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

Chad Bird
Chad Bird
02/28/16

Pastors Don't Always Want to Go to Church Either

For many, there are days when they’re as excited about going to work on Sunday morning as you are about going to work on Monday morning.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
02/09/16

Fat Tuesday's Redemption

Warning, Remember, O man, that thou art dust… And lust, he mocks in mute self-condemnation.
Erick Sorensen
Erick Sorensen
02/09/16

God Helps Those Who (CANNOT) Help Themselves

Surely everyone reading at one time or another in their lives has heard the popular phrase I’m writing about today.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
02/08/16

Hurts So Good: Our Dirty Little Secret on Ash Wednesday

What is really good for the soul is not so much confession as absolution. If confession is us telling the truth about ourselves to God, then absolution is God telling us a truer truth about ourselves.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
02/06/16

Three Hymns on the Transfiguration

In nature one with God, The Son partakes in love, Of human flesh that we, Partake of God above.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
02/03/16

Sometimes We See Too Much

Whether we are overcome by happiness on the mountaintop or overwhelmed by sorrow in the valley, our vision can be our greatest handicap.
Donavon Riley
Donavon Riley
02/02/16

The Message That Called Me Out of Atheism and Plopped Me Into a Pulpit

Believe in God, belong to a church, and behave yourself isn’t the Gospel.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
01/28/16

Novel Salvation: How God Used Fiction to Save My Life

As it turned out, the novels in which I had sought escape, became part of the means whereby the Lord rescued me from my own death.
Craig Donofrio
Craig Donofrio
01/21/16

Finding God's Promise in His Law

So what's the back side? What's the promise? We shall not have other gods, but we do have the one, true God—the promise of a God for us.
Uwe Siemon-Netto
Uwe Siemon-Netto
01/18/16

How Bach became a Hit in Japan

During my many journeys to Japan, I discovered that more than a quarter millennium after his death Bach is now playing a key role in evangelizing that country, one of the most secularized nations in the developed world.
Rod Rosenbladt
Rod Rosenbladt
01/12/16

How To Choose Your Church

All other subjects—even Biblical subjects—were subservient to an accurate view of the Person and work of Jesus Christ for sinners.
Chad Bird
Chad Bird
01/08/16

The Myth of Forgiving Yourself

I know now that to “forgive yourself” is not only impossible; it is foolish, dangerous, and futile. It is the vain attempt of a soul plagued by guilt to seek relief in the very last place he should be looking: in himself.
1517 is a Christian non-profit (501(c)3) multi-media organization. Our mission is to declare and defend the Good News that we are forgiven and free on account of the death and resurrection of Jesus alone.
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