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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How can he say it? How can he say that Christ is after all the entire meaning of life for him, and that death is no real worry?
God gives good gifts to underserving workers. God gives good gifts to all of them.
God knows that when we face insurmountable odds in our moments of weakness, we are more likely to turn to him in trust and reliance.
Even at Lewis’ graveside, Havard was a faithful friend, and a friend full of faith in Christ, confessing his hope in the resurrection.
The Lord assures Jeremiah he has not forgotten him. He is there and will rescue him.
The Lord has remembered to help his servant Israel, to fulfill his promises to Abraham and to his offspring forever, not mostly or mainly because of his mercy, but exclusively so.
Lord, remember us to remind us, that we may know all good things come from you.
We have to “remember” that God remembers us. He has not fallen away. For God to remember us means he is working for our good; a restoration.
This week, we’ll take a closer look at what it means to have a God who remembers us. Today, 1517 Scholar in Residence Chad Bird first introduces the Old Testament meaning behind the word and the Hebrew way of remembering.
Faith sees your neighbor not as a means to an end, not as a way to score points, but as an object of love: Christ's love and yours.
What if Jesus had said on the cross, “Earn it”?
Jesus’s story in Luke 16 draws definitive attention to whom God helps — namely, God always comes close in order to help those who cannot help themselves.