Luther neither removed the Apocrypha from the Bible nor discouraged its use. Rather, he received and preserved the ancient distinction inherited from the fathers: the Apocrypha is valuable, edifying, and worthy of reading, but it is not Holy Scripture and therefore cannot serve as the foundation of Christian doctrine.
The confessors at Augsburg remind us that every generation of Christians is called to bear witness to the gospel amid the challenges and pressures of its own age. As they confessed Christ before emperors and kingdoms, so the Church continues to confess Him before the world today.
When Jesus washes you with baptismal water, you can rest assured that the Lion of Judah is on the move.

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Christ's resurrection does not merely negate the bitterness of sin; it changes it into a source of divine sweetness, embodying the promise of a new life for us and a restored existence overshadowed by heavenly hope.
My goal here isn’t to selfishly reflect on all the reasons I will miss Rod because I know that if you are reading this, you may miss this man, too.
A “good death” and “good life” are not accomplished through personal striving but are grasped by faith in the promises of God.
God gives his church a story that helps to make sense of this life.
It would serve us well to embrace the beauty of our diversity within the unity of the body of Christ.
Theology and history go hand in hand in the real person of Jesus Christ, making the truth of the Gospels profoundly human and powerfully meaningful.
We know that death does not have the last word in Christ.
We must also address the stigma surrounding addiction within so many churches.
It is of the utmost importance that pastors teach their congregation that through faith in Jesus Christ, they are fortified against the machinations of the adversary.
This is an edited excerpt from the conclusion of The Resurrection Fact: Responding to Modern Critics, edited by John Bombaro and Adam Francisco. (1517 Publishing, 2016).
God comes to us through the flesh and blood and spirit of Christ precisely where he promised to be manifest to us and for us.
I’ve experienced firsthand the promise that God never leaves a congregation empty-handed.