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

Joel Hess
Joel Hess
10/24/18

The Gospel is Only for Consumers

Perhaps the answer to creating a healthier church and a more invested people is found in preaching more clearly the full freeing Gospel.
Robert Kolb
Robert Kolb
10/21/18

Preaching on Fear

In the last two decades U.S. Americans have given way to fear of many things: economic decline, loss of values, limits on our personal rights, to name a few. Too many of us live with some sense of threat and menace hanging over our heads and haunting our hearts.
David Rufner
David Rufner
10/17/18

The Gift of Belonging

It is only when individuals are bound together in community that they become fully human.
Robert Kolb
Robert Kolb
10/14/18

The Preacher as Conversation Partner

Good communication depends on trust to make such conversation work effectively. The truth springs, first, from God's own promise and the punch put into that promise by the mysterious power of the Holy Spirit.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
10/13/18

A Lament for Hurricane Victims

Here is a lament I’ve written especially for victims of hurricanes. May it be for you, for your family, or for your church, a way to put into prayer the anguish of your souls.
Donavon Riley
Donavon Riley
10/11/18

Ordinary Joy

She said, “Keep coming back, and you’ll know joy.” He wanted to vomit a rainbow of resentment, bitterness, and loathing all over her faux-leather boots.
Bonnie Petroschuk
Bonnie Petroschuk
10/09/18

Jesus Loves Me, This I Know

I have been very busy lately, trying to understand things.
John W. Hoyum
John W. Hoyum
10/08/18

The Law, Between Fear and Freedom

What we notice less often is that this same fear wonders about both the efficacy of the Gospel and the Law.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
10/07/18

The Two Reasons Our Past Can Be Changed

In Christ, God’s Son, yesterday, today, and tomorrow all collapse into one. He holds in himself everything from the beginning to the end of the world.
John Bombaro
John Bombaro
10/04/18

Name Brand

Many scholars believe that what Jesus says in verses 18-20 are the key to Matthew's Gospel. Actually, it may be the key to the entire Bible, for in these three verses we see the full scope of the history of redemption brought to bear in one history-altering, cosmic event: Baptizing in God's name.
Steven A. Hein
Steven A. Hein
10/03/18

Getting Saved, Doing Nothing

We are saved by grace, and strictly speaking, not by an offer.
Haroldo Camacho
Haroldo Camacho
10/01/18

The Abandoned

As I write this, I wonder if perhaps I am stretching things a bit thinking that it would be relevant to a considerably more sophisticated audience. Perhaps we already know the Gospel, that we are all sinners.
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