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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It is death that deserves derision, not the disciple who reaches through sorrow for his Lord.
This is an excerpt from this year’s 1517 Advent Devotional.
Thanksgiving, then, is not just about plenty. It is about redemption.
The Christian answer to death is not a disembodied app, but a bodily resurrection.
Resurrection does not start in sunlight. It begins in the dark.
Something Reformation Christians ought to do is familiarize themselves with Roman Catholic theology.
All Saints’ Day is a war story. And in Christ crucified and risen, it’s also a victory story.
The Reformation isn’t just a chapter in church history. It’s a reminder that the gospel remains forever good news.
The Protestant milieu was pervaded with the announcement that God and God alone is the active agent in the salvation of sinners.
He has freed you from a selfish fixation on gifts. He has freed you to look to the Giver.
We can lay down our sledgehammers of moralistic performance, which aren’t effective anyway, and we can trust that we are his and his life is ours.
Here is the true story, the one worth remembering: You are a gift.