The Original Sin of Preaching: The Constant Craving for a Useful God in Pulpit and Pew
By Magnus Persson
03/25/26
12mins

The Original Sin of Preaching: The Constant Craving for a Useful God in Pulpit and Pew

God is not a tool in our hands. He does not exist to serve our goals, our metrics, or our platforms.
Even Chuck Norris Needed a Savior
Russ Lackey
Russ Lackey
03/23/26

Even Chuck Norris Needed a Savior

The gospel isn’t for the strong but people who know they aren’t.
Post-Denominational Lutheranism
John W. Hoyum
John W. Hoyum
03/20/26

Post-Denominational Lutheranism

One great thing about our post-denominational age is that it has opened up opportunities to make common cause with other Lutherans who, despite their differences and eccentricities, can agree on some of the most important things.

All Articles

Chad Bird
Chad Bird
05/22/13

Call Me Lazarus

What I will tell you is that, despite all evidence to the contrary, despite what you think and feel and imagine, God is indeed in that dark place. You don’t know it, but he’s licking your wounds, too. And he’s keeping the deeper, blacker darkness at bay.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
05/21/13

Out of the Depths

For since it was not enough that the Lord of heaven and earth hung on your every word, his Word was made flesh and prayed among us, a priest in the order of Melchizedek, “offering up prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save Him from death,” (Heb 5:7).
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
05/14/13

Why Christ Poured out the Spirit on Pentecost: The OT and Rabbinic Roots of Pentecost or the Feast of Weeks

Though the theophanic elements at the Jerusalem Pentecost were not as diverse as those at Sinai, there is one prominent commonality between the two: divine speech out of divine fire.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
05/13/13

If Cows Had Gods

The second truth, however, is that just because God has become a man does not mean he thinks, desires, or speaks as man generally does.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
03/30/13

This Is the Night: An Easter Vigil Sermon

This is the night when the earth is formless and void; and the darkness of blood is over the face of Thy Son. And the Spirit of God moves out of His body as He gives up the Ghost.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
02/06/13

Two Hymns on the Transfiguration

The prophets had foretold, His coming Incarnation; The Word would make our flesh, His only habitation.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
01/05/13

Visiting the Dead at Christmas: The Fight to Forgive Family

People take off their public masks when around relatives. They let their darkness shine. That’s why Manuel spends his December 25 in the graveyard, talking to the dead.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
12/13/12

Washing Down Antidepressants with Eggnog

Perhaps part of the mistake we’ve made is in forgetting that the first Christmas, the actual birthday of Jesus, started out as the worst of times.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
10/24/12

My Three-Year-Old Daughter's Sermon: Baptism Theology at Its Finest

Sometimes, the best sermons aren’t preached by preachers at all.
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