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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If Psalms 1 and 2 reveal the Christ who reigns, Psalms 3 and 4 reveal the Christ who remains.
Just like Peter, you don’t need to do anything to earn God’s forgiveness for your soul wounds.
The Antichrist offers another continual presence. It is every whisper that tempts us toward autonomy, that tells us to carry it alone, that insists suffering is meaningless.
We rejoice that this urchin is now at rest in the arms of his known God who binds up the broken hearted and sets the captives free.
Oliver was a friend, chaplain, professor, author, and loyal church reformer. This Gnesio-Lutheran giant will be missed.
Why reflect on these three men — MacArthur, Ozzy, and Hulk Hogan — in the same breath?
Instead of offering more details or more information, he does something even better: he promises his very presence.
MacArthur’s courage to speak Scripture’s truth, no matter the audience, should be commended.
‘Peace’ means “I have forgiven all those sins against me.”
The Church speaks not with the cleverness of men, but with the breath of God.
The doctrine of the Trinity is not so much the story of a “who-dunnit” as it is the story of the “who-is-it.”
Every time someone is baptized, every time bread is broken and wine poured, every time a sinner hears, “Your sins are forgiven in Christ,” Pentecost happens again.