The Original Sin of Preaching: The Constant Craving for a Useful God in Pulpit and Pew
By Magnus Persson
03/25/26
14mins

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
01/05/17

Christ's Bride Doesn't Need Botox

Hers is not a beauty of breathtaking cathedrals, stained glass, or towering arches, but of a body.
Joel Hess
Joel Hess
01/05/17

The Church is not a Hospital for Sinners, It's a Morgue for the Dead

It is the strangest of morgues—people arrive dead as doornails and leave alive.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
01/03/17

Baptism Foreshadowed in Old Testament Narratives

Old Testament narratives foreshadowed the gifts that our Father gives us in baptism.
Bror Erickson
Bror Erickson
12/29/16

A Bridegroom of Blood

The arrangement was made with Abraham when God claimed for Himself all of his being, and put the seal of His promise upon the most personal member of his anatomy.
Donavon Riley
Donavon Riley
12/27/16

Where There Is No Gospel...

Can one still find a church that teaches that Christianity, and the Christian life, can be summed up as: "We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone?"
Joel Hess
Joel Hess
12/22/16

Where Is Jesus?

In his Gospel account, Luke challenges us to play "Where is Jesus?"
Steven A. Hein
Steven A. Hein
12/19/16

Christmas is Bigger on the Inside

“It’s bigger on the inside” is not only an evocative literary device, it is also a phrase heavy laden with Good News found in the true story of Christianity, especially at Christmas.
Larry D. Hughes
Larry D. Hughes
12/07/16

"God Said, 'Take'"

The devil is effective with this attack because it calls out all the things a Christian sinner experiences as simultaneous sinner and saint.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
12/03/16

Two Ways to Launch Your Career in the Self-Salvation Business

Sometimes we try be the bad god, sometimes the good god, oftentimes a freaky hybrid of both. The result is the same: Jesus the savior just gets in our way.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
11/30/16

Gospel Phobia

If the devil took over a church, I suspect it would be bursting at the seams every Sunday, with smiling faces, clean noses, straight morals, conservative voting, institutional fidelity
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
11/27/16

Six Words That Make All the Difference in the World

In those waters we are nailed to his cross and washed out the door of his tomb. Within his wounds we safely hide.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
11/16/16

Showing Mercy to Former Ministers

I don’t care why you left the ministry—moral failure, congregational politics, burnout, whatever—the Christ whom you proclaimed has not left you.
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