The Turk at the Door: Luther, Islam, and the Fate of Christendom in the 16th Century
By Adam Francisco
06/19/26
12mins

The Turk at the Door: Luther, Islam, and the Fate of Christendom in the 16th Century

It is within this charged atmosphere that Luther’s writings take on their full significance. His responses to the Turkish threat were not merely reactions to military events; they were rooted in a deep theological reflection on the nature of God’s rule over the world, the responsibilities of Christian rulers, and the role of the Church in times of crisis.
AI Can't Save You
Erick Sorensen
Erick Sorensen
06/17/26

AI Can't Save You

Your God is not artificially intelligent, but the source of all intelligence (including yours).
No One Builds Alone: Why the Future of Lutheranism Must Be Built Together
Russ Lackey
Russ Lackey |
Mark Mattes
Mark Mattes
06/15/26

No One Builds Alone: Why the Future of Lutheranism Must Be Built Together

The church is not renewed when one pastor tries to do the work of the whole body. The church is renewed when Christ’s body begins to act like a body again.

All Articles

Chad Bird
Chad Bird
01/20/15

Preachers with Soiled Resumes

Case in point: Jonah. Calling this man to be a prophet makes about as much as sense as hiring an executioner to be the CEO of a hospital.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
01/12/15

Hollywood, Nashville, and the Lord's Supper

That hunger to connect with one who is greater than we are will be satisfied only in the one who created that hunger within us in the first place.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
01/07/15

Honky-Tonk Baptism: Carrie Underwood’s “Something in the Water”

When the Holy Spirit finally gave me a fresh set of ears, I heard—really heard—what He’d been saying all along. Baptism really does save.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
11/24/14

Everything I Needed to Know About Vocation I Learned at the Lord's Supper

We usually understand vocation in a very narrow sense; it’s your job, your “calling.” Vocation, however, is not so much what you do for a living but what Christ does through you for the living. It’s a 24/7 calling, not a 9 to 5 occupation.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
11/08/14

Here's What Happened on the Day of My Funeral

The pastor put a hand over my mouth, another between my shoulder blades, and backward I fell into the dark waters, buried beneath Noah's flood, the Red Sea, Jordan's stream, all the way down into a borrowed tomb outside Jerusalem where a crucified man lay waiting for me.
Rick Ritchie
Rick Ritchie
11/04/14

The Stephen King Method

King has some kind of belief in God, but was probably under no inner compulsion to do anything we would term evangelism.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
10/20/14

Looking for the Church? Follow the Trail of Blood

O little flock, fear not the foe, for at your head is the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for you.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
10/15/14

The Two Most Important Days in Your Life. And Why Mark Twain Was Wrong

Your primary purpose in life is having something done to you. God created you in order that He might have someone to give to, to bless, to love, to nurture, to save, to give Himself to.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
09/22/14

A Victim's Shame

Wouldn’t it be great if there were something that could de-shame us?
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
09/17/14

The Green-Eyed Monster: Putting Jealousy in its Place

It’ll eat you alive, won’t it? We begin to think we’re victims, as if the whole world is conspiring against us to deprive us of what we deserve.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
08/14/14

It Ain't the Whiskey That's Killing Me

This chorus digs below the surface to reveal that beneath our chosen self-medications, be they alcohol or drugs or overeating or smoking or bed-hopping, you’ll unearth the real killer. And “it ain’t the whiskey.”
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
07/11/14

Please Don’t Say These Six Things at My Funeral

Because I do care now, and will care even after I’m with the Lord, here are some things I hope and pray are not said at my funeral. I care about those who will be there, about what they will hear.
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