1. What we do much less of, even in Christian circles, is recognize just how pervasive sin is, such that it has thoroughly corrupted us.
  2. Now that the Lord of Sabaoth has involved himself, something ends, something is born.
  3. The cross not only stands as the measure of our hatred of God but also as the measure of God’s love for us.
  4. It is difficult to overestimate the importance of these early Lutheran hymns – and their physical availability in hymnals – in the piety of common people living in Lutheran towns and territories.
  5. The Battle of Frankenhausen stands as a warning for what can happen when we abandon the Word God has given us and chase after some vision of our own imaginations.
  6. The gospel is for sinners – both the tax collector and Pharisee, both in need of the Great Physician.
  7. God chose Russell Brand, chose to defy his fast-escaping life and drink up all his swift-running sin in the River Thames.
  8. For you who are struggling to navigate grief, to cope with pain, or breathe through anxiety, the gospel announces that there is a person whose heart throbs for you.
  9. Some part of us always wants our ability under the law to be just as important (or more) than grace.
  10. In Israel today, it's still possible to witness the same scene the disciples saw 2000 years ago when the Bedouin shepherds bring their flocks home from various pastures at the end of the day.
  11. The notion that your goodness is “good enough” to make you right with God is a lie straight from the father of lies himself.
  12. When Jesus appeared again to his disciples on that first Easter evening and again a week later with Thomas and the Emmaus disciples, what did Jesus show them? His hands.