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

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Was Jesus ambitious or unambitious? We have to say that the answer is…yes.
The unity of God’s people is grounded not in lineage nor land but in the promise of the coming Christ.
Thanksgiving, then, is not just about plenty. It is about redemption.
For the Christian, the iron gate of death was opened by the blood of Christ and the empty tomb.
It is by his perfect surrender that our true Exodus was accomplished.
Resurrection does not start in sunlight. It begins in the dark.
Curiosity, while it might kill the cat, just might be one of the most needed virtues of our time.
God leads us to green pastures. He comforts us with his grace in our darkest valleys.
Nothing good happens when you get ahead of God and take matters into your own hands.
“The Church exists to tell anyone and everyone who knocks on her door wondering what’s inside: Come and see” (pg. 58). Such reminders make The Church a worthwhile read.
This is an excerpt from Remembering Your Baptism: A Sinner Saint Devotional (1517 Publishing, 2025) by Kathy Morales, pgs 6-9.
Wisdom and strength require bootstrap-pulling and the placing of noses to grindstones.