Aurora ITA

How does an understanding of the Old Testament help my Christian life and ministry? How do we understand books like Job where so much suffering is present? What is the theme of Isaiah? How do we interpret Proverbs? What is the purpose of the minor prophets? How do we preach and teach the OT? Students at the Italian Theological Academy will be examining these issues and many more as they delve into the Old Testament world this week: August 9^th to the 13^th. We welcome your prayers.

Thank you for your prayers! Introduction to Biblical Counseling was a true blessing from the Lord. The professor not only shared profound insights from the Word of God that dealt with helping people be more like Christ, but he also shared many wonderful testimonies. One particularly moving and impactful story was about a young man who died of a severe respiratory disease. He had learned to see suffering from God’s perspective. May God’s church in Italy grow more because of such study.

Throughout the week of August 2^nd to the 6^th there will be 23 students from different parts of Italy gathered at ITA to study the importance of counseling from a Biblical perspective.  The focus will be on the principles and practice of applying the Word of God to the lives of individual believers and married couples in the church. It is a highly practical course and very needed in Italian Evangelical churches. We are thankful to have Carey Hardy as the visiting professor. Please join us in prayer for the week.

The week was a true blessing. Thank you for your prayers. The material presented was a definite challenge for the students. It involved a compendium of principles along with practice for the study of God’s Word particularly for the preacher of God’s Word. The ultimate goal was to instill in the students a precise methodology and theology in approaching God’s Word and teaching it. Clearly time will be required to implement all acquired during the week. By God’s grace, however, the Italian Church is one step further on the road to accurately communicating the Word of God.

What is the meaning of Biblical Exegesis? How is exegesis different from hermeneutics? What is the difference between the bird’s-eye view and the worms-eye view? Why is literal interpretation the best way to approach the study of the biblical text? What does authorial intent mean? How do you analyze a passage historically and grammatically? What dangers are involved in doing a word study?

These are just some of the questions and challenges that students at the Italian Theological Academy will wrestle with throughout the week of July 19^th to the 23^rd. Once again our stated goal at ITA is to assist the Italian Evangelical church in pursuing biblical truth through the arduous work of interpretation, communication (preaching), and the application of God’s truth. We covet your prayers as we strive to train the Lord’s church in Italy.

“I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom:

preach the word! 2 Tim 4:1-2

The Apostle Paul’s solemn charge to Timothy becomes our charge at ITA beginning the 31^st of May through the 4^th of June. Once again Expository Preaching will be the theme. Throughout this intense time of study ITA students will focus on the various biblical genres present in the scripture. The ultimate goal will be to preach the word more effectively and accurately and bless God’s church in Italy. Please pray for and with us as we make it our ambition to please the Lord in this noble endeavor.

What is the Biblical Truth on the Doctrine of Original Sin? Is God totally sovereign in Salvation? What is the human condition before coming to Christ? What are the roles of “grace”, “faith” and “good works” when it comes to the truth of salvation? What about the person of Christ? He was fully God and fully man… but in what sense? What is the biblical teaching concerning His divine and human natures? What are angels and demons? Is Satan real?

The above questions are but a sample of the sheer depth of teaching and theology covered by the students at ITA  March 22^nd to 26^th. Professor Phil Johnson was at his best and the students seemed to attentively take it all in as they say resulting in a fruitful week of deep biblical truth. The context of the class being held in Italy made the significance of the subjects covered profound, given the fact that many of the doctrines and theological truths taught were in direct opposition to the Roman Catholic Church’s long-standing unbiblical conception of original sin and several other theological truths (false doctrines) We at ITA give thanks to the Lord. We thank you for your prayers and continued support.

March 21-26 2010

There is a profound need for sound and biblical theology to be taught in a fresh and systematic way to a new generation of Italian Evangelical Church leaders. From March 22^nd to the 26^th the ITA will strive to do just that. Your prayers are needed for the class, the professor, the students, the staff and all the fruit that the Lord in His sovereign grace will choose to bring forth for His church in Italy.

February 8-12-2010

What is Expository Preaching?  Why is it so important? In essence expositional preaching is based upon three fundamentals… what are they? From 1 Timothy 4:13 we learn that expositional preaching is based upon reading the text… explaining the text… and applying the text… What type of life and character should the man of God have in order to preach the word? How does the man of God prepare an expository sermon? How does the man of God preach an expository sermon.  Last but not least… how does the man of God help the church appreciate the value of an expositional message?

These are simply some of the “fundamentals” of expository preaching that students at the Italian Theological Academy will embrace and wrestle with throughout the second week of February 2010. It will be an intensive week of training, an expositional “boot-camp” under the teaching and shepherding of seasoned Pastor-Teacher Steven A. Kreloff.  Please join us through prayer as a new and exciting academic year kicks off at ITA.    

How do you find the point of a passage? How do you determine the biblical author’s intent in the writing of a book of the Bible? How do you discover the theme of a passage and understand how the author is building an argument to unfold that particular theme? And if you do uncover the point of the passage, the authorial intent, theme and subsequent argumentation, … how do you preach it all???

The above is an example of some of the fundamental issues in expositional preaching that the Italian Theological Academy’s students in the expository preaching program “wrestled with” in their attempt to further progress their studies, during the second week of November ‘09 at the ITA.

This second week in the expository preaching program at the ITA consisted in learning the principles of Bibliology and Hermeneutics. Theory was followed by vital practice in the classroom as students did detailed exegesis of particular biblical passages like 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 regarding the excellence of love above all the gifts God has given to His Church. Exegesis and homiletics were also combined in a rich study of the Biblical book of 3 John.

The class was taught by seasoned pastor and seminary professor Jerry Wragg, from Jupiter, Florida. Those present, men involved in pastoral ministry from churches throughout five regions in Italy, would all conclude that this was indeed another profound step forward for the local church and the preaching of the Word of God in Italy.

The Bibliology & Hermeneutics class will start November 9 to 13. This is the second class in the first year of the expository preaching program. The professor will be Jerry Wragg, from Grace Immanuel Bible Church, Jupiter FL.

From the eleven students that have attended the first class, only seven will be able to participate this time.  Pray for the remaining four students, as they will not be there due to illnesses.  In particular, pray for one who is waiting for a liver transplant.

Follow the class progress on Facebook!

Johnny & Alexandra Gravino, with their children Samuele and Maddalena, are the newest addition to the Italian Theological Academy family in Acireale.

They arrived safe and sound at destination on July 14th 2009!  They are now preparing their home and getting ready to jump in full time.  Johnny’s main task will be to provide leadership to the training center and to the local Acireale Church, supported by his fellow Aurora Missionaries, Marco and Simona Albanesi and Giuseppe and Viviana Fortuna.

Johnny received his Master of Divinity Degree (M.Div.) from the Master Seminary, Sun Valley, CA – where he graduated, Suma Cum Laude. He completed an intensive internship at his sending church in Rome, Chiesa Berea with Pastor William Standridge, prior to arriving at the Academy.