A Tale of Two Mothers
By Matthew L. Rubinstein
12/11/25
9mins

A Tale of Two Mothers

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.
Christmas with the Herdmans: The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
Sam P. Schuldheisz
Sam P. Schuldheisz
12/10/25

Christmas with the Herdmans: The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

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.
Was Jesus Ambitious?
Ryan Tinetti
Ryan Tinetti
12/09/25

Was Jesus Ambitious?

Was Jesus ambitious or unambitious? We have to say that the answer is…yes.

All Articles

Chad Bird
Chad Bird
12/03/20

Taking Candy from Goliath

It's not always the giants, the obvious enemies, the clear battlefields that prove most exhausting and dangerous for us. It’s the ongoing, subtle, seductive, soul-gnawing smaller things in life that wear us down. What's a person to do?
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
11/10/20

A Q&A with Chad Bird on "Unveiling Mercy"

“Unveiling Mercy: 365 Daily Devotions on Insights from Old Testament Hebrew” by Chad Bird (1517 Publishing, 2020) is now available for purchase.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
11/01/20

God’s Not Worried About the Election

Cast your vote with an air of bold and defiant levity. Don’t take yourself, or this election, so seriously. No string of unfortunate events can stop Christ's beating heart of mercy. No politician can un-Easter our Lord.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
10/30/20

Hosea and Flannery O’Connor

This is an excerpt from “Unveiling Mercy: 365 Daily Devotions Based on Insights from Old Testament Hebrew” written by Chad Bird (1517 Publishing, 2020). Used with permission.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
10/12/20

The Church's Wisdom in the Voting Booth

We step into the voting booth with one foot on the outside. We are Americans, to be sure, but we are much more. We are citizens of the kingdom of God, over which the King of kings reigns supreme. Our time here is temporary. We are resident aliens in a land destined for a fiery destruction. Our allegiance is to Christ.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
10/07/20

2020 Is a Great Year for the Church

The church is of no use to this world if all we do is ape the world’s rhetoric, antics, and actions. We are a unique community with a unique message. Here are four reasons I'm convinced that 2020 is a great year for the church.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
09/25/20

Untranslatable Love

This is an excerpt from “Unveiling Mercy: 365 Daily Devotions Based on Insights from Old Testament Hebrew” written by Chad Bird (1517 Publishing, 2020). Used with permission.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
09/07/20

The Junkyard God of Conditional Forgiveness

From the junkyard of my past, I assembled the scrap metal of self-preservation, self-righteousness, and unalloyed selfishness, to weld together a hollow divinity. In its core, I stuffed myself: a god without divinity, offering forgiveness with conditions, to sinners without love.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
07/28/20

Our Precious Sins We Don’t Want God to Forgive

There is a repentance that is anti-repentance, for it clings tightly to the sin over which it sorrows, because in that sorrow is its consolation. In this warped spiritual scheme, our anguish is atonement; shame is our absolution; tears are our baptism. We feel better knowing how bad we feel about our wrongs. But there is a much better way.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
07/21/20

The Unexpected Gospel of the Fiery Furnace

The well-known Sunday School story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego is far from a simple account of three brave and faithful Israelites. It’s a mini-story with a mega-story tucked inside it—a story that links it (backward) to Exodus and (forward) to the Gospels.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
07/02/20

The Number 666 and God’s Merciful Math

The number 666 in Revelation has been interpreted in a myriad of ways. To whom does it apply? Is it a reference to a particular man or humanity in general? In this article, Chad Bird describes how 666 is related to God's math of mercy in the Messiah.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
06/15/20

Hashtag Preaching and Whack-a-Mole Worship

When the direction of preaching is dictated by the hashtag issues of the day, the pulpit becomes the perpetual servant of CNN and Fox News. The news and social media cycle, with its chameleonic alterations from this all-important issue (this week) to that next-all-important issue (next week), does not create a rhythmic dance for the church but a sort of frenzied whack-a-mole worship. Now smack your homiletical hand down on this…now that…now this…now that. We need something better.
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