Why Christian Tradition? Why the Liturgy
By Donavon Riley
01/09/26
12mins

Why Christian Tradition? Why the Liturgy

This is the first in a series meant to let the Christian tradition speak for itself, the way it has carried Christians through long winters, confusion, and joy for centuries.
The Future of Lutheranism Belongs to Builders
Russ Lackey
Russ Lackey |
Mark Mattes
Mark Mattes
01/08/26

The Future of Lutheranism Belongs to Builders

The crisis is not merely that people are leaving. The crisis is that we have relinquished what is uniquely Lutheran and deeply needed.
A Psalm for the Desperate
Bradley Gray
Bradley Gray
01/07/26

A Psalm for the Desperate

The ethos of the church’s worship is found in poor, needy, and desperate sinners finding solace and relief in the God of their salvation.

All Articles

Chad Bird
Chad Bird
01/01/13

Bringing Skin to the Fore: Circumcision and Why God's Manhood Matters

Strange though it be, however, it is marvelous in meaning: for this was his way of writing his covenant into the very flesh of his people. What was not there, was a sign of what was there.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
12/30/12

Vulnerability in the Pulpit

A few weeks ago, the pastor of my congregation did something in his sermon I’ve never heard a pastor do: he confessed a failure. He had once been ashamed of his brother, he admitted, and had acted in a way toward him that was not in keeping with love.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
12/13/12

Washing Down Antidepressants with Eggnog

Perhaps part of the mistake we’ve made is in forgetting that the first Christmas, the actual birthday of Jesus, started out as the worst of times.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
11/28/12

How a Badger Taught Me That God Has Ears

I didn’t pray for forgiveness, the Holy Spirit, or world peace. All this ten-year-old wanted was a badger. So that’s what I asked for.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
11/21/12

Whiskey Baptism

A few people can endure a Job-like hell, get up, bless God, and face the future stronger than ever. Most of us aren’t such saints. We hobble along, half-walking, half-crawling into the will-be from the what-was.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
11/14/12

Cobwebbed Beauty

Our hearts are half Amish at times, hankering to live in the past, for we dislike the present or fear the future. But therein lies a grave danger, for nostalgia can easily become the gateway drug to despair.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
11/13/12

A Ninety-One Year Old Newborn

Ingram Robinson was 91 years old and had seen it all—well, almost seen it all. For what his eyes were about to behold, as the sun rose on his ninth decade in this world, was something entirely, and radically, new.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
10/31/12

Marriage Hymn: “Adam and Eve in Paradise Were Wed”

In Mary’s womb, Christ and His Church were wed; United as one Body and one Head.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
10/29/12

Animals Named Adam

Some men work like a horse for they’re greedy as a pig Some are drunk as a skunk for many beers they swig.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
10/24/12

My Three-Year-Old Daughter's Sermon: Baptism Theology at Its Finest

Sometimes, the best sermons aren’t preached by preachers at all.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
10/15/12

Laughing Alone at the Circus

The crowds, bored into silence, had left a vacuum in the tent that my little boy’s voice began to fill. He laughed unaware and uncaring that he alone laughed, deaf to everyone’s else silence.
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