This ancient “tale of two mothers” concerns far more than theological semantics—it is the difference between a God who sends and a God who comes.
12/10/25
This story points us from our unlikely heroes to the even more unlikely, and joyous, good news that Jesus’ birth for us was just as unlikely and unexpected.
12/09/25
Was Jesus ambitious or unambitious? We have to say that the answer is…yes.
All Articles
Bradley Gray
- All Authors
- 1517 Guest Contributor
- 1517 Publishing
- 1517 Staff
- A. A. Just Jr.
- A.J. Vega
- Aaron Boerst
- Adam Francisco
- Adam Stetson
- Amy Mantravadi
- Andrew Foss
- Anthony DiLiberto
- Blake Flattley
- Bob Hiller
- Bob Sundquist
- Bonnie Petroschuk
- Brad Soenksen
- Bradley Gray
- Brandon Hanson
- Brandon Pangman
- Brennan Manning
- Brian W. Thomas
- Bror Erickson
- Bruce Hillman
- C.S. Lewis
- Caleb Keith
- Chad Bird
- Charles E. Fry
- Christopher J. Richmann
- Cindy Koch
- CJ Armstrong
- Craig Donofrio
- Dan Chrismer
- Dan van Voorhis
- Dan Weber
- Daniel Deen
- Daniel Emery Price
- Daniel Stenberg
- David Clay
- David Rufner
- David Schmitt
- Debi Winrich
- Delwyn Campbell
- Dominick Santore
- Donavon Riley
- Edward Killian
- Elyse Fitzpatrick
- Erick Sorensen
- Gage Jordan
- Gerhard Forde
- Grant Klembara
- Greg Koukl
- Gretchen Ronnevik
- Haroldo Camacho
- Hermann Sasse
- Jacob Corzine
- Jacob Smith
- Jake Allstaedt
- Jared C. Wilson
- Jason Lane
- Jason Lang
- Jason Oakland
- Jay Sawrie
- Jeff Mallinson
- Jeffrey Pulse
- Jenifer Mohan
- Jessica Delgado
- Jessica Thompson
- Jim Nestingen
- Joel Fitzpatrick
- Joel Hess
- Joey Goodall
- John Bombaro
- John Bortulin
- John Chrysostom
- John T. Pless
- John W. Hoyum
- John Warwick Montgomery
- Jonathan Ruehs
- Jordan Spina
- Joshua Miller
- Justin Rossow
- Karen Stenberg
- Kathy Morales
- Katie Koplin
- Kelsi Klembara
- Ken Sundet Jones
- Kerri Tom
- Kevin Hale
- Kevin McClain
- Kyle G. Jones
- Larry D. Hughes
- Laura Bauer
- Luke Kjolhaug
- Magnus Persson
- Mariah Coward
- Mark Jasa
- Mark Mattes
- Mark Pierson
- Martin Luther
- Matt Johnson
- Matt Kroelinger
- Matt Popovits
- Matthew L. Rubinstein
- Michael Berg
- Michael Gibney
- Nicholas Hopman
- Nicholas Kallis
- Norman Nagel
- Paul Dunk
- Paul Koch
- Pete Lange
- Peter Nafzger
- Philip Bartelt
- Raleigh Sadler
- Rick Ritchie
- RJ Grunewald
- Robert Farrar Capon
- Robert Kolb
- Rod Rosenbladt
- Roland Ehlke
- Ron Hodel
- Russ Lackey
- Ryan Couch
- Ryan Matthias
- Ryan Stevenson-Cosgrove
- Ryan Tinetti
- Sam Leanza Ortiz
- Sam P. Schuldheisz
- Sarah Crowder
- Scott Davis
- Scott Keith
- Scott Landrum
- Seth Moorman
- Steve Byrnes
- Steve Kruschel
- Steven A. Hein
- Steven Paulson
- StoryMakers NYC
- Tanner Olson
- Tate Barber
- Ted Rosenbladt
- Travis Scholl
- Tyler Cronkright
- Uwe Siemon-Netto
- Valerie Thur
- Wade Johnston
- Walter Hwang
- Wayne Sender
- Zack James Cole
09/03/21
A seed grows the kingdom of God. A whisper eventually turns the world upside down. A carpenter’s son from nowhere becomes the Savior of everyone. Such is God’s way.
08/23/21
Calvary is our mountain of pardon. It is the place which reveals most definitively God’s plan to redeem and reconcile sinners to himself.
08/18/21
God picks the unexpected and the unlikely, and goes to the unforeseen places, stacking the odds against himself, in order that age after age might stand in open-mouthed wonder at his sovereignty in and over all things.
08/11/21
For sinners who cannot seem to get out of their own way, Dane brings to bear the gospel of Christ’s heart, which aerates one’s spiritual lungs with undiluted grace.
07/30/21
The Psalms aren’t the clandestine successes of a faithful soul, but are the journaled hopes of a desperate soul — of one teetering on the edge of oblivion.
07/21/21
Through the often abominable and lamentable and occasional commendable season, there is one who remains unmoved by it all.
07/13/21
But Jesus didn’t see it that way. He saw his arrest not as the kingdom’s program being thwarted but as it being “fulfilled.”
06/28/21
Mankind’s “thoughts and ways” on the matter of pardon and forgiveness do not even come close to exhausting, let alone fathoming, God’s “thoughts and ways.”
06/10/21
Despite what the Pharisees believed and advertised, Jesus was not intent upon deconstructing the fundamental tenets of the Old Testament law. Actually, he proceeds to do just the opposite.
06/03/21
Everyone is living as a naked sufferer who’s been duped into believing that the nakedness of suffering has to be covered up.
05/28/21
If you and I were to examine our own lives, we’d likely have to admit that we are frequent disciples of Jeroboam’s “bootleg religion.”
05/21/21
You and I have a God who pardons all our wrongdoing by taking all of them onto himself. He doesn’t zap us into oblivion at the first sign of rebellion.
1517 is a Christian non-profit (501(c)3) multi-media organization. Our mission is to declare and defend the Good News that we are forgiven and free on account of the death and resurrection of Jesus alone.
1517 grants permission for our free online resources to be printed, photocopied, and otherwise used freely for private and church use. We require that authorship and source (1517.org) are referenced and maintained. These resources may not be sold or included in any publications for sale.