On the Bible and Business

The Fall semester is almost over. Next week Tuesday is the last day of class for my course before finals week. In the Fall, I teach Old Testament History and Theology for the certificate program. This week we studied the period between the Old Testament and the New. The question I try to answer for the students in this lesson is: How do we go from the return to Jerusalem from exile and the rebuilding of the temple at the end of the Old Testament to the Roman occupation as it is in the Gospels? The rebuilding of Jerusalem is basically done by 500 BC and Malachi is thought to have prophesied about 430 BC. This means that there are about 500 years of history between the Testaments. I find the history of this time to be rather depressing. It is a time of constant change for those who live in Judah and there is no word from God about what it means. Throughout the Old Testament, there are times of trouble. For the most part, these times of trouble are related to immoral kings...

For Bible class this Sunday, we are going to continue looking at Paul's letter to the Romans. This week we are looking at the end of chapter two and the beginning of chapter three. This section is the continuation and conclusion of Paul's opening argument. He argues in these first few chapters that all people are condemned under the law. His opening argument is that the judgement of God is being revealed from heaven against all sin. He then goes on to make a distinction between God's judgment and ours. Just because we know the law does not mean we can judge others, instead we must wait for the judgment of God. In this final section, he is going to attack the false security the Jews have in their race and religion. There is some difficulty here for us modern readers. So much of the history of the West concerns the persecution of the Jews that Paul's words have a different tone for us than what he intended. Paul is a Jew. He goes to great length in Galatians to prove ho...

Today was the scheduled day for the administration to meet and begin working on the Strategic Plan. This is the day Dennis, Jon, Tim, and I begin the process to identify all those things that we need to do as an institution and prioritize them over the next five years. It is the day designated for us to think about the future ILT and draw a map to get there. It is one of the most fun activities that we get to do as administration. This process is a part of the planning required by the accreditation agency. It is one step in a much larger process that includes assessment, planning, and evaluation. It is a process that requires information from students, donors, investors, board members, faculty, and staff. The assessment part happens when surveys are sent out, data sets are compared to historical data and data from other institutions, and reports are gathered from every part of the institution. This assessment is analyzed by the board, faculty, and staff to identify strengths and ...

This week, we continue to look at Paul's letter to the Romans at our church Bible study. In his second chapter, Paul addresses one issue that can arise from reading chapter one. That is the issue of being judgmental. We can react to the law in many ways. One reaction is to push back because of the accusation we feel from the law. Another is to judge others according to it. Paul writes chapter two specifically against those who would judge. It is so easy, hearing a list of sins, to think immediately about those others who do such things. As if we don't. It creates an "us versus them" dichotomy. A position from which we have the high ground. It is so easy to see the sins in others. Jesus, of course, speaks against this attitude in the Pharisees.  Here, I am thinking specifically about Jesus' parable telling us to take the plank out of our own eye first. When the law is preached, it is not about our ability to judge others; it is about God's judgment of us. W...

It is not immediately apparent what ILT means by online education or distance learning. ILT is an online school in the sense that we do not have students in classrooms on site. All of our students come to their classes using online software. However, there are many ways the internet has been used to deliver education to off-site students. What ILT does is different than those typical means used by other online schools. Let me explain. ILT is dedicated to creating as much of a traditional classroom as is possible using an online environment. The key component is to use a system that will allow students and faculty to communicate as if they were all in the same room together. ILT does this using an online software system called Adobe Connect. This system is a video conferencing system which is designed to allow a presenter to share documents, power points, and video to a class of students who are also using a video feed to participate in class. ILT is different than traditional o...

In our advancement meeting this week, we were talking about ILT's end of the year fundraising campaign. This is the biggest yearly fundraiser for ILT and this year we have a donor who is willing to match $150,000 of donations received by January 21, 2018. This is exciting for us, but for many people, it is just another piece of junk mail on their dining room table at night. I, of course, understand this attitude toward a donation letter. I have the same attitude for many of the appeal letters I receive in the mail on a regular basis. So let me tell you a little bit about how ILT uses the money we receive from donors. The money is used in one of two ways. Some donations are restricted to a specific use by the donor. These funds are used in accord with the wishes of the donor. Mostly, these are donations given to the financial aid fund or other special projects. ILT budgets $30,000 a year to help students who have financial need. Last year we received $121,023 doll...

We are studying Paul's letter to the Romans in the Bible study I teach at my church. This week, we looked at Paul's opening argument in chapter one starting with Romans 1:18. Paul is not always easy to read and this text says many controversial things about God's wrath and our sin. Most of us, if we are Christian, understand clearly God's revelation in Jesus Christ. God reveals his love, mercy, and grace toward us in the gospel. But, if God's grace is revealed through the preaching of the gospel, how is God's wrath revealed? Paul says, "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven." Paul argues that this is against all human ungodliness and unrighteousness which suppresses the truth. It is evident there is a God and that he is the creator. Paul says this is clearly revealed to us through creation. The eternal attributes of God can be clearly seen in the world he created. Humans, however, do not honor God as creator. Instead, we have made idols...

It is almost cliche to say that education is expensive. Setting the cost of education at the college level is difficult. There are many factors which must be kept in mind. Factors such as industry standards, financial stability of the constituents, marketability, hardships for consumers, and cost of operations all go into the decision-making process. And still, education is expensive. The administration of ILT has made it a priority that money should never be the only reason a student will not study here. We are committed to this and do not want finances to be the  hurdle to anyone who has a desire to study with us. Our tuition cost and our business model are built on this commitment. This graph shows the different cost/program for pastoral preparation at all the schools serving the churches of the Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ (LCMC), North American Lutheran Church (NALC), and the Canadian Association of Lutheran Congregations (CALC). Note: The school...

A team of evaluators from ABHE visited campus last week as a part of the accreditation process. This visit provides the necessary information they need to make a decision concerning our readiness to be accredited. There are a number of criteria we must comply with as an institution. We submitted a report concerning our compliance. The visitors came to campus to confirm our report and to give us commendations, suggestions, and recommendations concerning our compliance with the accreditation standards. Overall, the visit went well. We will have to follow up with their comments when we get the official report in two weeks. I don't think there were too many surprises. A great deal of work went into our preparation for this visit. Work which we have done as an institution over the last few years. To be accredited is an important step for us, because it gives us a stronger legitimacy. But what does accreditation give us? It does give us a legitimacy, but there is more to it than...

In Old Testament class this week, we covered a survey of the first few of the Minor Prophets. Reading the Minor Prophets can be overwhelming. So much of the content is focused on the anger and wrath of God against the sins and persistent unrepentance of his people. It is just so sad, almost depressing. We know from the history of that time the people did not repent and the Assyrian army destroyed not only Israel but many of the nations around them. It makes me wonder how God's wrath is manifested today. It is hard for us to think about God being angry. We like to focus on the love of God in Jesus Christ. It is a great comfort to know that we do not need to fear God, to know that we are his beloved children. We don't like to think of God as being angry. We like to think of him as being gentle, kind, compassionate, loving, and merciful. How can a loving God also be an angry God who hurts people? The author of Hebrews talks about it in terms of discipline, but that does not s...

On the Bible and Business is a blog about my experiences as a member of the faculty and staff of the Institute of Lutheran Theology (ILT). Life at ILT is different and sometimes difficult. ILT is a startup. This means it has all the challenges and opportunities of a new business. ILT is a seminary. This means it has all the joys and challenges of raising up pastors to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. ILT is Lutheran. This means it has all the challenges associated with Lutheran theology and the challenges of declining numbers of believers in North America. ILT is in some ways a very strange thing. One of the big challenges at ILT is explaining what we do. I have often found it difficult to explain what ILT is to people who are hearing about it for the first time. Technically, ILT is an independent Lutheran graduate school, seminary, and faith community dedicated to an online distance educational model using live video conferencing. But, this does not say muc...