What Israel’s story makes painfully obvious is that following the Lord is a lifelong lesson in “I believe, but help my unbelief” (Mark 9:24).
Faith holds on to the truth of who Jesus is revealed to be, despite our sometimes incongruent experience with God.
This is an excerpt from the first chapter of A Reasoned Defense of the Faith by Adam Francisco (1517 Publishing, 2026), pgs 1-3.

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Free-range Christ is fearful Christ because he is present, speaking, and I just crucified him.
Sometimes loss is gain. Sometimes defeat is victory. Sometimes weakness is strength. Sometimes death is life. Sometimes, that is, when Christ is at the center, on his cross and not in his tomb.
To be barred from the Temple was like being ostracized from society as a whole. It was a powerful card to hold, and the Sadducees were not shy about using it.
On every page, in every theme, in every major character and every major plot twist, we are invited to see God’s unfolding work to make all things new and whole in Jesus.
You need an apocalyptic ‘decoder ring’ to figure out what is going on in Revelation.
The gospel of Jesus’ coming out of death and the tomb alive so that we might be restored to our identity as God’s children establishes the most enduring reality there is.
Christ has come to make every last aspect of your life the object of his eternal, never-ending, always transitive grace.
Easter must be seen in light of the cross. It must never overshadow Good Friday. They are a packaged deal!
Jesus died for the people who put Him to death. Jesus rose for the people whose minds rejected the idea of a resurrection.
The sacrifice of Jesus stands completed, once for all, and we believe in the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.
It is good to remember that this true story, is also beautiful.
Who we are buried with matters. But there is no need to go out and find a dead prophet so you can join him six feet under.