When Religion Becomes Obsolete, Christ Does Not

By Russ Lackey | Mark Mattes

01/20/26

19mins

When Religion Becomes Obsolete, Christ Does Not

American religion did not become optional because the gospel failed. It became optional because religion slowly redefined itself around usefulness.

Bradley Gray

01/19/26

Behold the Lamb

The Passover wasn’t just Israel’s story; it’s ours.

Psalm 12, Part 2: The Saint Fails, The Word Purifies

Steven Paulson

01/16/26

Psalm 12, Part 2: The Saint Fails, The Word Purifies

God makes us pure saints by planting us back in the earth we imagined we needed to escape.

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Scott Keith

01/12/26

Christian Self-Defense Isn’t a Dirty Word

There’s a difference between refusing revenge and refusing responsibility.

Russ Lackey |

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.

Bradley Gray

01/01/26

The Doctrine of God at Christmas

Christmas is not only about a cradle in Bethlehem, it’s also about a cross outside Jerusalem where salvation was won for us.

Steven Paulson

12/18/25

Psalm 11: The Lord is in His Holy Temple Loving His Own Righteousness

What God perceives is not what our eyes see; he is focused on righteousness because his love creates what is righteous.

Brian W. Thomas

12/16/25

Christmas for the Spiritual but Not Religious

Christianity doesn’t start with our speculation about God. It starts with God’s self-revelation.

Adam Francisco

12/15/25

Be Kind...But Why?

Christ did not merely urge humanity to be kind. He embodied perfect kindness by giving his life for those who neither earned nor expected such a gift.

Philip Bartelt

12/12/25

A Review of "Life Under the Cross: A Biography of the Reformer Matthias Flacius Illyricus" by Wade Johnston

Wade Johnston, Life Under the Cross: A Biography of the Reformer Matthias Flacius Illyricus, Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis: MO, 2025.

Bradley Gray

11/25/25

A Review of The Well That Washes What it Shows by Jonathan Linebaugh

“The well that washes what it shows” captures the essence of Linebaugh’s project, which aims to give the paradigmatic law-gospel hermeneutic a colloquial and visual language.

Matthew L. Rubinstein

11/20/25

The Greatest of Psalms

If Psalms 1 and 2 reveal the Christ who reigns, Psalms 3 and 4 reveal the Christ who remains.

Amy Mantravadi

11/19/25

A Review of "The Quiet Ambition" by Ryan P. Tinetti

While Thoreau’s Walden is seen as a central text of that most American of virtues—self-reliance—quiet ambition as envisioned by Tinetti is exactly the opposite: dependence on God.

Ryan Couch

11/10/25

Happy Birthday Martin Luther: How a 16th Century Monk Helped Me Rediscover the Gospel

On this, the birthday of Martin Luther, I will pause to thank God for his birth.

John W. Hoyum

11/06/25

Reformation Christians and the Current Catholic Moment

Something Reformation Christians ought to do is familiarize themselves with Roman Catholic theology.

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