Last week Lula and I took a few days off and traveled to Rome. One of our highlights was meeting with Rev. Tyler McMiller, LCMS missionary and “circuit rider” for all of Italy, and also with two of our Italian students enrolled at Riga Luther Academy (the online Lutheran seminary at which I teach). Lorenzo and Joshua gave us a fascinating tour of St. Paul’s Outside the Walls, a magnificent basilica built on top of the Apostle’s tomb. In the heart of Roman Catholicism could you visit a more “Lutheran” site than the tomb of the man who gave us not only 2/3 of the New Testament but in particular Romans and Galatians—both of which were so crucial for Luther’s rediscovery of the Gospel? Afterwards I asked them: “Why Lutheran?” Both men came to Lutheran Christianity from different starting points. While Joshua hails from a Pentecostal Pakistani family, what drew him to Lutheran Christianity is that we base all our teachings on Holy Scripture—with a strong emphasis on the Gospel; we don’t promise prosperity in the Here and Now; and we don’t speak in tongues. Lorenzo, on the other hand, was raised Roman Catholic but left that church body because too many of its teachings are based on human tradition and popular piety—not on Scripture. Both men have wanted to be pastors for years. They discovered Lutheran Christianity on the Internet and were guided to Luther Academy by former OIM (LCMS Office of International Mission) Eurasia Regional Director Rev. James Krikava and OIM Eurasia Director of Theol. Ed., Rev. Dr. John Bombaro. In confessional Lutheran Christianity Joshua and Lorenzo have found everything they had been looking for: the true and original teachings of Christianity based on Scripture alone, the Sacraments, and a denomination not polluted by liberal teaching. God willing, in a few years they too will join the growing ranks of faithful Lutheran pastors teaching and preaching *true* Christianity in the Eternal City and throughout Italy.
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