There is indeed a responsibility for the church to share the gospel in the world, but never at the expense of the church’s charity and mercy for those neighbors who are nearby.
The only hope for idol-addicted sinners who are utterly incapable of decluttering their souls is Jesus, the one at the heart of the gospel, and the only one who stands before the Father with an undivided heart.
More than a friend, Amsdorf was also an important figure in the work of religious reform, providing counsel to Luther on key occasions, shepherding the churches, and defending the faith until his death.

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Our comfort in this seemingly endless age of crisis after crisis is the inexhaustible hope of Jesus’s reversal.
Sometimes I think we should be more tempted to laugh at the gospel than we are, not in derision but in sheer surprise and awe.
History is the painful realization that we aren’t the ones who can save the world but, rather, we’re the ones who get saved.
The undercurrent of Scripture is the sheer fact that Jehovah God is a God of his word.
The worship service is less like servants entering the throne room to wait on the king’s needs and more like a father joining his family around the dining room table.
In the face of abject evil, these two faithfully cling to the words and truths of he alone who is Good, Jehovah God.
On May 2nd, Cantate Sunday, in the year 1507, Luther celebrated his first Mass.
Sometimes loss is gain. Sometimes defeat is victory. Sometimes weakness is strength. Sometimes death is life. Sometimes, that is, when Christ is at the center, on his cross and not in his tomb.
This is the patient love of God. He is stubborn about the salvation of sinners. He will not be rushed even if his name is mocked, and the trustworthiness of his promises are called into question.
This world of unbearable grief and accidental calamity is being renewed and, soon, will be completely bereft of every pernicious foe.
Excerpt #3 from the new book “Withertongue Emails" by Donavon Riley.
The firestorm of the Reformation which turned Europe upside-down was not Luther’s doing. It was the Word, and the Spirit working through it.