As a youth in Crookston, Minnesota he had served the Catholic Church as an Altar Boy on a regular basis. “My first feel for a call was sometime when I was about sixteen, during the time I was an altar boy. My parents made church an important part of our lives, and we attended mass and religious studies on a regular basis,” recalls Greg. However, when he met his wife-tobe and attended a Lutheran church with her, he was impressed to find that the lay people knew a lot about their denomination and why they did most of the things they do. Greg and Judy married on September 4, 1982, and joined the Lutheran church. “This call came back to me from time to time up to the By Dale A. Swenson Greg Longtin point in 2009 when the urge to respond to it became impossible to hide away,” Greg notes. In 2009 Greg and Judy sold their business of seventeen years and their house. They left church life at Hopeful Lutheran Church in Florence, Kentucky where Greg had been involved with education, council, maintenance, developing their website, and served as worship leader in various capacities and as council president during a one million dollar building addition - packed and moved to Columbia, South Carolina where Greg started toward a Masters of Divinity degree at the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary-ELCA. But Greg’s discernment process found him challenging his choice of seminary. He felt called to a mission ministry and was “ready to follow where God would send [him].” He and Judy moved away from campus housing in January of 2010 and began a part-time contract call with a small group of people who had left an ELCA church in Easley, South Carolina. The relationship blossomed into a regular contract call as of August 1, 2012 and Greg was ordained on August 25, 2012. Emmanuel Lutheran Church of Easley, South Carolina called Greg to a parttime call (he also works at Target as a sales associate). The church was formed in January of 2010 with Continued on page 5
Every morning I read the Wikipedia front page. It is a particularly enjoyable way for me to get the gray-matter energized. Each day, Wikipedia has a “Featured Article” and a “Did you know” section, both of which can transport me, along with my morning coffee, to points here, there, and everywhere, and it is usually much more enjoyable than reading about the current political skirmishes in D.C. Today, I ran across a page about Lifelong Learners. It begins, “Lifelong learning is the ‘ongoing, voluntary, and self-motivated’ pursuit of knowledge for either personal or professional reasons. Therefore, it not only enhances social inclusion, active citizenship and personal development, but also competitiveness and employability.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifelong_ learning, retrieved 29 November, 2012) Please allow me to take a few minutes of your time to unpack this in light of what ILT can provide. All of the students who come to ILT appear very self-motivated to enhance their futures by learning more of God’s plan for their lives. One of our students was moved to begin taking Open Studies classes with ILT because he wanted a deeper understanding of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He did this as a way of personal development as a Lutheran Christian. Interestingly, this first step led him to make a choice to matriculate into our Master of Divinity (MDiv) program so that he could become a pastor! Amazing where the Lord takes us, is it not? Wonderful how this hunger to learn more led this individual toward a (second) career Meet One of Our Graduates, continued from page 4 about twenty-eight people. It currently has a membership of about sixty-five and worships around thirty every week. Greg continues his education with ILT pursuing a Master of Arts in Religion degree. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of North Dakota (1985) in theater design (technical, production, sound, and lighting). Greg’s previous jobs include Technical Director of a theatre, Theatre/Equipment Manager for Creative and Performing Arts in Cincinnati, Ohio, The Lifelong Learner By Dr. Doug S. Dillner Associate Dean for Academic Affairs as a pastor through his initial choice for personal development! I have learned that curiosity can do more than kill a cat. Curiosity can be the first, very small step toward a whole vista of possibilities in life. Moses showed curiosity when he said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned” (Ex 3:1-3 ESV). What would have happened if he was not moved by his curiosity? Well, I am sure he would have found another way to achieve his ends. But all of us must strive to be sensitive to the nudges of God in our lives, like Moses’ curiosity with the bush. Maybe you are curious to find out more about how to evangelize? As you will recall, we are told—specifically—to do this in Matt 28: 18-20. Well, here is a first step; ILT is currently offering a course entitled “The Story of Evangelism.” The synopsis reads: The history of the church is to a great extent the history of its evangelism. This course follows the evangelistic activity of the church from its roots in the Old Testament through its emergence in the New Testament and on through the centuries to the present time of unprecedented conversion to the Christian faith. The story includes periods of church expansion as well as decline, movements to celebrate and events to repudiate. Theologies and practices of evangelism will be discussed, and also the related discipline of apologetics. Students will learn lessons from the successes and failures of the past for their evangelical ministry today. Interested? It is easy. Simply sign-up as one of our “Open Studies” students and there you are! You may well find that this moves you to a new episode in your life—one, perhaps, placed before you by God? Visit our “How to Apply” section under “Students” in our menu bar at www.ILT.org, and see what enhancement God has in store for you. Are you a Lifelong Learner? outside sales rep for a lighting company, and owner/operator with Judy of a custom bed linens business (primarily for the boating industry). Judy has a BS degree in Consumer Clothing and Textiles from the University of North Dakota and currently works as the Embroidery Shop Supervisor at Entire Image. 5
Page 1 and 2: Epiphany 2013, Vol. 2.1 The magazin
Page 3: Beginning to See the Light “As th
Page 7 and 8: The Necessity of Educating Pastor-T
Page 9 and 10: In every generation the Lord calls
Page 11 and 12: Being the Associate Director of DTC
Page 13 and 14: The Gift at Christmas: Christ and t
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Adoration of the Magi Bartolomé Esteban Murillo 17th Century

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