Wade Johnston, Life Under the Cross: A Biography of the Reformer Matthias Flacius Illyricus, Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis: MO, 2025.
This ancient “tale of two mothers” concerns far more than theological semantics—it is the difference between a God who sends and a God who comes.
This story points us from our unlikely heroes to the even more unlikely, and joyous, good news that Jesus’ birth for us was just as unlikely and unexpected.

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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.
In that moment of greatest despair, we find the antidote for all our fears. We know we are beloved of God and there is salvation in Christ’s atoning death.
Prior sees much of evangelicalism’s imaginary trouble arising from the fact that it emphasizes quick and dramatic conversion experiences and a personally directed relationship with God.
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.
In the tumultuous sea of information, opinions, and ideologies that break over us each day, we hold fast to the anchor of our faith—Jesus, the true prophet.
A pastor is sent to proclaim the unconditional grace of God, reminding us again and again that it is our Heavenly Father who reaches out to us in love through his Christ-won forgiveness, and not the other way around.
Only the resurrection of Jesus guarantees and facilitates divine presence and love to us as divine life for us.
It was meant to be Karlstadt’s moment to shine, but all anyone remembered was Luther.
The resurrection of Jesus encompasses the total and comprehensive glorification of a human being, not merely his restoration.
As Luther said, “Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection not in books alone, but in every leaf of spring.”
Everything in Scripture is God revealing himself to his people, you and me.