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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We ache in eager anticipation as we see Christ in action and as we take in the snapshots of his life, death, and resurrection.
Help comes for those who cannot help themselves. When we bottom-out and come to the end of ourselves, that is where hope springs.
Whatever else may be said of Advent, it is above all devoted to making Christ known as the Lord who condescends to come as Brother to and Savior of sinners.
The Church stands firm on the word of promise that Christ will one day return to change what we know by faith into sight.
The Church stands firm on the word of promise that Christ will one day return to change what we know by faith into sight.
For Christians, Advent is the time when the Church patiently prepares for the coming of the Great King, Jesus the Christ.
The Church stands firm on the word of promise that Christ will one day return to change what we know by faith into sight.
He cuts into our darkness with words that work like a knife. They awaken us from our routine to a sliver of light. Jesus reigns and He will return.
We live again, not so that we will now pay our debt, but to proclaim that we live because our debt was paid!
The epistle text from Colossians 1 declares how the great drama of redemption and human history ends.
Our God is a living God and he listens to our cries for help.
We don’t start with behavior and work toward Christ. We start with Christ and everything works out from there.