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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When the waters of anxiety and depression rise, there is One who understands.
A pastor shares his own experience of loneliness and hope
We do not choose our struggles, but there is One who has chosen to always be with us.
Finding rest in God when the “what ifs”come calling
How can he say it? How can he say that Christ is after all the entire meaning of life for him, and that death is no real worry?
God gives good gifts to underserving workers. God gives good gifts to all of them.
The Lord assures Jeremiah he has not forgotten him. He is there and will rescue him.
The Lord has remembered to help his servant Israel, to fulfill his promises to Abraham and to his offspring forever, not mostly or mainly because of his mercy, but exclusively so.
Lord, remember us to remind us, that we may know all good things come from you.
We have to “remember” that God remembers us. He has not fallen away. For God to remember us means he is working for our good; a restoration.
This week, we’ll take a closer look at what it means to have a God who remembers us. Today, 1517 Scholar in Residence Chad Bird first introduces the Old Testament meaning behind the word and the Hebrew way of remembering.
We must also address the stigma surrounding addiction within so many churches.