Pentecost and the Beautiful Mess of the Church
By Ryan Couch
06/06/25
15mins

Pentecost and the Beautiful Mess of the Church

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.
Hymns at Midnight
Bradley Gray
Bradley Gray
06/05/25

Hymns at Midnight

They were still praying, trusting, and hoping. Why? Because they knew who was with them and who was for them: the risen Christ.
What Now?
Wade Johnston
Wade Johnston
06/04/25

What Now?

So Christ is risen, but what now?

All Articles

Chad Bird
Chad Bird
09/29/15

Waking up with Leah: Learning to Love a Disappointing Church

In the tiny Texas town where I grew up, sleeping in on Sunday morning was as inconceivable as rooting for someone besides the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday afternoon.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
09/24/15

Forgive Us Our Good Works

Good people like fist-pounding on the pulpit about the bad things that bad people do in this bad world of ours. It makes them feel better about themselves.
Daniel Emery Price
Daniel Emery Price
09/04/15

Repentance Under the Microscope

I once saw a man holding a sign that read: Divorce is an abomination. Repent! That’s it. Nothing else.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
08/28/15

The Missing Verse in the Creation Account

In Christ, we become part of the group of eight on the ark. The eight does not increase to nine or ten but swells to contain us all. God recreates us in this saving flood of baptism. We enter the new creation in Christ.
Dominick Santore
Dominick Santore
08/27/15

Our Rescue in the Darkness

If you read my posts here or on my own site, you’ll find that most of my writings lean toward the issue of dark times or brokenness in our lives.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
08/14/15

Safe Preaching and the Prophylactic Gospel

Jonah wanted nothing more than to be a safe preacher. His Lord could get carried away with love at times. He let it get the best of him.
Dominick Santore
Dominick Santore
08/13/15

Afflicted and Loved

Some days, I stare at the computer screen, haphazardly pecking at my keyboard, wondering where the words will come from or even if the words will ever come again.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
08/12/15

When God Drags His Feet

For most of us, waiting on God is not funny at all. It makes us wonder if he cares. If he has forgotten us. In our darkest hours, many even wonder if the atheists are right, if our prayers are nothing more than sick words vomited into an empty heaven.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
08/03/15

Grace is Not Dead

Grace is uncivilized, vulgar, rebellious. We make rules for it and it breaks them. Grace is a constant embarrassment to the prim and proper religiosity of the squeaky clean.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
07/14/15

When Rumpelstiltskin Teaches Bible Class

This golden age, recorded in this genealogy, is anything but straw. It is a treasure trove of grace, faith, hope, and love.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
07/08/15

On Mount Moriah You Can See the Whole Bible

Jesus was not killed in Bethlehem as a baby, or in Galilee or Samaria as an adult. He couldn’t be, for it was necessary for him to die in Jerusalem, where Moriah is.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
07/07/15

Your Future Is Behind You

In front of us, in the past, is the hill upon which God has already defeated every foe we might face. On that bloody beam the heel of Christ crushed the head of the lying serpent.
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